Not to mention getting to go home to a safe bed, regular shower, and decent night’s sleep.
Why does everyone here always make it seem like once you are homeless, there is absolutely nothing you can do to fix your situation?
I’d say for the majority of the people who become homeless, they can fix their situation.
But for some people (the chronically homeless who have mental illness/addictions) they truly are in a hopeless situation without outside intervention.
Only about 15% of the homeless are chronically homeless. Most of the people that are homeless are temporarily homeless for relatively short periods. I personally believe that as religious organizations increasingly lose membership and thus finances we’re going to see much more chronic homelessness since religious orgs tend to be the front lines, especially as municipalities resort to ‘relocation’ types of programs that move them out of sight and mind of tourists and the wealthy. I think that’s a lot of what we’re seeing in coastal cities as religious groups aren’t able to provide the services they have in the past, municipalities are forced to pick up the slack.
who is saying that? We’re just tearing a strip out of people who are presumptuous enough to assume what options any particular homeless individual has available at any particular time.
Of course many can- but it’s niave to think it’s simple, easy, and can be done by simply a plucky attitude and bootstrap pulling.
There’s that word again - “easy”. In all of these threads, about homeless, poor, unemployed, everyone always says “it’s naive to think it’s easy”
NOBODY thinks it’s easy! It’s hard. Very hard. Stop saying “It’s not that easy”
By easy I mean uncomplicated. That you just make a plan and do it, not that there are incredible systemic barriers to be overcome, many of which are beyond the individuals control.
ETA: Although I’d argue that many are saying it’s easy- just save 10% and in no time you’ll be financially better off, or, get a tent, wash some windows, and soon you’ll be ok.
So a homeless person SHOULDN’T make a plan to get out of homelessness? They should just wander around homeless forever?
That’s not what I said, at all.
So, they SHOULD make a plan then?
You seem to have lost track of the conversation.
You called out my use of the word easy.
I said that I meant easy as in uncomplicated, not trivial to do. I’m not sure why you’re yelling at me about plans since I never expressed any opinions about planning, per se.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like yelling. Just emphasizing a word.
Someone posts a plan for what they would do to stop being homeless. And others, similarly to other threads, come in and say “it’s not that easy!”
No shit. Nobody said it was easy. It’s just a plan to stop being homeless. It’s hard. But hard work is required in most instances to better yourself.
I’d get a monthly gym membership and basic toiletries. I can store my stuff there in a locker and get clean. I’d stay in a homeless shelter, eat at soup kitchens, then take whatever minimum wage job (the clothes on my back would be sufficient for a minimum wage interview). After that, I’d have plenty of money to buy better clothing and get a job in my field probably in a month or less, at which point I wouldn’t be homeless after my first paycheck cleared.
We come back to the complications of systemic issues that can make a straightforward plan significantly more difficult to implement than it appears at first glance.
Getting job without an address on the application is tricky, and hopefully you have a way to be contacted if they don’t hire you on the spot or to contact you about shift changes, weekly schedules etc. Many gym memberships require credit checks (maybe if there’s a YMCA) and cost more than 50 bucks. Where are you washing your minimum wage clothing and what are you wearing while it washes?
Homeless shelters are often at capacity, especially if you have to wait until after work to wait in line to get your spot, so it’s no guarantee you’ll have place to sleep.
So sure, it’s a plan, but the idea that you’ll be all set after one month is naive. The point isn’t to Pooh Pooh someone trying to get themselves out of homelessness but to recognize that simply by having a home you benefit from a huge amount of infrastructure you probably are not even conscious of.
Neither am I yet I spent nine months in a shelter.
IIRC, I bought a pair of shoes.
Just save out 10%?
- Gather 3/4 of what you need to get a meal.
- Set aside 10%
- Buy that meal.
What could be easier?
I’m not saying I’ll be all set in a month. I said I’ll have a minimum wage job in a month. You’re saying I won’t, well, I say I will. I have just about every possibly checkbox in the “privileged” column checked. In fact, a month is probably grossly conservative, the only sticking point would being overqualified. I remain homeless until about 1 month and a half after that. The extra set of clothes I need for washing my first set of clothes will cost about $5 at the good will.
Here is the Goodwill price list.
What will you be picking up for 5 dollars?
Whoops, you got me. It’ll cost $7 for a tshirt and sweatpants to wear while I wash the clothes on my back.