Helping the homeless

Bob Zmuda

Bob Zmuda

Well-Known Member
I volunteer at a place called bread, broth, page and sage. In my actual job I deal with a lot of families who are homeless or living out of cars, in motels or campgrounds.

Many of the young children I work with are stuck in the lifestyle through no fault of their own. It's heartbreaking.

If you actually take the time to help you see that they are all people who still have feelings, a sense of humor and a ton of humility. Some seriously cool people I've met.
 
farmerfischer

farmerfischer

Well-Known Member
So sad
Even in small town USA there's a few homeless people. Some by choice others by the man..there's a small city neAr where I live with a pop. Around 5000 people. About thirty of which are homeless , up in the stix we don't have homeless shelters or anything other then a jail cell. Many of these unfortunates you can see in the dumpsters behind micky D's or buger king
 
Bob Zmuda

Bob Zmuda

Well-Known Member
farmerfischer said:
So sad
Even in small town USA there's a few homeless people. Some by choice others by the man..there's a small city neAr where I live with a pop. Around 5000 people. About thirty of which are homeless , up in the stix we don't have homeless shelters or anything other then a jail cell. Many of these unfortunates you can see in the dumpsters behind micky D's or buger king
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It's crazy because some of them I meet had prestigious jobs, nice homes etc.

Many were injured and could not keep working. Their jobs/ the gov. Did not help them and they sank into poverty.

It can happen to anyone so I try to keep my mind and heart open. :)
 
ebgood

ebgood

Well-Known Member
my city is a damn shame. being homeless is technically illegal. theres thousands of group camps and gathering of homelss folks all throughout the county but on a quarterly basis, the city goes around, forces them out, destroys or takes their belongings and pushes them to another area of the county to start the whole cycle again.
 
Bob Zmuda

Bob Zmuda

Well-Known Member
HAF2 said:
Around here a lot of the homeless have serious mental problems and could not properly care for themselves. After closing down most of the mental institutions in the 80's some of these folks had nowhere to go. It's shameful the way they get treated.
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I think that's a huge part of it. The mental health thing.

In my county there are almost zero options for mental health care. Instead they would rather arrest them and ship them to the county down the mountain.

One of my favorite 12 year olds I work with is homeless. Her mom is schizophrenic and can't hold a job. Sucks for the kid so bad.

It's easy to call the homeless names, treat them like shit and suggest we "ship them to Australia"

It's tougher to see them face to face, treat them with respect and genuinely care.
 
Hookabelly

Hookabelly

Well-Known Member
Bob Zmuda said:
I volunteer at a place called bread, broth, page and sage. In my actual job I deal with a lot of families who are homeless or living out of cars, in motels or campgrounds.

Many of the young children I work with are stuck in the lifestyle through no fault of their own. It's heartbreaking.

If you actually take the time to help you see that they are all people who still have feelings, a sense of humor and a ton of humility. Some seriously cool people I've met.
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This is true. If you actually speak one on one, it makes it really hard to call the homeless "them". And you are SO right. the kids did't sign up for it. I have volunteered as well and all it takes is just a little bit of time and compassion. Just think if we all gave a few hours of our time in a month how much impact we could have. Programs are great, but people fall through the cracks when the general public's attitude is "well, doesn't the local shelters, help them?" It really takes just a bit of time to help out. The people I've met are not only grateful for whatever your handing out, they just appreciate an ear to listen to them. Support goes a long way.
 
Bob Zmuda

Bob Zmuda

Well-Known Member
Hookabelly said:
This is true. If you actually speak one on one, it makes it really hard to call the homeless "them". And you are SO right. the kids did't sign up for it. I have volunteered as well and all it takes is just a little bit of time and compassion. Just think if we all gave a few hours of our time in a month how much impact we could have. Programs are great, but people fall through the cracks when the general public's attitude is "well, doesn't the local shelters, help them?" It really takes just a bit of time to help out. The people I've met are not only grateful for whatever your handing out, they just appreciate an ear to listen to them. Support goes a long way.
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Spot on hookah! Just talking to them like HUMAN BEINGS makes a difference.

This time of year I usually keep blankets in my truck that I don't use. Always have extra it seems.

The wife and I gave a sleeping bag to a guy we saw behind the store shivering. He was so grateful that he began sobbing.

Really gets you in the gut. :(
 
Hookabelly

Hookabelly

Well-Known Member
Bob Zmuda said:
Spot on hookah! Just talking to them like HUMAN BEINGS makes a difference.

This time of year I usually keep blankets in my truck that I don't use. Always have extra it seems.

The wife and I gave a sleeping bag to a guy we saw behind the store shivering. He was so grateful that he began sobbing.

Really gets you in the gut. :(
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We keep gallon zip loc bags filled with socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, energy bars, whatever. Not hard at all to hand that out at an exit ramp while you're in your warm car waiting for the light.

I think if more people actually interacted, they (as I did)would realize you can't NOT help.
 
Bob Zmuda

Bob Zmuda

Well-Known Member
Bob Zmuda said:
I volunteer at a place called bread, broth, page and sage. In my actual job I deal with a lot of families who are homeless or living out of cars, in motels or campgrounds.

Many of the young children I work with are stuck in the lifestyle through no fault of their own. It's heartbreaking.

If you actually take the time to help you see that they are all people who still have feelings, a sense of humor and a ton of humility. Some seriously cool people I've met.
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Ps. The "page" part of the organization refers to books. We also donate books and tutor them if they can't read.
 
Aeroknow

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
Bob Zmuda said:
I volunteer at a place called bread, broth, page and sage. In my actual job I deal with a lot of families who are homeless or living out of cars, in motels or campgrounds.

Many of the young children I work with are stuck in the lifestyle through no fault of their own. It's heartbreaking.

If you actually take the time to help you see that they are all people who still have feelings, a sense of humor and a ton of humility. Some seriously cool people I've met.
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Dude. I feel ya.
And you sir are bad ass for actually helping doing shit about it.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
It's great to help them out one on one, but by rights our government has an obligation to these American Citizens- and we should spend as much time holding our elected officials accountable for helping them as we spend doing it ourselves.

We truly live in an amazingly self centered nation.

I nominate Jeff Sessions to spend the next 90 days homeless and alone. I bet he'd have a whole new attitude about the subject.
 
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curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
<rant> I passed through the CA mental institutions when Ronnie Raygun was in the process of shutting them down. It was felt these beautiful park like surroundings etc... were dehumanizing and undignified. They have so much more dignity living on the street. It makes me sick we dismantled our entire chronic mental health care system and foisted them into the prison system. Yeah so much more dignity </rant>
 
Aeroknow

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
curious2garden said:
<rant> I passed through the CA mental institutions when Ronnie Raygun was in the process of shutting them down. It was felt these beautiful park like surroundings etc... were dehumanizing and undignified. They have so much more dignity living on the street. It makes me sick we dismantled our entire chronic mental health care system and foisted them into the prison system. Yeah so much more dignity </rant>
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Girl,
We built a Sun micro campus on Agnews. Discusting!
They kicked out massive amounts of insane people to the streets. Job got held up because of the spotted owl. Its fucked in this country. The spotted owl should absolutely be saved. Don't get me wrong.
 
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