"...a homeless woman rummaging throught trash cans in an alleyway..." discovers the body of a murder victim in The Long Fall by Walter Mosley.
A character in the novel thought: "...at least if you've hit bottom you had no further to fall." Books I have read recently often say when you hit bottom you know you only have one place to go: up. I think Mosley's description fits many homeless who "...stayed there because..." trying to move up finally became too tiresome; a losing battle.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Affordable Housing?
As reported in Press-Telgram article by Greg Mellen, Staff Writer, Rick Skaggs, age 60, lived in shelters and under bridges for 38 years. Due to illiteracy he was honorably discharged from the Navy and spent his years doing day labor jobs, traveling from town to town via Greyhound buses.
Skaggs is off the streets now or no longer sleeping under the 7th Street bridge in Long Beach. Due to health issues, he was chosen as one of Long Beach's homeless at the greatest risk of death by homeless advocates who helped him get affordable housing.
Mellen report4ed that Catholic Charities paid his apartment deposit and he pays $500. rent from his $850. Social Security. "The Mayor's Fund for the Homeless" pays "the remainder of the balance." Skaggs also has application in to get Section Housing.
I never heard of the Mayor's Fund and curious to that "remaining balance". Could it be that Skaggs' rent is higher than the going rate for efficiency apartments in Long Beach? One room apartments with kitchen and bath are priced at $650. to $700. or more. Skagg's apartment is one bedroom.
In other local news a march was held Saturday regarding affordable housing. Article said marchers were stopping at downtown apartment complexes that offer affordable housing; where walkers would give speeches explaining why.
I am guessing the speakers would be person's like Skaggs due to walk I participated in several years ago. That seemed more of a protest of all the newly constructed expensive condos while the needs of those living in poverty for affordable homes seems ignored.
Long Beach has an higher than average number of citizens living below National Poverty rate. That would include Skaggs and other Social Security retirement or disability recipients. It also may include newly hired hotel room cleaners, dish washers, wait staff and the like employed to service the expensive new hotels and eateries.
Skaggs is off the streets now or no longer sleeping under the 7th Street bridge in Long Beach. Due to health issues, he was chosen as one of Long Beach's homeless at the greatest risk of death by homeless advocates who helped him get affordable housing.
Mellen report4ed that Catholic Charities paid his apartment deposit and he pays $500. rent from his $850. Social Security. "The Mayor's Fund for the Homeless" pays "the remainder of the balance." Skaggs also has application in to get Section Housing.
I never heard of the Mayor's Fund and curious to that "remaining balance". Could it be that Skaggs' rent is higher than the going rate for efficiency apartments in Long Beach? One room apartments with kitchen and bath are priced at $650. to $700. or more. Skagg's apartment is one bedroom.
In other local news a march was held Saturday regarding affordable housing. Article said marchers were stopping at downtown apartment complexes that offer affordable housing; where walkers would give speeches explaining why.
I am guessing the speakers would be person's like Skaggs due to walk I participated in several years ago. That seemed more of a protest of all the newly constructed expensive condos while the needs of those living in poverty for affordable homes seems ignored.
Long Beach has an higher than average number of citizens living below National Poverty rate. That would include Skaggs and other Social Security retirement or disability recipients. It also may include newly hired hotel room cleaners, dish washers, wait staff and the like employed to service the expensive new hotels and eateries.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Baby Boomer Homeless
Found old article clipped from L. A. Watts Times. Neglected to date the yellowing clipping; back side has correction from October 5, 2006 edition, thus AP article by Lisa Leff printed soon after that date.
UC San Francisco researchers "found that between 1990 and 2003, their median age rose from 37 to 46" ~ "their" being homeless individuals. The article said persons over 65 do not become homeless because they are eligible for Social Security and Medicaid.
A man interviewed for the article had been homeless for nine years or since he was age 51. The man is a veteran, on dialysis for kidney problems and travels by wheelchair due to leg problems. The article mentions "health problems exacerbated by aging on the streets."
I began street living at age 55, shortly before turning 56. I was 58 when enrolled in the Safe Haven program. Perhaps I clipped the article to share with MHA-Village staff who seemed oblivious to my age-related physical health issues, made worse due to living on the streets. It was quite a frustrating experience.
UC San Francisco researchers "found that between 1990 and 2003, their median age rose from 37 to 46" ~ "their" being homeless individuals. The article said persons over 65 do not become homeless because they are eligible for Social Security and Medicaid.
A man interviewed for the article had been homeless for nine years or since he was age 51. The man is a veteran, on dialysis for kidney problems and travels by wheelchair due to leg problems. The article mentions "health problems exacerbated by aging on the streets."
I began street living at age 55, shortly before turning 56. I was 58 when enrolled in the Safe Haven program. Perhaps I clipped the article to share with MHA-Village staff who seemed oblivious to my age-related physical health issues, made worse due to living on the streets. It was quite a frustrating experience.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Kinky Friedman
Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned by Kinky Friedman is classified as a Mystery novel at library. There are no homicide detectives struggling to find out who done it, but there are two mysterious characters, Fox and Clyde. Mischievous might be a better word or kooky NYC characters.
