On-Topic I am Ashamed of Being from Oregon Today

[BiMeGuy]

I blame the state government. The governor is a Democrat (for the last 29 years), the House is controlled by Democrats (for the last 10 years), and the Senate is controlled by Democrats (for the last 12 years).

Why are Democrat-controlled governments cesspools that allow this to happen?

Oh please. People die where I am for a lot of other reason because of Republican controlled legislator. It not just one party screw-ing over people. It is both parties.

 

[Kulindahr]

IIRC, one of the key elements moving forward is to “require” inclusion of low-income housing units in new developments.

(That’s integration.)

Sure, but they'll stuff all the low-income units off in one corner, probably separated off by landscaping so their betters don't have to look at them and can pretend they don't exist. And in so doing, they'll contribute to the same crowding that results in violence in the existing camps.

The real trick would be to design housing so that every front looks the same, making it impossible to tell if it's a $350/mo unit or a $3500.mo unit behind the entrance. Then you mix the units so people live together without knowing who is "better" right off the bat by location.

 

[Sausy]

This isn't exactly on topic but touches something important... today I saw snippets of Senator Bernie Sanders grilling incoming President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services nominee Dr. Tom Price after Price said that we were a compassionate country. Sanders was having none of it, rebuking Price and saying that no, we're not really a compassionate nation, certainly ranking among the lowest in the Western world on how we treat our most vulnerable. We fail so many... our poor, our working class, our veterans, the homeless, mentally ill... and our middle class is struggling more and more. What people could live on decently to provide for their families, or own or rent a home, or save for retirement 30, 40, 50 years ago is more out of reach to so many today it's unconscionable. It used to be a sure thing that parents would leave their children better opportunities through their hard work and sacrifice. Now it's Russian roulette, and who knows where we'll be in ten years or twenty.

It breaks my heart when I see stories like this young mother with a serious mental illness unable to take care of herself and her baby and as a result of slipping through the cracks it cost the baby's life due to exposure to the cold. America is potentially great and is capable of great things, but right now we are backtracking. We are most definitely not great, except at widening the gap of haves and have nots which in recent years we are going gangbusters.

 

[TickTockMan]

This isn't exactly on topic but touches something important... today I saw snippets of Senator Bernie Sanders grilling incoming President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services nominee Dr. Tom Price after Price said that we were a compassionate country. Sanders was having none of it, rebuking Price and saying that no, we're not really a compassionate nation, certainly ranking among the lowest in the Western world on how we treat our most vulnerable. We fail so many... our poor, our working class, our veterans, the homeless, mentally ill... and our middle class is struggling more and more. What people could live on decently to provide for their families, or own or rent a home, or save for retirement 30, 40, 50 years ago is more out of reach to so many today it's unconscionable. It used to be a sure thing that parents would leave their children better opportunities through their hard work and sacrifice. Now it's Russian roulette, and who knows where we'll be in ten years or twenty.

It breaks my heart when I see stories like this young mother with a serious mental illness unable to take care of herself and her baby and as a result of slipping through the cracks it cost the baby's life due to exposure to the cold. America is potentially great and is capable of great things, but right now we are backtracking. We are most definitely not great, except at widening the gap of haves and have nots which in recent years we are going gangbusters.

That was perfectly on topic.

 

[BigChicken]

I am from Eugene, Oregon, and my family still lives there. I remember some brutal winters up there when I lived with my family. It is definitely not a good place for homeless people to live. I have often wondered why homeless people don't attempt to move to Los Angeles, where it is never too cold or too hot? If they could panhandle enough money to buy a bus ticket to Los Angeles, at least they wouldn't have to worry about dying from cold or heat.

This article describes how easy it is to become homeless and how difficult it is to get back out of homelessness...

http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1246-7-things-no-one-tells-you-about-being-homeless.html

Most of us are very fortunate to never have to worry about becoming homeless, but just a minor twist of fate or bad luck, and suddenly we may find ourselves plunged into the nightmare world of homelessness.

Our government pretty much ignores the problem because sadly, very few people who vote care about the homeless people. Many of them are mentally ill, and sadly, a large percentage of these ones are beyond hope of recovery. They will never again be able to find a job, and will never be able to afford a roof over their heads again. These are the chronically homeless. The government could at least adequately fund shelters so that they at least had a place to come in out of the cold, heat, and rain/snow. And they should be provided with adequate food and medical care. These were once someone's baby, someone's child. Someone's sibling. It is a sad thing that happened to them. At a certain point, their family became either unwilling or unable to help them anymore.

