Reader Feedback and Your Homeless Encounters
From the lens Homeless And Pregnant In London.
Have you encountered any homeless people and actually got to know them?
How did you behave or react?
What did you know about their situation?
Have you even been homeless yourself?
Do you think I have got it wrong, or could improve this lens?
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Didge
May 24, 2012 @ 8:37 pm | delete
- Decent lens! I really appreciated reading it.
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---Chazz
Apr 13, 2012 @ 6:03 pm | delete
- Very thoughtful and informative lens. When my late sister-in-law was a teenager, she and her ill mother were homeless for quite some time after leaving an abusive father/husband. In those times, there were no resources for abused women and they were pretty much on their own. They lived out of their old car mostly. Dawn went to school, worked a couple of jobs, and was the most thoughtful, caring and upbeat person you would ever want to meet. (I made a charity lens in her honor and we all miss her dearly). I'm blessing this lens and featuring it on my "Wing-ing it on Squidoo" page.
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DinosaurEgg
Jul 22, 2011 @ 9:15 am | delete
- As I teenager, a homeless man would come regularly to the cafe where I worked. He was confused and often had no money and said his social worker was supposed to pay for his breakfast. We would cover his bill if he had no money. Sometimes he was very articulate and asked me if I planned to go to university. We asked around and it turned out that he used to be a headmaster and he had never recovered from the tragic death of his wife. That gave me a useful perspective on homelessness which has stayed with me.
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howtocurecancer
Jan 28, 2011 @ 2:07 am | delete
- I am trying to volunteer as much as I can.
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dannystaple Feb 1, 2011 @ 11:29 am | delete
- Glad to hear it. Can you perhaps give an idea of what voluntary activities you are doing for the homeless? Perhaps that'd be your next lens! I'd happily link to it.
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Nov 3, 2010 @ 5:33 am | delete
- very hard to stay in london
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Snozzle
May 11, 2009 @ 3:02 pm | delete
- I always buy the Big Issue but it's difficult to know what else to do other than through proper charities. Sometimes a few words can help and from this it's possible to maybe judge if there is anything else you can do - or if there are much deeper problems. I remember a bloke, obviously on drugs once wielding a knide which was scary.
It's all very sad but even if we do a little it can help. Lots of littles make a big.
Mike.
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x3xsolxdierx3x
May 10, 2009 @ 6:57 pm | delete
- To this day, I don't quite know exactly how to 'handle' homeless people.....Iv'e both given money, and have, at times, just walked by......on one occasion, I offered take a person into McDonalds, with a meal on me..........I was called 'cheap', which made me wonder if that money was needed more for drugs (or something like that), rather than food.........hm.......I don't want to group all homeless people into this category, however, it's not always the easiest knowing what one should do for them....
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- The sad truth is, directly offering money is probably a bad idea, I think offering a meal is a great thing to do - but as I mentioned, the Cathedral guy above despised Pasties, and was sitting not too far from the pasty shop. The thing to remember is that people are people, and their needs or reactions are very different. Some people are very approachable and friendly, and unlikely to ask for money. I'd suggest not trying to offer advice or meals to those that seem aggressive or pushy - donating to charities is the best way to help them as trained people have a much better idea of how not to get into dangerous situations.
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- Thank you Kylyssa, it is rare I get to hear many fist hand accounts. I am going off to read your very relevant lenses on this.
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Kylyssa
May 5, 2009 @ 9:32 pm | delete
- If you don't start out mentally ill on the street, it's a short trip. Shockingly, I never turned to drugs or alcohol. There's only so much humiliation, so many rapes and beatings you can take before you start to unravel. I'm not at all surprised that some try to end their suffering with slow, chemical suicide.
I've encountered lots of homeless people. Once I wasn't one myself and had a locking door all my own, I went out with peanut butter sandwiches to give to homeless people looking for those who seemed "safe." I've taken in a number of homeless teens, mostly girls, including one who was pregnant. I only regretted my decision once, when a teen I took in robbed me. Compared to the benefit, the amount it enriched my life, that was nothing. When I ran out of room, I worked with local charities and found other people to help. I also volunteered for literacy and education programs for homeless men. The human race is family.
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Kylyssa
May 5, 2009 @ 9:21 pm | delete
- A fair number of our homeless people are mentally ill service veterans. Another big contributor to homelessness in America is injury or sudden illness as opposed to disability. A person can become injured or severely ill and require medical care which they can't afford. They may wind up well but flat broke and thus out on the street with a long gap in employment history for the time of their illness or injury. Employers shy away from people with spotty employment histories, even if the spots are caused by nothing they intended.
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Kylyssa
May 5, 2009 @ 9:10 pm | delete
- It's incredibly interesting to see the differences in reasons for homelessness in the UK as opposed to in the USA.
Here, many homeless people are disabled and run out of money far before SSDI manages to decide on their case. With around two-thirds of legitimately ill people getting denied offhand and appeals sometimes taking as much as 500 days, it's a heck of a hard thing to be disabled and support yourself through the first denial (about six months) much less the additional appeal time. Not many people have two years worth of money hanging around. Many states, such as Michigan, where I live, have no state assistance for adults unless they are pregnant or parents aside from food assistance.
Another issue we have here is that there is shelter for only 10% - 25% of our homeless population. Some of those shelters are less safe than sleeping on the street - you may be assaulted by staff or other homeless people. It's impossible to tell which shelters are actually safe.
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Megalev
May 5, 2009 @ 11:45 am | delete
- Very clear.
On one hand, this is relatively common sense stuff, but to put it so clearly and in a comprehensive manner, whilst covering a many angles of a large and sensitive topic, is most impressive.
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by dannystaple
I have encountered a number of homeless people. I was also once a student welfare officer, supporting those in need. Being familiar with that meant when... more »
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