caring for the homeless and destitute

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.”
― Kahlil Gibran
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

:(

My region is currently embroiled in an issue regarding lack of resources for the homeless.

As these are simply brothers and sisters who have fallen on hard times, please consider lessening their burdens this week by offering food, a kind word, any help that you can to these folks.

The new testament says churches should buy gold tried by fire (souls) and not focus on material wealth. It also says faith without charity is mere noise.

The least of these we are to receive in His/her name.

Also perfect love casts out all fear. My community unfortunately is choosing to be defined by fear.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

If you ladies and gentlemen would like to read the article, Sheila Hagar of Union-Bulletin, Thursday the 14 (I think).

There was a dash of editorial propaganda that she was probably asked to include, but two of the young men were featured in the front page photo.

Although it looks like the church kicked them off the portico, they were on Main St friday wearing smiles. Unlike so many people here who think themselves fortunate.

A smile is hard to price.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
User avatar
Spiritwind
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Inland NW, U.S.
Has thanked: 2478 times
Been thanked: 2935 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Spiritwind »

I don't even know where to begin here, so many thoughts come to mind. During my college years I remember learning about how charity organizations came into existence. It was primarily due to religious organizations giving people a way to do good works (presumably to help insure their entrance into heaven), and maybe some really were motivated by a true sense of wanting to help and be of service to disadvantaged populations. Some may have actually been trying to emulate what they had been taught about the life of Christ. Many looked at those who were down on their luck as if they deserved it though. This kind of touches on the whole idea of class. Even today many in the upper income classes feel a sense of privilege, and that those born into low income, or otherwise disadvantaged circumstances, are somehow not worthy of a better life.

This idea kind of disgusts me. Because I was one of those disadvantaged people as a child, I had to spend years overcoming this idea I had about myself, that I was fundamentally flawed, and unworthy of love. The current trend I see, here in the U.S., where they want to make the problem of homelessness disappear, by making them invisible, rather than offer any real solutions sickens me.

Image

In fact, the whole punitive nature of our so called justice system is a totally unfunny joke. Prisons for profit falls right in there, along with the current trend to get rid of the Juvenile Justice system by trying them in adult courts, and giving the same sentences as if they were an adult. All of the current research flies in the face of this trend, but that doesn't matter. It's all about the money. Heck, I might as well, while I'm on a rant, throw in the current attempt to mess with Social Security by Congress, who plan to try and reduce benefits by 20% by the end of 2016.

I even have a neighbor, who recently knocked on our door to vent about the half mile dirt access road that we live on. His place is up the road from us and he was upset that him and his wife were having a hard time getting in and out because of all the snow we've had this winter. The thing is, he told us he had lived here 35 years, and that no one has ever helped with the road. I know this to be untrue, as I have personally seen the owner of the property we are on out there with a shovel and a snow blower for days helping to clear the road. This neighbor even told me that he just plows it wide enough for him and his wife's vehicle. Because we have a 1/2 ton pickup it is wider than the path he plows, so my husband made a mess of the small narrow passageway he is accustomed to plowing. This made him kind of upset and frustrated, and he even went so far as to tell my husband that he doesn't ever do anything to help anyone else out, it just isn't his way, even though he is an ordained minister who supposedly wants to live a good Christian life. My husband explained to him that we had good intentions of helping with the road, but due to many setbacks beyond our control, have been unable to follow through (we bought an old used tractor that has had one thing after another going on with it).

I would feel sympathy for him, but I can also see that maybe being squeezed a bit out of his comfort zone may actually be a good thing for him. I can't even imagine saying to someone that I just don't ever help anyone out, it's just not my way.

But anyway, back to the homeless and destitute. It seems this same attitude I described above is the driving force behind those in positions of authority don't feel any motivation to help relieve the suffering of others. The thing that gets me the most though, is the active hostility towards those who do feel compelled to do something. I've read several articles recently about groups of well intentioned people starting small home projects to build community housing and shelters for the homeless, and had city authorities come right behind them and tear them down. Now, WTF is going on there? I really can't even wrap my mind around this.