My brother had schizophrenia and he lost his job and eventually his home, and he lived with me and various other relatives as he couch surfed from relative to relative over the years. Wearing out his welcome over and over. From time to time he was homeless, living out on the streets, and when I found out about it, I would go find him and bring him back home with me, but he never stayed more than a few months before moving on again. I wish now I had been nicer to him. I regret so many things. He ended up killing himself. He couldn't take it anymore. And the prescription medications they gave him were horrible-- they did horrible things to him. Geodon gave him akathisia and tardive dyskinesia and often made him feel and act like a zombie. Zoloft caused something called serotonin storm that required a trip to the emergency room. And in the end, they didn't help him at all. They just made his life worse.

As I age, I find that I have less and less close family members left. That is, I have less and less people who would willingly take me in, if let's say, I became homeless. So, I can see how it could happen even to me. A simple twist of fate could leave me with no one to turn to. That's one of the ways it happens.

I have thought about what I would do if something like that happened. As the time approached I would do everything in my power to move to Los Angeles. But then there is the part of me that thinks that I simply could not take the huge step down in my standard of living.

 

[sixthson]

Sure, but they'll stuff all the low-income units off in one corner, probably separated off by landscaping so their betters don't have to look at them and can pretend they don't exist. And in so doing, they'll contribute to the same crowding that results in violence in the existing camps.

The real trick would be to design housing so that every front looks the same, making it impossible to tell if it's a $350/mo unit or a $3500.mo unit behind the entrance. Then you mix the units so people live together without knowing who is "better" right off the bat by location.

A few months ago, I met this social worker who had been doing her job for over 50 years and is still working. She told me that until about 20 years ago, nursing homes would separate private pay residents from residents whose rooms were paid for by Medicaid.
Private pay were usually private rooms in the front of the building. Medicaid patients were in the back of the building in rooms that accommodated two or more patients. They usually had separate dining rooms, too. In a healthcare facility there is absolutely no reason for anybody, whether it's other patients or their families or staff, to know who had money and who didn't.

Having said that, what you describe is not the same as this. If you've ever visited section 8 housing or public housing (whatever you want to call it), one thing you will notice is the disregard for the property by the residents. Some are excellent tenants who treat their apartments as if they owned them, with respect. Others act like they are transients, with no respect for their apartments or other residents. It's often an unpleasant life for good tenants.

 

[SaskGuy]

Don't be be ashamed of yourself because people you don't even know did something you don't approve of.

 

[Benvolio]

Here is Denver giving homeless people one way tickets to Portland and other cities. http://www.9news.com/news/local/nex...ple-one-way-bus-tickets-out-of-town/387284797 But of course they are not intending to get them to leave. Nudge nudge wink wink.

 

[Kulindahr]

A few months ago, I met this social worker who had been doing her job for over 50 years and is still working. She told me that until about 20 years ago, nursing homes would separate private pay residents from residents whose rooms were paid for by Medicaid.
Private pay were usually private rooms in the front of the building. Medicaid patients were in the back of the building in rooms that accommodated two or more patients. They usually had separate dining rooms, too. In a healthcare facility there is absolutely no reason for anybody, whether it's other patients or their families or staff, to know who had money and who didn't.

Having said that, what you describe is not the same as this. If you've ever visited section 8 housing or public housing (whatever you want to call it), one thing you will notice is the disregard for the property by the residents. Some are excellent tenants who treat their apartments as if they owned them, with respect. Others act like they are transients, with no respect for their apartments or other residents. It's often an unpleasant life for good tenants.

I've dealt with Section 8... and worse.

Crap, I haul trash for an apartment house where the owner can't get approved even to take felons just released from jail!

 

[Benvolio]

There was a time when low cost slums would enable many such people to find a place. But, by regulating housing the cities have low cost housing unworkable and unavailable.

 

[BigChicken]

Here is Denver giving homeless people one way tickets to Portland and other cities. http://www.9news.com/news/local/nex...ple-one-way-bus-tickets-out-of-town/387284797 But of course they are not intending to get them to leave. Nudge nudge wink wink.

They should give them a ticket to Los Angeles or San Diego, where it never gets so cold or so hot that they would die from the weather.

I remember a carpenter I had working at my house said he intended to save up enough money to move to Hawaii and live there, because according to him, that way even if he ended up becoming homeless, he would still be living in paradise. Now that is thinking ahead. I know the cost of a ticket to Hawaii would be prohibitive for most poor people, but what if you knew you were going to soon become homeless, and rather than spend the money you had left on anything else, you just spent it on a one way ticket to Hawaii?