Innovative Mobile Shelter Gives Dignity Back to Homeless in Los Angeles

I think that every individual in the world should be forced to spend at least four consecutive days of their lives homeless. Preferrably by the age of 18. This would solve thie crisis almost immediately.
And if you have never been homeless (not just without shelter, but without home… there is a difference) you should NOT be commenting negatively about any of this.
Tis a frightening feeling to not have a home… especially during winter. I applaud any effort to give a sense of safety to the homeless!!
And YES… I spent seven months of winter that way.

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Re the comments about homeless people “choosing” to be homeless: it’s true, many do seem to choose to live outside. And they do so because the shelter that is available to them is bedbug-ridden, and often full of theft, frightening people and chaos. Eventually, some people become so used to the “safety” of living outside (because for them, outside IS safer), that the option of living inside is no longer an option. Is this really CHOOSING?

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Homeless people often bear part of the responsibility for their homelessness, but usually the greater responsibility may be found elsewhere. Consider some facts (for the USA):
There are many more low-income households needing affordable housing than the number of such units available, and the gap continues to increase.
About a third of those who are known to be homeless at any given time are children.
Unemployment is structured into our economy. The so-called “Natural Rate of Unemployment” (NARU) has traditionally been held to be about five percent. Several serious attempts have been made since World War II to provide full employment, but those attempts have always been shot down by the National Association of Manufacturers and allied groups.
Even among those employed, wages are often – and increasingly – insufficient to pay for decent housing, if any housing at all.
I also applaud this innovative effort, and know that it can be very helpful to some homeless people right now. And when you are homeless, right now is when you care about something, even if it is not ideal.
But those who recognize that this innovation is not ideal are also right. First of all, finding a place to put your sleeping trailer where you will not be driven off by the police and/or subject to robbery or assault can be a real challenge. Second, secure housing for everyone who wants it is what’s really needed. While there are a few exceptions, innovative programs that don’t rely on such innovations (gimmicks?) show that virtually everyone who is homeless does want such housing – so long as it does not come with too severe constraints/restrictions.

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Have any of you complainers been listening? OK, homeless means those without homes. This includes, people and families who couch surf, sleep in relatives basements or garages, rent a campsite, sleep in the woods… etc. That is where the statistic came from.
Now, my parents and I lived in tents at campsites that had showers and bathrooms so I could go to school. My father worked manual labor that didn’t pay enough to make a deposit, first months rent, and get all of our utilities turned on all at once. So this is what we did. My mom gathered cans and recycling during the day, when I got out of school, I would help her. We cooked over an open fire, cheap meats and canned veggies. I slept in the car, they slept in the tent. After a couple of months, we had all we needed to get into a place. This was not easy for parents to feel, and I was embarrassed because my friends would want to come over after school.. while we were in a tent, that was not possible. There was not a shelter that would take whole families. My parents did what they could, and kept me safe, clean and fed. Any help they could have gotten would have been great! They couldn’t even get food stamps then because they didn’t have a permanent address. Yes, so they lied to the school about that. I was safe and warm at school all day, they did what they had to. I was 8.

No one is forcing you to donate! If you want to sit on your high horse, and pretend you know how these people are homeless and how they can fix it, and that every homeless person is a druggie, and they prefer to live on the sidewalk, and make sexual comments to you.. well keep on telling yourself whatever it is that you need to, to keep looking in the mirror. Just stop spewing it at anyone who gives a f*ck* enough about their fellow human beings to try something.
Now I hope you enjoy your daily beers after work, maybe a cigar or, cigarettes, that hot club that you don’t have to wait in line for. Lunch out everyday? Even just a 5 dollar foot long? Yeah, I am sure that girl who probably got her shirt from someone who cared enough to donate it, I bet you won’t see her at your local pub, tossing back a few. Nope, she will living in a rolling tent in a shelter with her kids or siblings. Wow, I hope you feel really good about yourself for ripping on the likes of her for having the audacity to wear a hand me down shirt that may have cost a bit when it was new. Oh by the way. Billabong and Hurely and Burton, they all donate to Goodwill!

I work every day, I barely make my rent, I have a college education and a decent job. I also have medical issues not created by drinking too much or any other self imposed issues that my insurance denies most of my claims. So it only takes one more month long illness before I am looking for and EDAR. I promise not to wear expensive clothing though, if that ever happens.
Losing faith in Humanity!

