homelessness - Jezebel

posts about #homelessness more →
Excess Baggage
A New York State Of Mind
Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
"Miss Homeless" Pageant Gives Winner A Home — The Rest Are Out Of Luck
An Embarrassment Of Riches
Today In Homelessness & Fashion: An Internship, An Ill-Advised Photo Shoot
A Cross To Bear
Send In The Clowns
Hold Your Hand Up (High)
Street News: One Guy Weighs Love, Freedom

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erinna
10/22/09

In reply to A New York State Of Mind
I was walking across 46th street a few weeks ago and I saw a woman wearing two black garbage bags tied together for clothing. It's probably the worst thing I've seen since moving here. I felt so horrible, I still get shaken up thinking about it.

Bloomberg has done some good things for the city, but I'm also pretty dissappointed in a lot of things he's done. He's basically made it a corporate haven, pushing out a lot of smaller independent businesses. I think it would be an interesting point to know if the rise in homelessness is due more specifically to Bloombergs policies or if its due to the economic crash in general. #newyorkhomelessness
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taranwanderer
10/22/09

In reply to A New York State Of Mind
It always breaks my heart to see so many homeless as the weather gets colder.

NPR was talking about homelessness the other day (maybe it was All Things Considered?) and said something about how Boston has some policy where they never turn away homeless in need of shelter -- even if it means housing people in motels. Does anyone know if NY has something similar? #newyorkhomelessness
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nshepherd
10/22/09

In reply to A New York State Of Mind
New York City Shelters are at 100% capacity this year and it's already October. The city has also cut funding for all of the women's shelters in New York. It's absolutely terrible.

I am working on an outreach project that will reach over 1,200 homeless persons this January and this year it is specifically our mission to reach out to the female homeless population. If any of you are interested in volunteering with us, please let me know.
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taranwanderer
10/22/09

@nshepherd: I just PMed you. #newyorkhomelessness
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screaming_on_the_inside
10/22/09

In reply to A New York State Of Mind
I would be curious to know how much of that 45% rise during Bloomberg's reign was in the last few years with the housing market crash, etc. How much of it is his decisions & how much just the state of the economy today? #newyorkhomelessness
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BornYesterday
10/22/09

In reply to A New York State Of Mind
My annoying coworker who has a massive superiority complex was telling a group of us at the office recently how she was in NYC and saw a homeless guy sit up on park bench to answer his cell phone, with the attitude that "How bad can it be if he has a cell phone/where are his priorities?" I pointed out that a lot of formerly middle class are now living in their cars, but may still have cell phones for job-searching. Or maybe he either found it or stole it. Everyone acted like I was a major buzzkill for not laughing along and saying "Can you imagine? A homeless man with a cell phone!" like they did. Sometimes I weep for the future. #newyorkhomelessness
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Ailatan
10/22/09

In reply to A New York State Of Mind
Homelessness is so scary, I always get the feeling that these men and women (sometimes with children) are a step closer to insanity, living in a hostile environment and dealing with life on the streets is enough to send one over the edge.

I hope the economy crisis is resolved sooner other than later, so less people are forced to live on the streets. #newyorkhomelessness
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nex0s
10/22/09

In reply to A New York State Of Mind
The group also said that 2009 has turned out to be 'the worst on record for New York City homelessness since the Great Depression.

That terrifies me. #newyorkhomelessness
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BytheSea
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
I work at a public library, the lint trap of humanity.I see a lot of really sad, pathetic cases like this. We're the bar that can't send them home when they've had too many books to drink. When people's lives are like this, it's always more complicated than "just get a job" or "just apply for a service."

Have you guys seen Grey Gardens? That's just the tip of the ice berg. Families grow together like ivy, tangled and dependent and choking each other half to death. They're negative and drowning and miserable for any social worker to try to help because all their problems are a nest of complications and history.

Nothing ever seems to get better for these people because they're addicted to the chaos and subsistance living. I don't know how they get this way, but I know that there's a way you can get so far off the normal track of life that normal doesn't even seem attractive anymore. #homelessness
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Red-headed bookworm
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
:( They can come to Indiana where housing is cheaper and get a place to live. Yeah, the winter suck, but they won't be homeless. That's horrible that she doesn't make enough on SS to live on. She's 92! She should be able to relax, not worry, etc. #homelessness
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Alessar
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
She must have had some terrible family history. It's no wonder that she and her 2 sons want to stay together as a family unit at this point. #homelessness
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gherkinfiend
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
I'm not comfortable with the questioning as to why she isn't in contact with her other 6 children. She could be the world's biggest bitch, but she's worked and paid tax and she, like all old people, deserves to live out her days in a safe secure environment, regardless of her personality or how her life worked out.

