Street-level view of homelessness — is this
the year to entertain new notions of the crisis?
Fox News,
by
Judith Knotts
Original Article
Posted By: MissMolly,
1/6/2020 4:10:19 AM
I know, I know. The homeless smell bad sometimes. They look scary, with layers of clothing and dirty hands. They litter our streets with cardboard boxes, fast-food wrappers and empty bottles. They sleep on sidewalks or in tents under bridges, testing sanitation limits.
It sounds pretty awful, I admit. This is the picture you and I see in our cities and towns. It makes us want to turn away and escape to our tidy houses.
It makes us angry, too. Most of us work or worked when we were younger. Most of us portion out our paychecks for housing, food, clothing and occasional recreation.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
mean Gene 1/6/2020 5:11:24 AM (No. 280004)
This woman likes playing at being homeless.
Interesting, is it?
Every now and then we hear about how regular people pretend to be homeless to beg for cash and get loads of money from strangers.
But those are play actors, not real homeless people.
Real homeless people have made some bad life decisions that showed they put their "freedom" over their responsibility.
Now they want their freedom but you to pay for their needs.
And people like her are pushing for you to be enslaved so as to pay them.
(When was tax freedom day, last year?)
34 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
udanja99 1/6/2020 6:55:37 AM (No. 280052)
I don’t see it in my city. But then, I live in a red state.
31 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Highlander 1/6/2020 7:16:06 AM (No. 280062)
Ms. Knotts is welcome to embrace them. Me, I’ll just keep my distance so as not to be exposed to feces, stench, and God knows what diseases may be festering amongst them!
31 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 1/6/2020 7:18:41 AM (No. 280067)
Some may be this, and some may be that, but I suspect they all kiss the liberal hand that keeps them on the street.
31 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
TLCary 1/6/2020 7:31:26 AM (No. 280081)
They decided to make their home on the streets. They are house-less, not homeless. Housing comes with tradeoffs they aren't interested in (working, not doing illegal drugs, etc). Most are mentally ill. Once we locked people with these afflictions up in medical facilities to manage their care and lives. They lived in clean controlled environments where they received treatment, proper hygiene, a warm bed, three square meals a day, and medication. Victories by compassionate liberals now have them freezing to death on the streets covered in feces. Funny what their compassion always leads to... resulting in the need for more government and more of our hard earned money.
54 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Laotzu 1/6/2020 7:51:16 AM (No. 280090)
Salt Lake City has become a blue enclave in a red state. And with it has come the homeless. Life must not be too hard, for homeless in a state that gets a few feet of now every winter, or they would be in Vegas, Phoenix or SF.
Is this the year to try new solutions? It always is. But it won't happen, and even if it does, you won't hear about it and it won't be replicated. Because we are no longer a national politic based on reacting to reality. We are now a national politic whose catechism is propaganda. Ignore reality and keep chanting that conservatives are racist and shouting everything they do is a failure, as if it were true. No, the Democrats won't let improvement happen for the mentally disabled and substance dependent. And the Democrats will just keep adding to their numbers by encouraging the derelict, thereby exacerbating the plight of those really in need.
25 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
ZeldaFitzg 1/6/2020 8:19:57 AM (No. 280111)
She lives in Austin, Texas, a town of liberal policies that draw the homeless like a magnet. Last year they tried a cleanup, but I don't know how far it's gotten.
14 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
smcchk 1/6/2020 8:40:19 AM (No. 280128)
She makes excellent points. Some are helpless because of physical, mental, financial and lack of support problems and can’t sustain an organized lifestyle. That we allow the mentally ill to roam free is a discredit to us and to them. We do need to think of solutions. Cracking down hard on drugs would help. There was a crash pad hotel in our town. They took away the troublemakers and drug users and the others were very grateful. But then developers did relocate all of them.
9 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 1/6/2020 9:04:19 AM (No. 280144)
Before leaving the People's Republic of Denver for crimson red Mesa County, Colorado, homeless people, drug junkies, and pushers were everywhere in downtown Denver and still are. Brought to you by the dim-controlled and highly corrupt state government and equally corrupt Denver city council, mayor, Denver deep state, and local msm.
