Post by Mansons2005 on Dec 10, 2013 9:12:30 GMT
I am going to start this thread chronicaling my "work" with some homeless guys simply because it's my forum and I CAN!
Way back in the late 1960's (before MOST of the people I now know were born), and homelessness was not yet a huge issue, we had a place on 25th street in Manhattan. Across the street from us was the rear of a Veteran's Administration building. There was a guy who spent his nights sleeping on the steam grate there. I got into casual conversation with him and discovered that he was a Viet Nam vet, with a substance abuse problem, and that the Vets Admin "couldn't" help him because he was not "living up to the requirements". What ever..........
On the occasions when we would order in food (more often than not), we would usually order an extra pint of fried rice, or a calzone, or a sandwich or something and ask that the delivery guy drop it off with the homeless guy in his way up to our apartment. Eventually many of our neighbors would do the same. When we attempted to find him some help or assistance, we discovered how few resources were available and how strict the rules governing any assistance were. Back then, most of the resources were run by religious or charitable foundations, and they could make the rules as they saw fit. It was SO FRUSTRATING! And as the 1970's progressed, the number of homeless, particularly vets, increased exponentially. And still, resources for long term assistance were few and far between and still riddled with clauses and restrictions.
Keep in mind that this was NOT a life's mission on my part - just something I got involved with on an almost casual basis. And as I moved around the country (and eventually the world), I would give what assistance I could on an equally casual basis. But I was quickly developing a real and bitter dislike for the bureaucracy that governed this issue in the States.
When I moved to Chicago, I had moved to a neighborhood that, while "upscale", was bordered by a large number of homeless, or nearly homeless, people with a myriad of issues. Many were Native Americans, African Americans, or Southern Whites from Kentucky, Tennessee, or Arkansas. Most were uneducated (by contemporary standards) and had substance abuse problems. I had a retail shop at the time and these people would come in on a regular basis to sell me stuff - mostly discarded things they found in skips or trash heaps or abandoned/demolished buildings. And mush of it was profitable. Of course I would turn down the occasional large lot of evening dresses in dry cleaner bags that I knew were not found in a dumpster, but caution was the word!
I got friendly with some of those people and started to give assistance where I could. But, talk about BIG BRICK WALLS! While trying to assist a woman with a child, I was accused (by a government agency) of exploiting her for my own benefit and her application was refused on THAT basis. In the course of my dealings in my shop I got friendly with a (large!) group of young people in the area, Known as the Jesus People, who ran a large (and profitable) commune type organization. They also ran a shelter and passed out food to the homeless. But they were governed by the city/state laws and by their own religious strictures, so there was no long term assistance there either. So I began to explore and learn more about this situation on my own.
OOPS! Just saw the time - have to run - TO BE CONTINUED................
Way back in the late 1960's (before MOST of the people I now know were born), and homelessness was not yet a huge issue, we had a place on 25th street in Manhattan. Across the street from us was the rear of a Veteran's Administration building. There was a guy who spent his nights sleeping on the steam grate there. I got into casual conversation with him and discovered that he was a Viet Nam vet, with a substance abuse problem, and that the Vets Admin "couldn't" help him because he was not "living up to the requirements". What ever..........
On the occasions when we would order in food (more often than not), we would usually order an extra pint of fried rice, or a calzone, or a sandwich or something and ask that the delivery guy drop it off with the homeless guy in his way up to our apartment. Eventually many of our neighbors would do the same. When we attempted to find him some help or assistance, we discovered how few resources were available and how strict the rules governing any assistance were. Back then, most of the resources were run by religious or charitable foundations, and they could make the rules as they saw fit. It was SO FRUSTRATING! And as the 1970's progressed, the number of homeless, particularly vets, increased exponentially. And still, resources for long term assistance were few and far between and still riddled with clauses and restrictions.
Keep in mind that this was NOT a life's mission on my part - just something I got involved with on an almost casual basis. And as I moved around the country (and eventually the world), I would give what assistance I could on an equally casual basis. But I was quickly developing a real and bitter dislike for the bureaucracy that governed this issue in the States.
When I moved to Chicago, I had moved to a neighborhood that, while "upscale", was bordered by a large number of homeless, or nearly homeless, people with a myriad of issues. Many were Native Americans, African Americans, or Southern Whites from Kentucky, Tennessee, or Arkansas. Most were uneducated (by contemporary standards) and had substance abuse problems. I had a retail shop at the time and these people would come in on a regular basis to sell me stuff - mostly discarded things they found in skips or trash heaps or abandoned/demolished buildings. And mush of it was profitable. Of course I would turn down the occasional large lot of evening dresses in dry cleaner bags that I knew were not found in a dumpster, but caution was the word!
I got friendly with some of those people and started to give assistance where I could. But, talk about BIG BRICK WALLS! While trying to assist a woman with a child, I was accused (by a government agency) of exploiting her for my own benefit and her application was refused on THAT basis. In the course of my dealings in my shop I got friendly with a (large!) group of young people in the area, Known as the Jesus People, who ran a large (and profitable) commune type organization. They also ran a shelter and passed out food to the homeless. But they were governed by the city/state laws and by their own religious strictures, so there was no long term assistance there either. So I began to explore and learn more about this situation on my own.
OOPS! Just saw the time - have to run - TO BE CONTINUED................
