You’ve got a lot to say on a subject you know little about. Those agencies do great things. But they have limited resources, and the need is growing. They can’t serve everyone, which leaves unfortunately large numbers of people with nowhere to turn. They do absolutely nothing for people that don’t happen to be where they are. A shelter 20 miles away may as well be on the moon for someone with no transportation. A shelter with 12 beds is not much help for homeless person #13.
These are hard times. The food pantries are seeing donations dry up in my area, in part due to recent disasters that strained resources for just about all relief organizations, and in part due to the economy being in the tank. No individual is going to solve the often intertwined problems of poverty, homelessness, and addiction. A guy that is so down on his luck that he’s asking strangers for spare change is not going to become landed gentry overnight because someone gave him a speech or a pamphlet with directions to a shelter he has no way to reach.
I’m sorry, I just can’t see how giving someone a granola bar, or a sandwich, instead of money is judgmental. I really can’t. It’s my money - I can chose how it’s used, and I don’t want a CENT of it to go to a dealer. And I think that’s fair.
Also, as someone who’s recovering herself, the idea of giving money so that an alcoholic can drink another day bothers me massively. Maybe it’s just sour grapes (if I can’t get drunk, no one can!) but keeping someone in booze just that much longer, even if it does stop them from going into withdraw…it feels wrong. Why not give to a shelter, or give food, or blankets? That feels right, and everyone wins.
*and this thread has just reminded me that it’s been a while since I’ve donated to my local shelter - i’ll need to do that tomorrow. *
Finding a website is not the same as actually living here and knowing those places do not always provide medical care, and when they do it’s rarely to those without a photo ID. What you listed was primarily shelters, not medical assistance. We have Church Health Center but they require an ID and they require all new patients to come in at a specific time on a specific day to attend a new patient orientation before they will treat you. There is no free mental health assistance unless you qualify for Tenncare.
From MY experience most people will appreciate anything you can give them, and I work every day in a Christian community center where we feed, give clothing, toiletries and furniture, help with utilities and rent, give out special baskets and toys for kids for Christmas, and help homeless people find open shelters. I don’t hear these complaints about Pepsi products (we buy generic and it’s appreciated) or stale bread or requests for kosher food when the meat doesn’t look appealing. Not saying some people don’t complain, I’m just saying I haven’t seen it yet and I’m here five days a week for a few months now.
What amazes me is the assumption here that any change you give a homeless person is going towards booze or drugs or that it’s booze or drugs that has made them homeless.
Last year the Memphis City School system had 1200 homeless *children *registered. Entire families are homeless. I’ve been there myself with a small child, sleeping in my car or at various friends’ homes for several months. I didn’t drink or do drugs, I just couldn’t find work. It was only because of an EIC I was able to get into an apartment. I can’t, with my experience, look at homeless people and assume they are always looking for another fix and won’t appreciate a bit of food or a blanket in the winter or a few coins to buy a cup of hot coffee.
Here in Indianapolis we have a large number of homeless people who were basically turned out on the streets when Central State Hospital closed. They aren’t on the streets because of addiction, they are out there because they are seriously mentally ill and have nowhere else to go. Central State Hospital (Indiana) - Wikipedia The situation is shameful.
I practiced poverty law for years–until recent budget cuts forced the closure of my office. One of the places the local homeless population hangs out is near where my office was, and I had fairly frequent contact with some of them. Hired a few for odd jobs whenever funds were available. Passed out cigarettes, sometimes cash when asked. Spoke at meetings of a few local agencies on various legal topics affecting that population. Managed to get a couple of clients out of that situation over the years. Saw others fall into it when they ran out of options.
Since the claim being made is that is no help available (no, none, nada, zilch, zero), it doesn’t take much expertise at all to refute it. Now, if Miss E. wants to move the goalposts again, she is free to do so. But it was a silly claim to make, and I don’t see why you would want to jump in and defend it.
Cool. I’ve been a full-time employee of three different homeless shelters, and have worked or volunteered extensively in three different cities.
My question, though, was aimed at the specific claim that there is no medical care at all available to the homeless in Memphis. Actually, I’d also be interested in knowing why you are so confident that John Mace knows less than you.
I think the lesson we should take from this thread is that it is extremely difficult to give the right thing to the homeless. Even socks may seem like a great idea, but it’s entirely possible that in a weeks time you’ll have guys saying, “I don’t need any more socks.”
Giving granola bars falls into the same problem where unless the individual specifically says, “I want Quaker Chewy Granola Bars with Chocolate Chips” it is very unlikely that the decision you made for them will be the right one.
I had some terrible experiences working with the food bank years ago when people started bringing stuff back. They were tired of getting the same handful of canned foods, and I’m pretty sure months before that there was an news article that said, “food banks need [something]” and so that’s all they got.
But notice the cycle we get into just trying to feed the needy. We start by providing cash, so that at least they can go buy the things they want. Then we realize a few do that, but we don’t like what the rest of them are buying (ie smokes, booze, and drugs). So then we set it up so that the cash can only be used at certain stores. But still we don’t like what they end up buying (processed crap and things they can sell to buy smokes/booze/drugs). So we limit some more and further restrict what they can buy. But still we don’t like what they’re buying, so we set it up so we donate food we think they should have. But that doesn’t work very well because now it’s a lot of stuff they didn’t want in the first place. In the end we end up giving them cash.
Before giving, you really should ask yourself is this is supposed to make you feel better or make them feel better? I’d hazard a guess that most people are doing it for themselves, whether it’s that smug sense of superiority, some deep seeded guilt, or a misguided notion that they’re doing the most good. If you’re doing it to help the person, what makes you think you know what will help them? When really all you have to go by is a a poorly written cardboard sign. Is handing them a bottle of vodka going to help “self medicate” and lessen their suffering, or is it going to prolong their addiction and keep them on the streets?