I don't know what the answers are, but until those in positions of being so called public servants are actually filled with people who can feel empathy and a true sense of service to the people, it is not going to get any better.
I see your love shining out from my furry friends faces, when I look into their eyes. I see you in the flower’s smile, the rainbow, and the wind in the trees....
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Spiritwind, thank you so much.
Yes, to make them visible.
It's no more shameful than any other hardship endured by humans.

Sorry to Bible beat. However the Christ did say the poor will Always be among us & to deal with that graciously. Many churches would rather have their weekly car shows 8(

Also in Ezekiel we modern folks can see elucidated a description of the USA. :(

Not the eagle story although that is obvious!

Ezekiel 11:1-24

Then the Spirit lifted me and brought me to the East Gateway of the Lord's temple, where I saw 25 prominent men of the city. Among them were Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Peletiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders among the people.

Then the Spirit said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who are responsible for the wicked counsel being given in this city. They say to the people, 'Is it not a good time to build houses? Our city is like an iron pot. Inside it we will be like meat -- safe from all harm.' Therefore, son of man, prophesy against them loudly and clearly."

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and he told me to say, "This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: Is that what you are saying? Yes, I know it is, for I know every thought that comes into your minds. You have murdered endlessly and filled your streets with the dead.

" Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: This city is an iron pot, but the victims of your injustice are the pieces of meat. And you are not safe, for soon i will drag you from the city. I will expose you to the war you so greatly fear, says the Sovereign Lord. I will drive you out of Jerusalem and hand you over to foreigners who will carry out my judgments against you. "
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

The war against the homeless increasingly statewide as cities resolve to prettify upscale neighborhoods and evict poorer citizens who are legally parked...

Please read:
http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2 ... ing-in-rvs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

P.s. how do you folks here on EE feel about people legally parked in motor homes being forced into ghettos?

It sounds a lot like what Hitler did to the Gypsies.
Bad stuff.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Hello friends, the local paper said there was a pretty serious shooting incident over in Seattle inside one of the homeless camps.

Segregating the homeless into ghettos is not the answer. If our tax brackets are the only thing in America that make us feel individually secure, I weep...!!

Five wounded two of whom have died. One was a woman.

One in four homeless veterans is a young woman with children. Please help those near you if you read this.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
User avatar
Spiritwind
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:24 pm
Location: Inland NW, U.S.
Has thanked: 2478 times
Been thanked: 2935 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Spiritwind »

Want to feed the homeless? Be prepared to pay the government for the privilege.
by Michelle Chen

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... government" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Homeless people, by definition, have nowhere to go – but now in many cities, they have even fewer options. While real estate developers tout “green space” and the economic “revitalisation” of urban landscapes, it’s the sidewalks, parks and plazas that have become hostile territory for the poor. City lawmakers are trying to “clean up” the streets by barring homeless people from parks, shunting families into overcrowded shelters and, in some places, making it a crime even to help the homeless.

Last week, when a 90 year-old activist got arrested for feeding local homeless people at the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, his outrage pointed to a nationwide trend of criminalising compassion in the United States. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, since the start of 2013, 21 cities have imposed measures to restrict people from sharing food with the needy in public. In downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, for example, churchgoers have been prohibited from distributing food to homeless people in a local park in a residential area. In Raleigh, North Carolina, local humanitarians have reportedly been banned from giving meals to the needy in city parks without first getting a temporary special permit that costs some $1,600 per weekend.

Meanwhile, local governments have used “quality of life” strictures as a pretext for barring homeless people’s public presence. About a third of the cities surveyed by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty have sought to destroy homeless dwellings by prohibiting “camping” in public – a 60% increase since 2011. About the same percentage of cities also ban “loitering” and some explicitly prohibit sitting or lying down in certain public places – presumably just to make sure the homeless don’t get too comfortable.

While a city can profit from the fines, fees, tourism revenues and real estate investment generated by commodifying public space, the ultimate cost is borne by those who can least afford it: the impoverished and the homeless. These days, even those who reach out with a simple act of charity are punished for their “misconduct”.

But these regulations aren’t about maintaining “quality of life” for the local community’s residents: the laws are simply about colonising the commons to make it safe for the rich, typically to the exclusion of others. Their proponents are using the allure of social harmony to paper over the shame of massive inequality.