When Fox is late for a birthday party he says it is "...an occupational hazard of a homeless man without subway fare." There is a lot of humor in the novel and I thought it said in jest. Later Fox speaks about a new character, Teddy, that he met "some years back" and "Teddy was in and out of the homeless shelters."
Walter is enamored of Clyde, wondering about the relationship between her and Fox: "Maybe she'd met him in his homeless days and literally taken him off the streets...".
A woman vomiting on a sidewalk after drinking Starbucks coffee laced with ipecac was ignored by people entering & leaving the establishment, "...as if she were a homeless person or a dead body lying in their way." I ignored a body lying on the sidewalk a few weeks ago. The man was lying next to a building at alley entrance on the other side of Anaheim. I assumed he was homeless. Seeing homeless sleeping just about anywhere around Long Beach or passed out drunk in the middle of sidewalks, I think, is the reason people simply walk on by without much of a glance.
Pranksters complicated things further by stopping up toilets and compromising sugar and creamers which caused either diarrhea or severe stomach cramps. "Now they'll discover firsthand a little bit of what it's like to be homeless." I wondered if Friedman has experienced homelessness or simply has a fine understanding of what it is like to be homeless.
A "...group of homeless people..." agreed to create a "diversion" so that Clyde & Fox could pull off their latest prank.
Another elaborate prank involves Donald Trump and a party at "the Old Armory", now a homeless shelter. When I first moved to Long Beach, the Armory was used as a homeless shelter. Perhaps it was only a Winter Shelter; at the time I did not know much about local homelessness.
The novel is a first person narrative and Walter suggests "If you've never been to a homeless shelter, maybe you should go." Or maybe not! He thinks he has "...underestimated the true nature of the plight of the homeless...", "...like most well-intentioned but severely sheltered people." I found, at times, that even people whose job is to help homeless, are rather clueless as to "the true nature" of homelessness.
Walter is suffering from writer's block. Meeting Clyde and Fox, becoming involved in their pranks, unblocks him and he resumes writing "The Great Armenian Novel". Neither the title, classification or book jacket blurb had me thinking I would be reading about homelessness and mental illness when I checked the book out of library. Can not say I learned anything new about writer's craft, but interesting ~ author character being a novelist.
Walter says "If Mozart, Kafka or Van Gogh were alive today, they'd probably be living in a homeless shelter."
When Fox is late for a birthday party he says it is "...an occupational hazard of a homeless man without subway fare." There is a lot of humor in the novel and I thought it said in jest. Later Fox speaks about a new character, Teddy, that he met "some years back" and "Teddy was in and out of the homeless shelters."
Walter is enamored of Clyde, wondering about the relationship between her and Fox: "Maybe she'd met him in his homeless days and literally taken him off the streets...".
A woman vomiting on a sidewalk after drinking Starbucks coffee laced with ipecac was ignored by people entering & leaving the establishment, "...as if she were a homeless person or a dead body lying in their way." I ignored a body lying on the sidewalk a few weeks ago. The man was lying next to a building at alley entrance on the other side of Anaheim. I assumed he was homeless. Seeing homeless sleeping just about anywhere around Long Beach or passed out drunk in the middle of sidewalks, I think, is the reason people simply walk on by without much of a glance.
Pranksters complicated things further by stopping up toilets and compromising sugar and creamers which caused either diarrhea or severe stomach cramps. "Now they'll discover firsthand a little bit of what it's like to be homeless." I wondered if Friedman has experienced homelessness or simply has a fine understanding of what it is like to be homeless.
A "...group of homeless people..." agreed to create a "diversion" so that Clyde & Fox could pull off their latest prank.
Another elaborate prank involves Donald Trump and a party at "the Old Armory", now a homeless shelter. When I first moved to Long Beach, the Armory was used as a homeless shelter. Perhaps it was only a Winter Shelter; at the time I did not know much about local homelessness.
The novel is a first person narrative and Walter suggests "If you've never been to a homeless shelter, maybe you should go." Or maybe not! He thinks he has "...underestimated the true nature of the plight of the homeless...", "...like most well-intentioned but severely sheltered people." I found, at times, that even people whose job is to help homeless, are rather clueless as to "the true nature" of homelessness.
Walter is suffering from writer's block. Meeting Clyde and Fox, becoming involved in their pranks, unblocks him and he resumes writing "The Great Armenian Novel". Neither the title, classification or book jacket blurb had me thinking I would be reading about homelessness and mental illness when I checked the book out of library. Can not say I learned anything new about writer's craft, but interesting ~ author character being a novelist.
Walter says "If Mozart, Kafka or Van Gogh were alive today, they'd probably be living in a homeless shelter."