(That said, the article is pretty badly written.) #homelessness
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kung fu lola
10/16/09

@gherkinfiend: I think the fact that "Why don't her kids care for her?" is the first question people ask, is a symptom of America's tendency to favour individualism over more collective ideals. In a more socialist country, the idea that someone who has worked all their days and had an honest life should have a safety net if their original plans go awry, or luck is against them, is a no-brainer. Often in the American MSM, the public discourse over people like the Bergers is framed in terms of their personal "mistakes", as if everyone who works hard will always come out on top, and if you didn't, well, I guess you didn't work hard enough, or squandered what you had. If "socialism" is a dirty word to (hypothetical) you, then hearing someone "deserves to live out her days in a safe secure environment, regardless of her personality or how her life worked out." is going to get your hackles up. #homelessness
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BytheSea
10/16/09

@kung fu lola: It's entirly likey she's very mentally ill and is beyond all help. The other children may have had to separate ties for their own safety and security. #homelessness
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SarahMC
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
The elderly should not have to depend on adult children to take care of them in their old age. It is only right that they do (if they didn't grow up abused/neglected/whatever), but a person should not have to procreate in order to somehow guarantee that they will not become destitute when they're old and helpless. #homelessness
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AndPreciousLittleofThat
10/16/09

@SarahMC: I agree wholeheartedly. My wife's parents are both retired, and they spend money faster than anyone I've ever seen. It makes me very nervous, because they say things like "we took care of you (my wife and her brother) so that later you could take care of us."

NO. Make a PLAN. Then stick to it. #homelessness
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WashingMyHair
10/16/09

@SarahMC: Thank you. This is something I struggle with. I've had to support my father in some way or another since I was still in college. I feel it's the right thing to do for him, but I hate think about what it would be like for him if he had no children. #homelessness
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Cimorene
10/16/09

@SarahMC: Also, elderly people depending on their children for care is basically what social services looked like in the middle ages. And it was not a good situation. Elderly people were the most miserably poor, generally lived on handouts from the church and begging door to door, and if something went wrong in the village and there was an elderly woman living alone, she was likely to have been accused of being responsible for it because she's a witch, and then maybe getting burned alive at the stake.

Government run social services like this are imperative if we want to continue to think of ourselves as "more advanced" than the 14th century. #homelessness
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lovecake
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
Their is a LOT of oddness in this story- so many unanswered questions. Why didn't the reporter delve deeper?? #homelessness
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MegiEr
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
I deal with this a lot in my work in low income housing. The lists for subsidized housing can be years long, especially if you don't have a homeless priority. Unfortunately for a lot of places, "homeless" does not equal living out of your car or on a friends couch. You are only officially homeless if you stay at a shelter and can prove it. And most shelters don't let families with adult children stay together, especially if they aren't of the same gender. If the family isn't willing to split up, it limits opportunities.

The whole system kinda sucks. #homelessness
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sybann
10/16/09

In reply to Life On the Streets Is Tough. Being Homeless At 97 Is Tougher.
I for one, do not pay taxes so we can vaporize children in different countries because they live near possible terrorists. I pay taxes because I want a government to provide us with decent roads, educational systems, enough "big sticks" to deter whackadoos and a safety net for my brothers and sisters so that I don't feel responsible when I see a 97 year-old woman living in the front seat of a car.

This is reprehensible in this country - and if our representatives cannot do a better job then we need to make sure they don't represent us. Ever. #homelessness
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WashingMyHair
10/16/09

@sybann: In order to change this type of shit from continuing from happening, we need to completely reform our electoral system. Poor people don't have lobby power. Sadly, that's really what it all comes down to. #homelessness
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MrsButterworth
10/16/09

@WashingMyHair: It's part of the problem (lobby power) but the other part is just as frustrating: for the most part, the poorest people in America are the people most likely to elect leaders who do NOT have their economic interests in mind. #homelessness
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WashingMyHair
10/16/09

@MrsButterworth: You're right. Another sad reality. #homelessness
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