Homeless citizens

**sumas** · May-29-09, 01:44 AM

Homeless shelters are for the most part big frauds. I have to assume they get state or grant funding. Operators collect money and then treat the homeless with zero respect and sub standard housing.

We have a friend who has been homeless now for several years. He has several advanced degrees and is not mentally ill. The details of how he came to this situation are too complicated and lengthy to note. We supported him for a few years but our circumstances changed. Other friends of his did the same for as long as they could.

Every sixty to ninety days we have to assist in finding a new shelter. They all claim to provide basic services but the reality is they don't. Most require "residents" to leave at 8:30 am and can't return until 4:30 pm. Makes no difference if the weather is zero out or if these people have adequate clothing. No laundry facilities and prisoners get better and healthier food.

It breaks my heart to see this type of treatment to good decent people. This economy has put too many people at risk and in these situations.

**exdetroiter** · May-29-09, 08:21 AM

This is truly sad, but what can we do as a community, when most of us are one paycheck away from being their ourselves. Is it a govermental issue or civilian issue?

**gazhekwe** · May-29-09, 09:06 AM

It's both. In case you forget, ours is a government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people. We are the government. It acts at our will. If we are ignoring a problem, so will the government. RE: Homeless peope, our tendency lo, these many generations, has been to look the other way and hope these people will find a way on their own "like we do."

It is obvious Sumas' friend is a smart learner, but he must have some serious issues if he cannot find his own shelter. One problem with the situation where we might bring our collective ability to bear is the need for an address. It is hard to find anything without a stable contact address for replies. Looking for work? What kind of job can you find where you just walk in and start working without need to provide an address for the company to provide to the various tax entities? Where can you even apply where the employer does not need contact info to notify you if you are hired? You can't apply for income or food assistance without an address. You might not have transportation or a phone to get around and make applications for things you need. That could be a good cost effective starting point. We have a voice, where they do not. If we care, it is up to us to keep our government's shoulder to the wheel.

**WolverinesA2** · May-29-09, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by Ralph

What field are his degrees in?

Or is that too complicated to note as well?

Advanced degrees, not mentally ill, and is still homeless? Sorry, there's not really any excuse for that. I smell a drug or gambling problem at work.

**Alley** · May-29-09, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by WolverinesA2

Advanced degrees, not mentally ill, and is still homeless? Sorry, there's not really any excuse for that. I smell a drug or gambling problem at work.

BINGO!

An educated person of sound mind would have figured something out after YEARS of homelessness, unless a drug habit [[or some habit) was holding them back. If this guy has been taken in by countless friends, not got himself together, and has been put back on the streets by said friends, something is going on.

LodgeDodger · May-29-09, 05:11 PM

Sorry, Sumas. I cannot agree with your statement that homeless shelters are frauds. It may seem inhumane to you to put the homeless on the street in the AM, but many of these centers only have room at night to house these folks.

I've volunteered at a couple of the shelters. Those where I've volunteered were trying to do the best with what they had.

**sumas** · May-29-09, 06:27 PM

No, no drug problem, remember he lived with us for two years. He had his own company for 10 years. He pulled in more than $250K a year and had a beautiful home in Grosse Pointe Shores. Priviously he worked in public television and held some important positions in city government. His specialty is fiber optics. His company made the mistake of banking on too few companies as clients. When they went belly up so did he.

When the money was gone his wife booked. She married him on a rebound from his divorce. She wanted the gravy train and had it for many years.

While he lived with us he actively sought work daily on the internet and did lots of networking. If he is in a shelter near a library he still works the boards.

There are a few decent shelters but most are not. One he went into had no beds or cots.

It is true, so many of us are a few pay checks away from what he is going through. Try for a little kindness, people. We need better solution in this society on how to handle displaced workers.

**East Detroit** · May-29-09, 07:51 PM

Sumas, bless you for continuing to help your friend. You are doing the right thing.

I find myself initially wanting to also point out something like "he didn't save enough" like some others are, but I realize it is probably partially based in wanting to feel that it could never happen to me. Strange things do happen, though.

