posted on August 11, 2001 07:26:56 PM
I'd have never even thought of this as a way to help the homeless... After reading this article I think it makes sense.
posted on August 11, 2001 09:12:48 PM
I think it's a great idea! They've been doing that here for awhile and I really believe it helps some of the homeless when they are searching for work.
posted on August 11, 2001 10:20:53 PM
It would depend on what I needed employees for. If I was accepting applications and not in a hurry, sure. I would leave a message. Seeing they lived in a homeless shelter may or may not sway me in my decision. It depends on the situation of WHY they are homeless. Sometimes, people cant help their cirmcumstances. Sometimes peoples credit sucks because they dont pay certain bills just so they can pay their rent. Sometimes they dont have insurance and get ill, and it wipes them out financially. Sometimes sh!t happens. Like I said. It all depends.
posted on August 11, 2001 10:37:27 PM
But it's undeniably a lot simpler for everyone involved if they've got voice mail. It's an excellent means of communication not only for job seeking but for keeping in touch with family (arranging time to call) elsewhere. And it eliminates the problem that inevitably arises when there's one line for clients at a homeless shelter or outreach center -- the line's ALWAYS busy.
-gaffan- [email protected]
posted on August 12, 2001 12:31:35 AM
Hepburn, I was not suggesting that I would not hire a homeless person. Far be it from that. However, having visited them here, if you were looking for a long term employee, stability isn't really a stronghold for most.
Oddly, we only have homeless shelters for men and almost all have a history of alcohol/drug/arrest problems according to the director. Since neither alcohol or drugs (including cigarettes) are permited, many elect to sleep on the street outside the shelter but eat and get medical treatment there.
We do have at least one battered shelter for women. It is very very small and houses maybe 12 women with one or two kids each. (It's in a large old house.) I know of no family type shelters at all. Perhaps we don't have that many homeless?
There are lots of people who have no phone, however, and who face the same problems. My friend and neighbor had that situation (among other things). He used my phone to call his boss often. He is gone now of his own hand. Life is very hard when you don't have the basics.
T
[ edited by jt on Aug 12, 2001 12:36 AM ]
posted on August 12, 2001 01:12:06 AM
I've known no small number of men who've refused to stay in the shelters because they don't allow smoking, or at least they cite that as a reason. But that's not the primary reason that people in that situation choose the street instead of the shelters. This does not tend to be a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky crowd; there is a great deal of justified fear involving predators of all varieties.
-gaffan- [email protected]
posted on August 12, 2001 10:04:21 AM
The homeless people in Washington DC, for example, live in cardboard boxes and during the winter sleep on heating grates on the street.
"Homeless shelters" are considered dangerous by the truly homeless.
posted on August 12, 2001 10:36:09 AM
Homeless people in America need massive amounts of help in the form of federal aid. When an earthquake displaces people, aid is available immediately. Why can't these people be helped?
posted on August 12, 2001 11:31:34 AM
If having access to voice mail allows homeless people some dignity, then I'm all for it.
It is unbelievable that we're providing voice mail for the homeless when working families can't afford voice mail," said state Rep. Tim Hoven (R-Port Washington). "Why would you provide such a luxury?
Well, boohoo.
I would bet a lot of those working families are tapped out from paying for many other luxuries: the latest vehicles; dinner out several times/week; big, fancy homes; trips to Disney World, etc.
posted on August 12, 2001 11:48:13 AM
I bet a lot of other families just can't afford it. We need things that we can't afford.
A web site says that there are 3,500 homeless in Jackson. I would have never guessed that since the shelter only fills in winter and holds no more than 60. Where are they? I do see that there are several groups that actually provide housing. Of that number only 565 take advantage of medical care...but maybe they use emergency rooms.
Thanks for raising my curiosity and my awareness on this serious issue.
Helen, you seem very concerned about a number of social issues. Do you actively work with any of your local charity organizations? Do you have any specific cause that you regularly support? You heart is definitely in the right place on these things.
(Am I allowed to address you directly?)
posted on August 12, 2001 12:05:02 PM
Well, I'll bet that if people who were displaced by an earthquake were told by that voice mail would soon be available and NOTHING else, there would be a major uproar.
Homeless people include the insane, drug addicts, abusued and neglected children and they all need more help than a telephone. This voice mail idea is luducrous.
Hiding the homeless is a plan in our area. Lafayette Park, which is right across the street from the White House is cleared out every morning. Those who are not frozen to death are encouraged to move.
Subway entrances are locked because a homeless person might need to seek shelter there. Chruches are locked. Museums kick them out during the day.
posted on August 12, 2001 01:41:20 PM
I don't believe anyone has suggested that voicemail constitutes a complete solution to the problems faced by the homeless. Social services in the county where I live (Montgomery, Maryland) are so screwed up that independent agencies are funded by the county to help people fight the bureaucracy. The great Mecca where folks have to go to get their paperwork processed is a metro ride and two bus transfers away from the major population centers. None of this makes voicemail a bad thing.
What bothers me about this voice mail solution idea is that it is like pissing in the ocean.
What we need is immediate attention to the whole problem and stop pussyfooting around with this voice mail nonsense. We need to work toward a complete solution and stop wasting money and energy on such trivial pursuits as providing a telephone connection to nowhere.
Soon, in only three months, winter will arive and these poor people will be sleeping on a heat grate if they are lucky or in a cardboard box. This, I believe is an emergency.
