r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Garey_Coleman • 10d ago

Where are the homeless supposed to go?

Cities have been cracking down on homeless people so they can’t have encampments or stay on sidewalks. At the same time usually the shelters are full. So those who are unable to get into a shelter, where are they supposed to go?

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73

u/Internal-Syrup-5064 10d ago

In the USA, there's often an element of personal choice in remaining homeless. My homeless friends often rejected aid, and simply we're unwilling to do the work to get off the street.

43

u/Quirky-Film-5866 10d ago

My full time job won't keep me off the street if I was alone.

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u/Tundrakitty 10d ago

Yes. Despite my education and all that privilege I had to get to where I am, I could not afford my modest home on my wages if I was alone.

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u/Mbrothers22 9d ago

You have a home. You are not a victim.

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u/Tundrakitty 9d ago

There’s nothing in my comment that suggests that I think of myself that way.

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u/Internal-Syrup-5064 10d ago

Mine wouldn't have either, so I slept on my friends couch, in a house with 3 bedrooms that 5 of us were paying for

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u/Quirky-Film-5866 10d ago

Been there for sure, back in the college days. Just never thought it would be on the menu again later in life.

1

u/looshagbrolly 9d ago

So you had access to shelter, thank goodness. Keep in mind, there are people that don't.

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u/not-a-dislike-button 10d ago

You can't rent a room or get a roommate?

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u/Quirky-Film-5866 10d ago

I can, re read what I said.

10

u/Geese_are_dangerous 10d ago

Same in Canada

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u/Internal-Syrup-5064 10d ago

My comment was utterly sincere, and had me thinking about a friend I lost to this. I thought it was just gonna get down voted like crazy. I didn't realize that this meant something to me until I clicked the notification. I'm glad others can see this, too.

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u/Geese_are_dangerous 10d ago

We have more shelter beds available than homeless people in my province, yet 100s still choose to live rough due to addiction and severe mental health issues.

Some people need involuntary treatment for their own good.

0

u/rain_upahead 10d ago

Idk where you live in Canada but on the west coast shelters are impossible to get into and the rules the shelters impose (which of course they have to have rules) create a lot of barriers to folks to move forward. Shelters are a space of temporary safety but they are not a long term solution

2

u/Geese_are_dangerous 10d ago

Nova Scotia.

We have lots of space

2

u/rain_upahead 10d ago

I suppose a lot more homeless make their way to West coast because it's warmer in winter. Id be curious to see shelter rates in winter vs summer in your area

2

u/Geese_are_dangerous 10d ago

Always spaces in the summer, not nearly as many in the winter. Anecdotally at least

24

u/FreqJunkie 10d ago

That's not always true. Some people have no choice because most jobs will not hire anyone that's homeless. What is someone supposed to do if they want to work but no one will hire them?

3

u/extralyfe 9d ago

uh, you lie about your address? not one employer in the history of ever is going to pop over and confirm with the landlord or property manager that you actually live somewhere.

as long as you show up in clean clothes and regularly bathed, no one is gonna know shit.

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u/TommyBananas97 10d ago

I've never been homeless but I assume you just lie and put down a random address as your own on your resume.

I got my current job by lying about living in a city 2 hours away from where I lived at the time. When it came time for the interview I just got up early and drove there then drove home. When I got hired and it came time to give all my details to HR, I gave them the same address on my resume but told them I was in the process of moving so I'd probably need to change it soon. Then I got an apartment and changed it. It was really not an issue. 

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u/FreqJunkie 10d ago

Like you said, you've never been homeless, so you don't know

4

u/TommyBananas97 10d ago

Same with 99% of everyone who support homeless people. Should they also not be allowed to voice their opinion until they experience homelessness themselves? 

1

u/--sheogorath-- 9d ago

Honestly if more people who've never been close to homeless would keep their opinions tk themselves, that'd probably be for the best.

2

u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe 9d ago

“It takes one to know one” doesn’t always apply to everything.

0

u/seductivestain 10d ago

Temp agencies will hire pretty much anyone with a pulse

3

u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe 9d ago

Temp agencies don’t pay out if they have nowhere to put you.

When I was younger I tried 3 temp agencies. I told them all that I would literally do anything for anyone at any price at any time. I got actual literal zero jobs. I was clean and sober and not rude or trashy or anything. Just a young kid trying to find a job. I wasn’t a drop out, no criminal record, just a blank slate young kid. They couldn’t even find me anyone to give me a broom to clean a room.

I was lucky enough to make friends with a guy who got me in at his restaurant.

Temp agencies are such garbage. They are there to service companies that hire them to recruit for them, not the workers that need to find jobs.

1

u/IrritableGoblin 9d ago

Tell me more about how you've never been a temp.