One thing people do not realize is that once you have tipped the scales and are on the other side it is very difficult to come back. Homeless do not have permanent addresses, so it is hard to even fill out a job application and give an address or a phone number to be contacted at. It is hard to keep oneself groomed to the minimal level required to be presentable. It is hard to come up with a security and first month's deposit on an apartment even if you do find a minimum wage job.

Hopefully he is able to use your address and phone number for job contacts.

Beyond that... yes, we as a society do not care about our needy as much as we care about our luxuries. How many would give up their cell phone and entertainment expenses in order to assure themselves that the elderly have medical care and the homeless have a place to keep warm?

DetroitDad · May-29-09, 08:04 PM

Sumas, I agree 100%!

I'm in a tough situation myself, and have friends and family who are doing worse. These are good people, some with degrees. This is a complete network of business owners, web designers, IT workers, engineers, veterinarians, ware housing employees, auto parts suppliers, GM employees, retail workers, and food service employees. All are facing tough times and that means that pretty soon, they can no longer help each other out. That means it's only a matter of time before some of these people are out of options and forced to go to the bread lines or homeless shelters. Now these are also people with a large network, many others don't have that, if anyone to help them out. When you are facing 8%-15% unemployment rates, you are going to have some people wiped out.

It is not unreasonable for once respectable people not to be able to find work if they were self employed or in industries that do not easily transfer to other industries. People on this forum are reporting that it's taking them as long as a year to find employment. There are simply not enough jobs out there to go around right now.

DetroitDad · May-29-09, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by WolverinesA2

Advanced degrees, not mentally ill, and is still homeless? Sorry, there's not really any excuse for that. I smell a drug or gambling problem at work.

Have you been there? Degrees look nice on the wall, but in many industries they can really hurt you, since others will be willing to work for much less without them.

DetroitDad · May-29-09, 08:26 PM

Originally Posted by LodgeDodger

Sorry, Sumas. I cannot agree with your statement that homeless shelters are frauds. It may seem inhumane to you to put the homeless on the street in the AM, but many of these centers only have room at night to house these folks.

I've volunteered at a couple of the shelters. Those where I've volunteered were trying to do the best with what they had.

Does the space just disappear during the day?

I actually think they let people in too early, anywhere from 3:00-5:00pm. That time frame means you have to get there early to wait in line. All this effectively makes it next to impossible to have a bed and look for or start a job at the same time.

Sumas, if you want to see scams and hardship you should accompany your friend to the welfare, employment, or any other government offices to attempt to obtain assistance. You wouldn't believe the crap these people go through. They often require multiple appointments that can last for most of the day, also assuring that you have no chance of getting into the homeless shelter, or effectively hold a job.

**sumas** · May-29-09, 09:50 PM

Thank you, Detroitdad, if they have room during the night, why not the day?

Yes, we have have spent time in welfare offices for ourselves and others. Not fun. Don't want to deal with this but need takes precedent

An address, a phone number and a car are important! Age is also an issue.

**jcole** · May-29-09, 10:48 PM

A number of homeless shelters are in chuches, where, during the day, they probably have activities for the parishoners and possibly classes that they teach. Once the people that use it during the day depart, they can get it ready for the homeless. I know that in Romeo, they use one of the churches one week per month in the above manner, rotatinig with other churches in the area. The bus the homeless over in the evening, feed them and, if they need to, take them to AA meetings. They then sleep, have a breakfast and are bussed back to, I think, Mt. Clemens for the day

**Detroit Stylin** · June-04-09, 01:13 PM

I have to chime in on this one....but as someone who is nearly in a similar situation, people tend to forget the BIG role DEPRESSION plays into this, especially when one has been enduring a trying situation for a significant length of time.

So for those who have simply written sumas friend off as someone who placed them selves in that situation then i HOPE....ohman i HOPE that you NEVER have to deal with Depresion cause it is a very real thing and iwll mess ya up quite badly....

**DocTerry** · June-04-09, 01:37 PM

Those shelters that are not in churches often have no money for staffing during the day - no staffing means you can't have people in the building. As has been said by others - shelters are doing the best they can with ever-diminishing resources, with staff often working for much less than you would imagine and continuously decreasing staffing levels. It's miserable to stay in them and miserable to work in them.