And I ask again, why do victims of earthquakes who become homeless receive immediate help and homeless people on the street do not?
posted on August 12, 2001 02:16:51 PM
Helen, I believe that it's because too many people erroneously believe that alcoholism drug abuse, and mental illness are weaknesses of will. Until they believe differently and are willing to fund long term solutions, the big problems will remain. It won't be a cheap solution although in the long run it might be less expensive to fund better treatment plans. And then the problem will be how to get the people that need help to enter and stay with the programs since many of the folks that need help are in denial of their problems.
[ edited by saabsister on Aug 12, 2001 02:21 PM ]
posted on August 12, 2001 02:32:39 PM
Because they live in contiguous congressional districts in a politically important state, and are not held personally responsible for their plight. Never mind that most of the homeless aren't personally responsible for their plight, either, or that there are more responsible things to do than live on top of a slip-strike fault that overdue for a big slip. I know, it was a rhetorical question, just consider it a rhetorical answer.
This is an incremental process. It shouldn't be, it's not right, it's indicative of fubard priorities, but it's true. Things are better than they were a decade ago. In DC, they've got folks out combing the streets in vans looking for people at risk of hypothermia. They didn't used to do that. There's a homeless outreach program down the road in pricey Bethesda, with some of the most dedicated people I've ever met trying to help and succeeding in doing so. There are housing programs in place, both publicly subsidized and privately supported, which didn't exist before. Taken separately, each constitutes just pissing in the ocean. Taken together, they're more than that. Not as much as what ought be, but perfection isn't the appropriate criterion of comparison.
That's a good point. Denial is everywhere. Money should be made available to hospitals so that these people can be taken care of.
I hope that the media covers everybody who starves and freezes to death on the street this winter as closely as they have covered Condit's fling with an intern. Some very strong consciousness raising is in order.
After all, it will be happening right across the street from the White House...Just a stone's throw from the Rose Garden.
posted on August 12, 2001 02:36:49 PM
Good point, saabsister. I would rather have my tax dollars directed toward treatment of addiction and mental illness, rather than a "voice mail" service. But then I live in Southern California where we have a disproportionate amount of homeless (I think). It's been a problem ever since Reagan turned them out of the state hospitals.
The proportion of "down on their luck, just need a job" homeless here is very small compared to the mentally ill and chemically addicted. And those wouldn't be able to hold a job anyway. Sorry if this is un "pc".
posted on August 12, 2001 02:40:55 PM
Piss enough times in the general vicinity you are aiming at and eventually it will start to run in streams as it gathers in a larger and larger puddle. Wouldve's, couldve's, shouldve's dont cut it. Baby steps. One small deed after another as long as its positive.
posted on August 12, 2001 02:45:28 PM
...and things are moving in the opposite direction with respect to addiction and alcoholism treatment. There used to be a 28 day inpatient rehab program at the hospital down the road; it's been abandoned, and such treatment is now folded in with the general psych population. Reason? Insurance companies generally no longer cover the 28 day gig. So now everyone is cured in well under a week with a couple days of valium, four twenty minute sessions with a shrink, and a little group therapy. If not for volunteers bringing AA and NA meetings in, there'd be nothing whatsoever happening to folks checked in there which directly addresses their problem.
-gaffan- [email protected]
posted on August 12, 2001 05:47:07 PM
The minimum 28 day program costs about $25K and arrangements for payment must be worked out before you enter. Many are uninsured.
There is a program here that works well. It is an independant program which receives no federal funding. Basically it's a farm. You receive free alcohol and drug treatment, housing, job assistance, etc. and in return you work for your keep. They grow some crops for sale. They do the upkeep of the property. Cut grass with a tractor, etc.
While all this is being discussed, there are mentions of funding. Where is this funding to come from? Most funding for food and housing comes from religious groups and charitable organizations (most with religious roots) with the medical treatment coming at least in part from the government.
The big issue here at the moment is that medicare (I mean MEDICARE, not just for the homeless) is BANKRUPT within a couple of months. This encompasses the homeless, the elderly, children on medicaid, children on CHIPS, other needy. The only workable solution will come from diverting tobacco settlements. (Which is good and praise God that they MAY come through in time.) And what about all those that even Medicaid and CHIPS leaves without medical care?
There are also those (not all) who will NOT receive help when the choice is alcohol/drugs v. responsibility. What is the solution for them? I can't think of one besides continual support. Who will support them and for how long?
Habitat for Humanity is an excellent program woth mentioning. You must work 800 hours of "sweat equity" building homes for others...and then you get a home of your own. It teaches responsibility while helping those in need. It will not work for all, no. But it does work for many. Those who are working toward a house often live with relatives (who CAN see both an end in sight and a huge show of responsibility on the part of the dependant.) Corporations donate the materials. Individuals donate the lots. Every church that I have ever attended has participated in building Habitat houses on a regular basis...yet that isn't enough.
T
[ edited by jt on Aug 12, 2001 05:49 PM ]
posted on August 12, 2001 06:21:14 PM
Military bases that have been shut down are just sitting there. Why cant they be used as housing for the homeless? Quanset huts and barracks galore, with cots and mattresses and all that land. I think its a waste that they couldnt be temp housing for those who need a roof over their heads, especially people with families. That would be a start.
posted on August 12, 2001 08:06:48 PM
I've wondered the same thing myself Hepburn. There seem to be a lot of wasted resources.
I don't think voice mail should be a priority but I can see where it might help in some cases. The real shame is that the insurance companies are the one's who get to decide who is ill enough to be hospitalized. As long as that's the case there will be more and more mentally ill homeless people. And, no amount of voice mail is going to help them.
edited for sp.
Not paranoid anywhere else but here!
[ edited by mybiddness on Aug 12, 2001 08:07 PM ]
