Atlantic City looks to bus more homeless back home

[CalMeacham]

That’s a headline on Yahoo News right now. I had to read it three times to make myself believe that they actually wrote that.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_atlantic_city_homeless
Who would’ve thought the solution to homelessness was a bus ticket?

[Omar_Little]

From linked article:

In September 1989, when photographers covering the Miss America pageant were looking for an iconic shot, they overturned a lifeboat on the beach as swimsuit-clad contestants smiled for the camera. But underneath the boat were two homeless men who had been sleeping on the beach. Their picture was splashed on the front page of newspapers across the country.

Tried googling to find this iconic photograph…no such luck. Guess it wasn’t that iconic.

[CalMeacham]

@Omar_Little

From linked article:

Tried googling to find this iconic photograph…no such luck. Guess it wasn’t that iconic.

I remember it – it was on the cover of the news magazines. It was pretty iconic, but apparently not everything that memorable or iconic is easily found on the web.

[gotpasswords]

“Greyhound therapy” goes back to the 60’s.

I remember 20-30 years ago how places that get seriously cold in winter like Chicago and New York would give homeless a bus ticket to somewhere warm like Miami or San Francisco.

More recently, Hawaii has found itself to be the destination for a lot of homeless who maybe thought they could find a better life there. Now, they’re working to put them on airplanes and send them back to the mainland.

[Omar_Little]

@gotpasswords

“Greyhound therapy” goes back to the 60’s.

I remember 20-30 years ago how places that get seriously cold in winter like Chicago and New York would give homeless a bus ticket to somewhere warm like Miami or San Francisco.

More recently, Hawaii has found itself to be the destination for a lot of homeless who maybe thought they could find a better life there. Now, they’re working to put them on airplanes and send them back to the mainland.

Hell yeah!!! That’s always been my philosophy. If I see I’m about to become homeless, I’m gonna make my way to Hawaii or South Florida or Southern California. Why in the hell would you want to be homeless in the North East.

[Wheelz]

From the article:

The program is strictly voluntary; no homeless person who wants to stay put will be forced to leave. And before anyone leaves, the mission will make sure there is someone back home who is willing to take them in.

So they’re not just throwing bums on buses to get them out of town. Sounds like there are people genuinely trying to help people. Good for them.

[Digital_is_the_new_Analog]

FYI, many areas have programs like this. Broward County, where I live, has a similar program. I’m not sure off hand if it’s public or private funding, but they will provide bus tickets for the homeless if they can show they have somewhere useful to go and someone who will help take care of them when they get there.

They also have rules to prevent someone from taking advantage of the service more than once - they can’t use it for a “vacation.”
-D/a

[Larry_Mudd]

@CalMeacham

Who would’ve thought the solution to homelessness was a bus ticket?

Ralph Klein, former premier of Alberta. (His Big Idea was to give Calgary poor a bus ticket to Vancouver, regardless of where they were from. This was some time before he turned up drunk at a homeless shelter to taunt and ridicule the homeless in a more direct fashion.)

[Lochdale]

When I see homeless people in Chicago during the winter I often ask, why are they here? Why not go to Florida etc.

The answer is usually a combination of mental illness and the fact that this is the only place they know.