But, there is another kind of homeless people. We have a few homeless veterans panhandling for change at our street corners in Grand Junction. They arrive from other areas and are mostlynVietnam vets who are in their late 60s who never got their lives back on track after their tours of duty were over. They are attracted to GJ because the VA medical center here meets their medical needs. After a few days on the street corner, I understand they are being absorbed into the workforce and other retired military are housing them.
16 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Flagstone 1/6/2020 9:05:27 AM (No. 280146)
I live in Austin, she is off base. First of all, where are the women and kids? 98% of homeless are males of working age that have either decided their pursuit of freedom gives them the right to do as they please and/or have serious mental issues. The mayor’s plan follows a well worn and failed script of decriminalizing homeless thereby becoming a magnet (cities ship them here) then cite the rising homeless population as a sign of a housing crisis. They then (attempting to) ram down radical zoning changes. It’s a sham. Lib policies closed mental institutions, this is the result of their terrible ideals. And as of this weekend in Austin, innocent people are starting to lose their life forgetting the fact that most intersections are becoming hostile with broken windows, kicked in door panels...and forget even going downtown for dinner.
18 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Calamity Kate 1/6/2020 9:20:42 AM (No. 280169)
She uses some interesting quantifiers in her article to describe the homeless. The modifier "some" is placed in front of "are drug users" and "are alcoholics". Certainly not 'all', as that's a statistical improbability. But we can definitely say 'most'. And 'most' refuse to avail themselves of shelters and other reach-out resources because these resources and shelters demand a small level of accountability .... as in refrain from drugs and alcohol while in the shelter or the public housing. We really need to begin looking at this as a drug epidemic that LEADS to a homeless epidemic.
15 people like this.
Ponder away...okay...
In Europe I have seen "apartment complexes" constructed out of shipping containers. These are cheap, kept clean, and governed by the tenants. I suggest building a few on vacant locations and giving the "houseless" a chance to leave the streets under simple conditions as terms of a time-limited lease.
- Clothing and personal articles will be kept clean at all times. Persons will exercise daily hygiene and grooming. If needed, articles of clothing will be issued upon entry, with surrender of substandard corresponding articles. Maintenance will be the responsibility of the tenant.
- Any arrest for any reason is cause for expulsion. Any violent behavior within the complex is cause for expulsion.
- No use or possession of drugs, alcohol or any other addictive materials. No porn materials.
- No use of vulgar language.
- No in-apartment television. Community kitchen to serve meals. Community facilities to dispel the "loneliness" they are said to feel.
- Education or self-improvement workshops mandatory, with "field application" to maintain and/or better the complex. Prepares one for real employment.
- Any school-age children will attend their classes/activities as scheduled. Truancy will result in program expulsion.
- Length of stay limited to one year.
I'm happy to help out. I'm not happy to be taken as a sucker.
19 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
starboard 1/6/2020 9:33:49 AM (No. 280179)
I would like to see something positive and creative done about homelessness in this country. This problem is not going to go away by itself and is progressively getting worse. Right now, churches do what they can and there are agencies and organizations that help immensely.
Perhaps turn these big malls that are closing down all over the country into homeless centers. They are large enough to provide many services and also help homelessness people with jobs. It's large undertaking, but it's doable. You start with one, and then create others. This is the USA...that's what we do here. Billionaires like Bezos, Bloomberg, Zuckerberg and Gates know that and they have the resources to do something humanitarian and meaningful. Curing Malaria and Aids in Africa is a great cause. However, shouldn't we also focus on solutions here at home? These same people talk about Climate Change like it's an imminent threat. How about something that is an existential reality and call it Environment Change...a real change in our everyday environment.
9 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Clinger 1/6/2020 10:00:50 AM (No. 280207)
I'm with you #12! There needs to be a humane option for shelter, food and hygiene. With few exceptions for the severely mentally retarded (there I said it) and damaged veterans, there should zero empathy for those unwilling to accept societies generosity on societies terms. We offer the necessities and if you decline we can offer the necessities with bars and forces showers. Get the hell off our streets.
I'll also add that there needs to be a tiered system in which those willing to take classes job training, assisting within the facility etc. which provides stair steps of reward for learning the behaviors in preparation for getting on ones own feet.