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
I, Fatty
I, Mary, did not finish reading all of I, Fatty by Jerry Stahl. The book is a fictionized first person narrative by renown comic known as Fatty Arbuckle. That I did not finish reading it is no fault of author; simply burnt out on reading and having a bit of trouble finding anything that holds my interest.
Fatty says, that he and wife "...arrived in Echo Park homeless vagabonds...", which was not literal homelessness. He was, however, basically a "...homeless pre-pube...".
Fatty says, that he and wife "...arrived in Echo Park homeless vagabonds...", which was not literal homelessness. He was, however, basically a "...homeless pre-pube...".
Monday, October 19, 2009
Winter Shelter Blues
City of Long Beach has the winter shelter blues again this year. Every year as the date nears when the winter shelter is mandated to open there is a problem about making that happen. What is so hard about this? There is to be a winter shelter for homeless every year, but at the last minute it can not be done or done on time.
Will have to finish this post later ~ Internet time up and misplaced note with info from Press-Telegram article.
This year's funding for the Winter Shelter has been reduced to $247,000. to provide 130 beds per night for 4 months. Beds in Long Beach Winter Shelters I spent some nights at were cots. Orange County Winter Shelter the beds were mats on the floor. I am assuming the amount listed in P-T included the two meals those who run Winter Shelter are to provide.
I took my shelter experiences offline. I mentioned the 100 or more people left standing on sidewalk in rain as Shelter bus left with promise to be back to pick them up later. That never happened, the shelter was over-filled to capacity.
With a reported 3 to 4 thousand homeless in Long Beach, 130 "beds" is hardly enough to help keep homeless sheltered for the night.
The other shelter blues issue is the idea to locate the shelter in either Wilmington or Harbor City. Long Beach's Winter Shelter includes San Pedro homeless ~ Wilmington a bit closer to San Pedro. Do not know how many homeless there are in San Pedro and also Wilmington and Harbor City.
Because this problem occurs every year it seems to me a year round 24 hour permanent shelter is needed in Long Beach. Why 24 hours? The Winter Shelter rules put homeless back outside soon after 7AM and there they be until around 4 or 5 PM. Many people do manage to hold jobs and also apply for them while homeless, utilizing Winter Shelter (or the Mission, 165 bed Christian men's shelter), Lydia House for very few females, MSC program (single moms with kids mostly) or Cabrillo Village (veterans).
For most ~ an impossible dream.
Should tax payers pay for shelter for homeless citizens? is another issue.
Will have to finish this post later ~ Internet time up and misplaced note with info from Press-Telegram article.
This year's funding for the Winter Shelter has been reduced to $247,000. to provide 130 beds per night for 4 months. Beds in Long Beach Winter Shelters I spent some nights at were cots. Orange County Winter Shelter the beds were mats on the floor. I am assuming the amount listed in P-T included the two meals those who run Winter Shelter are to provide.
I took my shelter experiences offline. I mentioned the 100 or more people left standing on sidewalk in rain as Shelter bus left with promise to be back to pick them up later. That never happened, the shelter was over-filled to capacity.
With a reported 3 to 4 thousand homeless in Long Beach, 130 "beds" is hardly enough to help keep homeless sheltered for the night.
The other shelter blues issue is the idea to locate the shelter in either Wilmington or Harbor City. Long Beach's Winter Shelter includes San Pedro homeless ~ Wilmington a bit closer to San Pedro. Do not know how many homeless there are in San Pedro and also Wilmington and Harbor City.
Because this problem occurs every year it seems to me a year round 24 hour permanent shelter is needed in Long Beach. Why 24 hours? The Winter Shelter rules put homeless back outside soon after 7AM and there they be until around 4 or 5 PM. Many people do manage to hold jobs and also apply for them while homeless, utilizing Winter Shelter (or the Mission, 165 bed Christian men's shelter), Lydia House for very few females, MSC program (single moms with kids mostly) or Cabrillo Village (veterans).
For most ~ an impossible dream.
Should tax payers pay for shelter for homeless citizens? is another issue.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Homeless Not Hopeless
Ebony October 2009 cover headline: Homeless Not Hopeless ~ Ebony Investigates. Article titled "Reclaiming Victory", written by Shirley Henderson& Kevin Chappell, photos by Valerie Goodloe. The article profiles "...six people who have had a brush with homelessness".
The profiles are first person accounts, such as from Joseph Harris, age 46, single father with 4-year-old son from Washington, D.C. Harris is quoted as saying "..there are so many people in need that I kept getting doors closed."
I know that feeling.
I am not sure how much investitgating went into the article. The people profiled appeared to have been homeless only for short time periods. While I enjoyed their stories, they did not seem to reflect the general homeless populations experiences.
The profiles are first person accounts, such as from Joseph Harris, age 46, single father with 4-year-old son from Washington, D.C. Harris is quoted as saying "..there are so many people in need that I kept getting doors closed."
I know that feeling.
I am not sure how much investitgating went into the article. The people profiled appeared to have been homeless only for short time periods. While I enjoyed their stories, they did not seem to reflect the general homeless populations experiences.
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