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It is sad to hear that there are still so many myths surrounding the issue of homelessness. Spoilt kids running away? Many of them leave family situations that are more horrendous than most of us can imagine. Drug addiction? While it is true that drug addiction is rampant among the homeless, it is much MORE prevalent in the population that is “housed.” While job training and job skills may help, this is a “blame the victim” mentality. Homelessness is a societal problem. There are very few people who CHOOSE to be homeless. This is one step to providing comfort to people living in situations most of us have never experienced. It is by no means the end of homelessness, but it helps provide comfort. For those of you blaming homeless people for being homeless, do you truly think that the only reason you are in the situation you are in is because you were the only person in your life who got you there? No. you had help. and when you stumbled, you had help.

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Unless you’ve actually *been* homeless, it is difficult to grasp the complexity of that condition, and the nearly overwhelming obstacles to getting off the street. Without a fixed address, you cannot receive many government benefits. Without a phone or a computer, you cannot receive any calls for work should anyone wish to hire you. Without showers and clean clothes, you really can’t even get in the door to ask for a job. All this, even if you happen to be mentally well and drug and alcohol free.

If you have become mentally ill, or if you’ve fallen victim to substance abuse, your ability to deal with any of this is severely hampered. Unless those problems are treated, the chances of you getting off the street are almost nil.

Addiction is an illness, not a moral failing. No one decides to become an alcoholic or a drug addict. They may choose to take a drink or a drug, but they don’t expect to be one of the victims. Most of us emerge from our experimenting unscathed.

BTW, many of the homeless are veterans who were sin battle, suffering from PTSD. They served our country, were wounded (at least psychologically), and then denied benefits when they returned, because we don’t honor our commitments. Lacking the ability to function and the means to be healed, they become homeless. Then self-righteous jerks spit at them and tell them to get a job.

This problem will persist as long as we continue to claim that the homeless somehow chose their situation or deserve it. Neither is true. These people suffer terribly, and are often treated with undeserved contempt. They need to be healed, not just housed. Most can become useful, functioning members of society, if we would trouble to help them get treatment. Those who cannot recover can at least be given decent, safe housing, food, and medical treatment.

Before you go talking about how “those” people don’t deserve our compassion, remember this – “those” people are just folks, just like us. Miss a few rent or mortgage payments – a possibility more likely now than ever – and you could be out there too. It doesn’t take all that much to fall from grace, but it is unbelievably difficult to get back up.

I know this because I did it. With all the help and lucky breaks I got, I still almost couldn’t do it.

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It’s interesting to see how humanity feels about humanity on all sides of an issue such as this. Some say: statistics breed fear, homeless breed jealousy, fear breeds hate, hate breeds lies, lies breed war.

People are afraid to lose their jobs, cars, homes, health, youth, looks, control, life, movies, clothes, power, ect. There is a lot of fear going on and we deny it and hide ourselves in something. Why?

Myself; I hide from love. I mean the love of being forth right, friendly and humane. Why? Fear. Fear that someone will see me as being weak and being human. Look into yourself and ask, why am I hiding? Why am I being mean? Why am I not loving? Keep asking.

I often heard people say to me while on the road and camping out, ” I wish I could do that.” And then these same people seemed resentful of me. Why? Were they afraid to leave there comfort. What are we afraid of loosing. Owning things and property, or of it owning us?

There was a time when people did not buy stocks because they were too risky of an investment. Instead they bought homes: a safe bet. Do you see what has happened with what use to be a safe bet? Wall street got a hold of it. Why?

The old models did not work. The so-called new models do not work. Fear does not work. Fear is a trap that makes us do stupid things. Like start wars and blame innocent people for things they had nothing to do with.

What model is threatened by people that are homeless? Could it be the model of cars, homes, wealth, power, fame, fortune, jewels, clothes, vacations, jets, motels, hollywood, highways, sports, facelifts, microbeers, lotteries, coupons, and discounts?

What happened to all the revolutions: bronze, agricultural, industrial, electronic. Are we working less and loving more now? Maybe our revolution needs to be in our minds into what has real intrinsic value. Like shelter, food, water ( and some place to defecate). Add love and maybe the spirit will grow.

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Even 1 person sleeping on the ground is too many. What if it was you? Or your child?

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All and all I think that most people see this device as helpful. I don’t really think that anyone sees this as an end all solution though. Several people thought that we should focus more on rehabilitation, education, job training etc. I think we all know how that goes. It’s one committee after another before a plan comes to be. After that it takes years to get it funded. Finally, the program is established and then poorly managed and nothing positive really gets done. That seems to be our track record with social programs. Not all of them, but many of them. In the short run, I think that the EDAR is a good idea. It reminds me of the three life saving steps I learned in the Marine Corps so long ago. Stop the bleeding, protect the wound, and treat for shock. Well, this device is a lot like that. It’s immediate action and I imagine most of those homeless would like very much to have one.

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