9 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Strike3 1/6/2020 10:27:34 AM (No. 280233)
No, they are not people like us. Their only goal in life is that next needle or bottle of rotgut wine. Count how many times this bleeding heart uses the word, "victim." The reason we have so many homeless is that they have it far better now than in years past, with shelters, food, permission to live like animals and clean needles provided for their debilitating drug habit. If this woman keeps up her mission of brotherly compassion she will eventually be dragged into a tent and gang raped. That will be her final lesson in homeless existence.
13 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
previouslyon24 1/6/2020 10:34:51 AM (No. 280244)
The leftist media control of words has chosen "homeless" and "homelessness"as the description of choice in order to create once again a victim mythology instead of what used to be common sense. These people are vagrants, lots of them drug related, but many, many of the tent dwellers now populating the blue cities are not homeless at all, they simply are residents choosing to live temporarily cheaper than others who rent normal spaces.
8 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
weejun 1/6/2020 10:37:46 AM (No. 280245)
Some more ponder, #12:
Through a lack of common sense and an overly protective attitude towards those who don't meet even basic societal norms, we have tilted the scales on solving/reducing this problem primarily to the arena of coddling, with virtually NO expectations of personal responsibility on the part of the homeless. There is an old adage - or at least there should be one - that says "expect nothing from people and you will get nothing from them." This was probably first learned by the Pilgrims when they tried to establish a socialistic society in the New World, only to find that human nature tends towards not wanting to exert much effort if things are handed to you by others who are willing to work for those things. Until our society can return to a balance between compassion and not enabling the homeless, we will only see this problem grow.
And, Judith, your "some" characterization is extremely misleading since real studies of the homeless show the vast majority of these people are addicts, while the second largest segment is the mentally ill. For one of the more in-depth examinations of the homeless problem, Google "Seattle Is Dying Video" on Youtube and listen to the KOMO reporter's conclusions at the end: it blows the liberal slant on homelessness completely out of the water.
14 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Cousair 1/6/2020 10:50:36 AM (No. 280258)
The best way to help the homeless, drive them to the voting booth in November and suggest they vote Republican to make the streets clean again.
7 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Strike3 1/6/2020 10:53:08 AM (No. 280263)
I support building them facilities that provide the basics, call them "mental institutions" and there will be widespread support but keep them isolated from the rest of society. The way they live now is dangerous to "normal" people. Some panhandlers are simply a nuisance, others will harass and threaten you. #12 lays out some good guidelines. If the leaders in these cities ever sat down and calculated what their lenient homeless policies really cost them in terms of lost tourism, lost business to local establishments, property values, lost tax revenue, etc. they would choke.
9 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 1/6/2020 11:01:38 AM (No. 280271)
There are shelters now. These people choose not to stay in them because there are rules.
11 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
columba 1/6/2020 11:05:52 AM (No. 280275)
Perhaps the reason homelessness is larger in Democrat-controlled cities is because Democrats tend to dismiss God as a reality and make decisions without Him.
9 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
jacksin5 1/6/2020 11:20:34 AM (No. 280290)
In my lifetime, there have always been Hobos, tramps and winos. They always encamped under bridges, or in the "weeds" on the edge of town or by the railyard. The only real change is that the Left has invited them to camp out in the city proper, providing food clothing etc.
Their only chance to break the cycle, the State Hospitals, have been shuttered, and the other chance at redemption the Salvation Army, is constantly under attack.
9 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
DVC 1/6/2020 11:21:03 AM (No. 280292)
We do need to have a place to put the mentally ill who are unable to care for themselves. This has long been a recognized need in societies, although in many cases the "care" has been pretty uncaring. I am no bleeding heart, but I do understand that if some human being is truly unable to care for themselves, they should not be discarded by society. There should be some sort of minimal care available in a mental institution, with locked doors.
As to drug addicts....they are mostly criminals, stealing for their habits, and should be in prison. The PTSD folks are presumably veterans and should be cared for by our VA facilities, NO EXCUSES.
Those who just planned poorly, I am willing to give a hand up, but not an endless hand out. A safety net, but not a hammock.