The anti-homeless crackdown is just the latest episode in the long history of the battle for common space. Governments have always deployed “nuisance laws” to marginalize unruly people whom the affluent disdained as an environmental blemish: beggars were rousted, vulgar gathering spots like “bawdy houses” got busted in “vice raids”. And today, low income tenants get policed at every turn, while their communities are systematically displaced by development and zoning policies that fuel gentrification.

The authorities have a point: some elements of urban life do make the streets seem disorderly, even chaotic. But simply erasing them from the landscape degrades the color and vitality of the urban social fabric. More dangerously, by excluding working-class people from common spaces, cities scrub their streets of evidence of the real human condition without solving any actual social problem – just the appearance of one.

Handing out food to the homeless is certainly not a long-term solution to homelessness or chronic hunger. But eliminating charity isn’t magically going to make homeless people opt for a different lifestyle. The choices of the homeless are constrained by the absence of social programs, healthcare and income support that people need to find permanent housing and stability. Policies that criminalise the mere sight of homeless people uphold a social order driven by racial and economic inequality and social alienation, while privatising what few shared resources we have left.

As millions struggle with joblessness and stagnant wages, many low-income households are just one medical emergency or missed rent payment away from homelessness. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, amid soaring rents, extremely low-income families face a deficit in the supply of affordable housing of roughly 4.4m affordable units. Meanwhile, the supply of subsidized
zed public housing has tumbled by about 10,000 units per year.

This widespread instability is the reason why more than 600,000 people nationwide were without a home on a given night in 2013 – a quarter of them children. Many could be served by welfare, mental health and transitional housing programs, but they are isolated from the social service infrastructure and now they’re being shut out of parks and shoved off the streets.

There is, of course, a more straightforward way of eliminating homelessness: providing them with homes. The Housing First approach runs on the philosophy that homelessness is primarily a housing problem, and that housing is a human right. The first step is to satisfy the immediate need for stable shelter, and then supplement that with strong long-term supportive services – from case management for someone seeking drug treatment to placing someone in job training, or just helping someone pay her first security deposit.

Housing-focused programs have proven successful in significantly alleviating homelessness in Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Seattle, and Housing First been shown in various studies to limit the time that people spend in jails, shelters and hospitals. And, under this approach, homeless people aren’t arrested or banished from sight: they get access to stable housing and supportive social services. Taxpayers win, too, as long-term solutions eliminate costly short-term interventions and emergency room visits.

If this common-sense solution seems absurdly obvious, remember why cities resort to exclusion and policing in the first place: we’ve grown accustomed to seeing walls and fences as the only solution. After generations of trying to make “undesirable” people vanish from the public’s midst, too many privileged people no longer even recognize the signs of desperation that surround us . We’ve forgotten what our own humanity looks like.
I see your love shining out from my furry friends faces, when I look into their eyes. I see you in the flower’s smile, the rainbow, and the wind in the trees....
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Thank you so much for caring about these people.

It is already pretty hot in EW this month. Spring got skipped. Lol.

But major economic change & projected boom in Walla Walla. There's been a third incoming flight added by our tiny local airport. They plan to expand the parking lot as well. This was announced just before Alaskan airlines bought out virgin...

A highrise hotel will be built on the old oddfellows site next to one of our major thrift stores. I think the city posting said at least 10 stories, whether altogether or additional , i do not recall.

I project that due to the rental exodus and homeless overflow in Seattle, Walla Walla's homeless population will have doubled or tripled in the next 12-24 months.

At the same time, the properties near Mill Creek where the homeless here currently congregate & receive services etc will be either privatized or overfull.

It will be like San Antonio in miniature . eek at the thought. River walk and pricy diners for alcoholic tourists.......

But instead of a huge AFB we have a huge prison.

I predict the situation will come to a head soon due to escalating rent here in WW.

They raised ours about $30 recently and it will just get worse here.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
User avatar
Naga_Fireball
Posts: 2012
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:22 pm
Location: earth
Has thanked: 1751 times
Been thanked: 1566 times

Re: caring for the homeless and destitute

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Phone logged me out abruptly from forum after posting that. Bah humbuggers lol
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
Post Reply

Return to “Calls to Action”