Homeless People

[twenty47]

I'm curious as to what people think about the homeless. Do you feel sorry for them? Do you help them? What is your honest opinion about the homeless and is there a solution?

My personal opinion is tooo bad, so sad. I know every single person living on the streets has their own reasons and sometimes it's very hard to change. I'm not heartless, but I feel that if your homeless your there because you chose to be. I mean there are so many gov't programs that do help. There are funds given to these people, I know not every single one of them qualifies but at some point there is a resource for help.

I used to live in Vancouver, BC where there are thousands of people on East Hastings st. You see lots of them sleeping on the sidewalks and always begging for money. A couple of times I've given change to a homeless person and then watched them run into a bar? Come on, I didn't want to buy the person a beer and was hoping they'd get a pizza or something. Then on welfare days you see them out by the thousands getting drunk, high etc. I mean couldn't that money have gone to new clothes, food or try and find a place to live. Then a day or two later they're begging again till next month?

I know some people run into nothing but bad luck and end up losing everything.... God forbid that happens to anybody, but I know if my life changed so drastically that I had to be homeless, I would do everything I could to change that. And in a city where the employment rate is so damn high, I would apply for every job possible even if it were washing dishes and would get as many jobs as I can just for the income to get my life back on track.

I think the people who are homeless have the same opportunity but chose not to make use of them. I don't like seeing homeless people and my heart does go out to them, but I have a family of my own and I can't change somebody else's life if they don't want to change, right?

[homeofhappycats]

I

My personal opinion is tooo bad, so sad.

removed by Boo Radley for being rude

[Sally888]

Ill jump in, for the most part homeless people scare me. Why?
Because a large number of them have proven magor mental illness, or drug or alcohol addictions. Occasionally, since I don't live in the city we do give food or a few bucks to someone walking on the highway while were at a red light, but it scares the crap out of me when they come to the car. Im not going to lie, to me there scary, in fact if one is yelling and shouting obscene things my husband or I lock the car doors. We need to worry about our familys health and safety before others, Im sorry if that offends some but my family is number one.

For the small amount that doesnt have mental or substance addictions, sure I feel sorry for them. We make enough to support ourselves and dont have tons of money to pay for other people, my husbands pay is taxed very well for services such as welfare already.
So I dont really have the ways or means to help out the homeless on a regular basis. I give at food drives, and donate clothes, and of course toys at Christmas. In the area I live in anyone can use the foodbank, so here food shouldnt be an issue, because there going to feed someones whos hungry.

So I guess to me it depends if they have substance abuse problem or not, Im not going to feel sorry for someone who got addicted to heroin on there own accord and now is homeless and lined up at the methodone clinic everyday.

[homeofhappycats]

Rermoved by Boo Radley for being rude

[Sally888]

[homeofhappycats]

I've never heard of the member before today, when I asked her a question.
Unwarranted attacks on the most unfortunate people are never called for.

[Sally888]

[homeofhappycats]

Like I said, I've never heard of her before today. I just asked her one question because I didn't understand what she was doing.
You said "a few other posts" which is untrue.

[Sally888]

Sorry one other post plus this one equals a few, I havent finished going through them.

Ive asked you more then once nicely to stop.

[homeofhappycats]

I will never be silent when I see the least fortunate members of society being harrassed.

[Kate]

So maybe they could have become addicted to some sort of drug, or maybe they just became down on their luck. It's not so easy to get back up.

To get food from the food bank you need a place to cook it. To get a job, you need an address. To get an address you either need someone who will let you live with them, or your own place (which is impossible because you need a job to get a place and subsidized housing has a HUGE waiting list). You need to be clean to get a job, but without somewhere to live that's not going to happen. You need access to the resources to help you out of the situation.

I feel sorry for everyone no matter how they got into the situation. Someone who's mentally ill deserves treatment, not to be an outcast of society. I even feel sorry for the ones who refuse to live in the centres. There was a homeless man in the town where I grew up that biked all year round. He carried everything on that bike. He refused to live in a building because his whole family died in a house fire. He obviously needs some psychiatric help, not to be looked at as less of a person who deserves to live on the street. Nobody deserves that.

[Sally888]

Id like to point out the fact that at my job we actually hired someone who didnt have an address or a permanent residence, was homeless and had the jobbank help him with a resume. Now hes making enough to rent his own apartment.

Im not saying that we should outkast people with mental disease so that there homeless, some choose to go off there meds and not get help, sure some dont but im talking about the ones that do.

I dont look down on homeless people by any means, but im most certainly would never open up my house for a homeless person to live in either. A friend down on there luck sure. A homeless person with drug or mental problems, or that I dont know? No.


Eta, I know im not being rational being scared of homeless people.

[rachel1496]

Id like to point out the fact that at my job we actually hired someone who didnt have an address or a permanent residence, was homeless and had the jobbank help him with a resume. Now hes making enough to rent his own apartment.

Honestly, it's fantastic that you guys did this but not a lot of companies will hire someone in those circumstances.

[anisa]

I think it's different depending on the part of the country you're in. West coast bums are often kids who ran away from home or quebeccers running away from montreal cold.

In ontario, if you're a bum, you're in freeeeeezing cold weather in the winter, and I think the runaway kids think twice before hitting the streets here.

I never gave change in Vancouver, I didn't trust most of the people asking for it. I'd rather donate to local charities that will help these people if they actually need help (not pot)

[twenty47]

When I was living in Edmonton, AB a couple of years ago.... I often wondered how on earth can the homeless survive during the winters there? It's so cold and the winter we were there we had 1 full month of the high being Minus 40? I couldn't imagine not being indoors during weather like this. Even going to the car to warm it up was too brutal for me and I felt so sorry for my boy having to wait for the bell to go just to enter the schools. (even though we stayed in the car until the bell went)

I don't remember tooo much about living in Ottawa, but I do remember being there for my birthday in March and it was still winter. How do you survive without a place indoors?