**Maxine1958** · June-04-09, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by Detroit Stylin

I have to chime in on this one....but as someone who is nearly in a similar situation, people tend to forget the BIG role DEPRESSION plays into this, especially when one has been enduring a trying situation for a significant length of time.

So for those who have simply written sumas friend off as someone who placed them selves in that situation then i HOPE....ohman i HOPE that you NEVER have to deal with Depresion cause it is a very real thing and iwll mess ya up quite badly....

As someone who has been diagnosed as clinically depressed and bounced along the border of 'functioning', I'll add my comments to this thread also.

The only thing that kept me functioning during my dark bout with depression was the fear of being homeless. Because I knew that if I crossed that line I would never be able to come back.

As it's been said on this thread before without an address and/or phone number it's impossible to secure a job. Without a job it's impossible to get housing. Without housing, well, here we are.

I've known a few people who've managed to pull themselves back, but it's an awfully hard and steep road to walk.

And it has nothing to do with drugs or alcohol or any other addiction. Just that overwhelming all consuming feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness.

God help Sumas' friend.

**Detroit Stylin** · June-04-09, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by Maxine1958

As someone who has been diagnosed as clinically depressed and bounced along the border of 'functioning', I'll add my comments to this thread also.

The only thing that kept me functioning during my dark bout with depression was the fear of being homeless. Because I knew that if I crossed that line I would never be able to come back.

As it's been said on this thread before without an address and/or phone number it's impossible to secure a job. Without a job it's impossible to get housing. Without housing, well, here we are.

I've known a few people who've managed to pull themselves back, but it's an awfully hard and steep road to walk.

And it has nothing to do with drugs or alcohol or any other addiction. Just that overwhelming all consuming feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness.

God help Sumas' friend.

TY Maxine......people just do not tend to understand how deep depression can and will affect someone who is dealing with that disorder.

**sumas** · June-05-09, 05:35 AM

Everyone has thoughtful insights. Churches are to be commended for their efforts. It is a gift from the heart and a congregation's personal donations. It's the skunky graft filled non profits that bug me. The one he is in now, claims rehabilitation, job training along with other services on a sign on the lawn, it's all a lie.

There are good shelters and bad shelters. Better, would be not to need them at all!

Depression is a hugh issue that is not being addressed but most shelters provide only a bed??? for a night.

I recognize that no one anticipated the need for shelters for normally self reliant people turned homeless due to this economy. We need to create "daycare" centers that can provide shuttle service to them. Computers, decent food, medical care but most of all a social environment that doesn't strip a person/family of some dignity.

Detroitdad says it best, that too many of us are on on the brink. It's getting harder and harder to help family/friends in need, since, we too, are one step away from that horrible situation.

Today, in this week, I have no scheduled work, so I will help friends in need with services. No work, even for a day, hurts me financially and and takes me closer to that edge myself.

Thanks for letting me vent my concern and fear.

**jcole** · June-05-09, 07:10 AM

Since the state of Michigan gutted its mental health system back in the 80's and 90's, the homeless problem has become a greater issue. A lot of the homeless are people who would have been helped with either in-house care or out-patient therapy for depression, bi-polar disorder, schitzophrenia and other treatable disorders. Now, they're just left to themselves with little or no help.

**exdetroiter** · June-05-09, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitDad

Sumas, I agree 100%!

I'm in a tough situation myself, and have friends and family who are doing worse. These are good people, some with degrees. This is a complete network of business owners, web designers, IT workers, engineers, veterinarians, ware housing employees, auto parts suppliers, GM employees, retail workers, and food service employees. All are facing tough times and that means that pretty soon, they can no longer help each other out. That means it's only a matter of time before some of these people are out of options and forced to go to the bread lines or homeless shelters. Now these are also people with a large network, many others don't have that, if anyone to help them out. When you are facing 8%-15% unemployment rates, you are going to have some people wiped out.

It is not unreasonable for once respectable people not to be able to find work if they were self employed or in industries that do not easily transfer to other industries. People on this forum are reporting that it's taking them as long as a year to find employment. There are simply not enough jobs out there to go around right now.