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u/SHlZUCHAN_ART 10d ago

I was working somewhere once and this guy was homeless but had a car that he owned and he was still somehow able to work and be a manager because of that - idk what he did as far as parking over night all the time and showering and stuff - I’ve heard before if you can afford the cheapest planet fitness membership or something you can use the showers as much as you want and being homeless that would help so if you worked or even begged and could get at least 10$ a month or so for the membership you could shower and then if you go to thrift stores and can afford basic work uniform you could work I guess - but this guy didn’t have a home just a car and idk what he put on his resume or whatever but he still got a full time job - idk these are just things I’ve read and noticed but yah most places turn you away and won’t even consider you a person if you don’t have a real address—- sigh the people here in US are so mean too and don’t even want to look at someone on the streets - but I also have seen how crazy some of it looks like being I’ve been to NYC and been on the subways, I live in Florida and it’s the state people come to to spend money so there’s still a lot of homeless people and they do whatever they can to survive. I frequent libraries too and there are always homeless there every day just for the water fountain and some cold AC especially during the hot summer days —- sorry I just ranted I don’t post on Reddit much

1

u/MikeWise1618 9d ago

I know of people living a good live in an RV in expensive neighborhoods, so technically homeless, but really just saving money by not renting. You need to figure out the parking though and I guess it is only semi-legal. The one guy pays few hundred in parking tickets a year but shrugs it off. He of course has a gym membership.

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u/SHlZUCHAN_ART 7d ago

What could you really realistically do about putting down a “real address “ on paperwork for jobs though and then you have to think about what your drivers license says - like what happens when you don’t live somewhere anymore and you just have your car and you’re driving around trying to find places that won’t ticket you ?

That does have me curious too like the guy with just paying parking tickets —- how much a year would you pay in parking tickets alone if you just did that vs having to rent somewhere— ??

3

u/SprawlWars 10d ago

Many people don't have the life skills to stay off the street. Telling people to just knuckle down and do it is naive. If you didn't grow up learning those skills, it's extremely difficult to adopt them as an adult--especially as an older adult.

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u/Internal-Syrup-5064 9d ago

Naive and likely ineffective

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u/rain_upahead 10d ago

A lot of homeless begin as youth who can't get a job (or have barriers to getting a job) and many won't rent housing to a 15 year old highschool drop out escaping an abusive home. I took an entire course in uni on he ethnography of homeless youth and its devastating to realize that majority of these homeless folks were kids when they were forced onto the street. A lot of kids end up doing prostitution and drug dealing because it's a job that doesn't require ID, a bank account, a resume, and/or experience to do it.

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u/Muted_Chard_139 9d ago

There is often a choice to remain homeless. I am in Dallas and they Started putting up signs here instructing the public not to give money to those begging. Because it’s used for nefarious purposes. Instead give to a reputable charity organization. This was hotly debated on the Dallas subreddit. Eventually an actual former homeless person weighed in saying he agreed with the signs. Because there are many programs here that actually do help get people off the streets. But he knew many people who simply refused to sign up. He signed up and got an apartment and a job in 6 months. He felt strongly that homelessness is a choice barring major mental illness.

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u/Eudaimonics 9d ago

There’s actually a large portion of homeless who have jobs or income via Social Security/Disability.

For those individuals we just need more public housing and more transitional housing.

For those suffering from addiction/mental illness it’s much tougher. There are resources available, but you’re on your own to seek help. Which is difficult when you’re surrounded by so much despair.

But just building affordable housing would solve 30%-40% of homeless in America.

1

u/BohemondIV 9d ago

Here's a quote from a homeless woman in my town

"Us people on the streets, we have different mindset — we just want to get our drugs and spend time with each other," she said. "It's just so, like, why are you getting mad about the money that you paid for a f---ing parking spot? An empty parking spot?" Source

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u/IrritableGoblin 9d ago

So we just let them die? Or imprison them for slave labor?

1

u/Internal-Syrup-5064 9d ago

Wait.... those are the only two options you can think of?

1

u/IrritableGoblin 9d ago

Sure does seem the only options that the right wants, as they cut services that would actually help and encourage for profit prisons.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

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u/CharlotteLightNDark 10d ago

And? Where are they supposed to go?

7

u/HAN-Y0LO 9d ago

A homeless shelter. Unfortunately many homeless people can’t or choose not to abide by the rules these shelters require, such as staying sober.

1

u/CharlotteLightNDark 9d ago

But everybody is saying there are not enough shelters?

0

u/looshagbrolly 9d ago

One friend doesn't justify the use of "often."

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u/Internal-Syrup-5064 9d ago

Correct. And one word doesn't justify your belief that you now have the entirety of my experience and knowledge.