And ultimately, they need to get the hell out of the central public spaces, and be arrested for toilet crimes, although perhaps providing minimalistic, damage-proof toilet facilities would be a good idea, at some remote, edge of the city location. A design contest for damage resistant, "clean with a firehose once a week" kind of basic toilets could be held to come up with an affordable system that would survive the vandalism that it would have to endure.
6 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
legalart 1/6/2020 12:08:27 PM (No. 280339)
Since 1995, I've been involved in volunteer work with homeless people -- all kinds, all colors, and both sexes. I've been to street feeding posts, mission facilities, women abuse shelters, parks -- you name it. It is true that most homeless people are male and able bodied; and it is also true that most have mental issues often compounded by substance abuse. That said, the homeless problem remains simply because no one wants to take the bull by the horns and DO something about it.
A lot of these people are what I call the professional homeless; they tell you they like their lifestyle, want to be left alone, and don't want anybody telling them what to do. I cringe when I see them with iPhones. Many get veterans benefits, SS checks, and/or other govt aid. Unless and until they are not MADE to check into a program, or get themselves into a facility that will help them, there will be no end to it. The stupid, asinine laws that close mental institutions and allow them to roam aimlessly, do more harm to them than anything else. They will continue to shoot up drugs, spread disease, suck up local services paid with our taxes, and engage in criminal activity to sustain their habits.
There's myriad programs and services out there available to them; but no one wants to "force" them to those places. Talk to the people who run those places and hear what they tell you: unless a homeless person is surrounded by structure and normalcy (a/k/a rules) on a sustained basis, and stays there, there is little hope they will improve in any way.
10 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
DVC 1/6/2020 12:11:07 PM (No. 280343)
A thought on 'self cleaning, damage resistant toilet facilities'. It would seem that if the system had a fire hose level spray system installed for cleaning, it could double as a vandalism deterrent. Any attempts at vandalism would set off the very unpleasant high pressure spray nozzles, a deterrent for vandals, it would seem.
5 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
little guy 1/6/2020 1:51:24 PM (No. 280443)
The author of this article is a perfect example of the Stockholm Syndrome. She is now deeply sympathetic to the plight of the very people taking her heart hostage. The "homeless" are NOT you and me!
Simple fact: No one --- I said NO ONE --- in their right minds "chooses" to sleep outside without a roof over their heads. That goes all the way back to cave man times. Those who fancy themselves "freedom" advocates, by definition, are proving they are so unbalanced as to not be able to see what is good for themselves --- namely getting out of the elements. This is prima facie evidence of being mainly nuts. These so-called libertarians make up about 3% of the homeless --- maybe --- while the other 97% are on the spectrum of crazy somewhere between cutely pixelated and eccentric all the way up to full blown ax murderers. Throw drugs and/or alcohol into the mix and you get a social Molotov cocktail.
Simply start to re-apply the law to vagrancy and the homeless problem will be half solved. Then those remaining 50% who are really "hospital-less" instead of "homeless" all need to be restrained for their own benefit.
4 people like this.
The paradise wildfire in butte county sent 50000 people scurrying for their lives.
The 14000 homes destroyed made so many people homeless
My wife and I know that homeless feeling
Not every homeless person is at fault for their plight
PG&E made so many good people homeless
Some have yet to recover
I especially pray for the elderly and the veterans
That was a day of hellfire and death (85)
Veterans for Trump 2020
5 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
mc squared 1/6/2020 2:48:23 PM (No. 280488)
Ms Knotts has a suggestion at the end: 'All of this can be changed' Full stop.
And?
Limiting immigration and deporting those we catch would be a start.
5 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
Peeps 1/6/2020 8:40:32 PM (No. 280776)
First we have to stop calling them "homeless". They are "illegal campers". Stop giving grants to those "nonprofits" (believe me, someone is profiting) that hand out sleeping bags and tents to illegal campers. Fine them for abetting illegal activity. And illegal camping needs to be ILLEGAL and the law enforced. Overturn the court decision that mandates that cities have to have facilities to house illegal campers or they can't remove them from the street. This affects the west coast and you can see the damage it's done.
0 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 1/6/2020 10:45:08 PM (No. 280859)
Homelessness today isn’t down on their luck unfortunates, it’s druggies and cons who’ve learned to work the system, prey on and survive off the kindness of others.
1 person likes this.