For all of the above case sceanarios, this is why I say we are going through a depression.
It is very true that there are not enough resources available for those whom are down [[and soon to be out). Unfortnately, due to the economy, know one has the financial resources to even begin to start correct this problem. All we can do is pray for those whom are having the hardest of times right now. In the meantime, those of us whom may be unemployed have to be proactive rather than reactive specifically because we now see that anything is possible.

**Bobl** · July-08-09, 01:35 PM

S: I hope your friend is hanging on.

A few years ago, there would be far more negative posts about his situation. The severe recession has shown many who previously thought that they were immune that homelessness can, and is, happening to good people.
After months of looking for work, I have just been offered a job that pays less than I made 25 years ago. It will pay for the bare necessities. Fortunately, I have good health and was able to save an emergency fund which kept us in our home, and I have a network of friends for moral support. Others have not been so lucky, and are literally out in the street.
Too many people are just a few paychecks away from losing their homes.

I trust that you will continue to do what you can for your acquaintance. It is sad and totally unacceptable that society is not.

**sumas** · July-18-09, 03:58 AM

New update which is both sad and hopeful. Our friend had a bad accident and was hospitalized. We notified his family from which he has been estranged. One family member has stepped up to the plate and things are looking very hopeful.

**tahleel** · July-25-09, 07:00 PM

At times, I feel bad for the homeless, but many times, I do not. There's a reason why succesful people are were they are, and not-so succesful people are where they are. I say this from experiance because at one point, me and my family had nothing. After years of hard work and many sacrifices, my family is in a better place than where we were before.

Now, more than ever, it has been easier for people to find jobs. With as many Michigan Works offices there are in South Eastern Michigan, any can have access to computers. Want jobs to contact you? Anyone can have an e-mail address for free. Want them to call you? Buy a minute-phone for $10-$20. They usually come pre-loaded with an hour of talk time. Need them to send you information? A P.O. box is as low as $20/year depending on your location. Need transportation? A bus card is your friend.

You may ask how might one pay for all of this, when they have nothing to begin with? Plasma banks give $30-40 per stick. More so the first time you go. People need to utilize the tools that are offered to them.

Michigan Works is even giving out grants of up to $5000/year for people to go to school. There should be no reason not to better yourself. There's always jobs in the medical field. I'm an EMT and I got a job even before I graduated. My girlfriend is a CNA, she got a job shortly after she completed the program. The CNA program she did was only FOUR WEEKS. If someone can't invest that time into theirselves, why should I waste my time helping them out?

And by the way, yes you can get food assistance without an address. You can have everything sent to the FHA building where you applied for it. Income assistance's preferred method is direct deposit, and thus you no longer need to have a physical address for checks to be sent to.

If you fall into the right age group, you can always enlist into the military. If medical conditions hold you back from that or work, you can apply for disability. There are MANY many programs out there.

Days of the helpless homeless are gone. With the advances of technology, prices lowering for many goods/services, and opportunities to make some cash [[albeit small), it still boggles my mind why we still have so many.

-Tahleel

**sumas** · July-26-09, 08:32 AM

Sad really that you have no heart to share with the down and out homeless. Sadder even, that you are doing so well but can't even spell. Go figure. Ignorance, must indeed be bliss

**Bobl** · July-26-09, 07:31 PM

T:
Your post: "...Now, more than ever, it has been easier for people to find jobs..."
amused me. Anecdotal entries are easier to submit than factual arguments, so I will ignore the unemployment statistics and the state of the economy, both of which can be quantified, and offer an anecdotal rebuttal:

It took me many months to find employment. Found a job recently that pays about what I made 25 years ago. If I did not have the good fortune to have been able to save a "crisis fund", and have good health, I might be homeless, like thousands of others.
In the past, it never took me more than a few weeks to find employment. In my most pessimistic assumptions, I never thought that it would be as difficult as it was to find employment this year. Several friends are in a similar situation.

Your attitude toward those less fortunate than yourself is not at all amusing, though. Real people are suffering real hardship. It does not require a lot of effort to show a little respect for people. Get off your high horse, and purchase a dictionary!