Seniors living in tent encampment desperate for safe housing

Not at all, but you sure are quick to suggest what I should do, so I just thought maybe I could follow your lead.
Could you point out where I suggested “You” do anything?
 

We need to reopen the asylums . I know that sounds cruel , and often they are cruel places but. The street folks are quite often in need of mental care and they would [should] get it there. Not to mention that at least it is a warm/cool place to sleep/live, with some decent food as well.
In this area the assisted living facilities have become the option of last resort for many displaced seniors who are looking for help.

Usually some sort of life threatening illness or event lands them in the hospital where they are assigned a social worker that helps to get them into the system, enrolled in Medicaid, etc…

It’s sad that is about the only option when many of these people recover and have many good years ahead of them if given a hand up.
 
Could you point out where I suggested “You” do anything?


OK, but before I do as you suggest ...... tell me what you have done ?
What I suggest is people stop making assumption And stop shaming people for their personal choices. Why is it ok to try to shame a person for spoiling themselves or their pet or kids or grandkids or insects in their garden. It’s their own personal choice (and business)
 

We need to reopen the asylums . I know that sounds cruel , and often they are cruel places but. The street folks are quite often in need of mental care and they would [should] get it there. Not to mention that at least it is a warm/cool place to sleep/live, with some decent food as well.

I"m not convinced this is a controversial idea. But let's frame it differently and call them a Treatment Center for the Mentally Ill or some such thing.

If they provide safe haven and treatment, I don't think it's cruel at all. If the onus is on treatment for them, with a view to return them to society, then it's all good. If the only motivation is to clean up the streets, then not.
 
What I suggest is people stop making assumption And stop shaming people for their personal choices. Why is it ok to try to shame a person for spoiling themselves or their pet or kids or grandkids or insects in their garden. It’s their own personal choice (and business)
I am not shaming anyone for the manner in which they 'spoil' themselves . Actually that is exactly my point . If a person chooses to do so, as oppose to 'giving' then that is what they should do . It is their money, enjoy it as they will .... of course meet one's responsibilities , then hell yeah, have at it. As for pets, I am a pet spoiler, did so when my little pet was still alive.

Can some folks take it too far IMO ? Well, I suppose, but again if done with their own money, it's none of my business.

But back to street people .... my biggie is simply, if they refuse to give up their vices , to enter a shelter, then yes I refuse to help them ... period.

I am not going to invite anyone into my home either. If that makes me a bad person ?..... well then I guess I'm a bad person.
 
Somehow i do not think pets are what tip the scale. In phoenix…regardless of the actual rent price you must have 1st, last month and a deposit to rent an apartment. You must have a good credit rating. You must sign a years lease. It is virtually impossible to get out of the monies owed upon an apartment lease. Do not pay and they ruin your credit.
 
Somehow i do not think pets are what tip the scale.
Of course not. It's just an obvious example of a large waste of resources, diverted only for frivolity and vanity. I won't cite all of the studies that show how emotionally and psychologically negative pet ownership is, leading to much anxiety and depression.
In phoenix…regardless of the actual rent price you must have 1st, last month and a deposit to rent an apartment. You must have a good credit rating. You must sign a years lease. It is virtually impossible to get out of the monies owed upon an apartment lease.
I'm not sure what you are getting at. It's called "being a responsible adult." Landlords do not run charities and they have real costs.

Gosh, how did previous generations get by at all, eh? I'm not defending abuse, but everything you described is normal and has been within the bounds of common practice for a very long time.
Do not pay and they ruin your credit.
No, do not pay and you ruin your credit. What is hard to understand about this?

Personality Tests.jpg

As we can see, most people just "aren't that bright." This is why attempting to crowdsource opinion, the bane of social media, tends to fail.
 
A lot of time I think its "location". So many of the needy are in the major city center type areas. So many of those that would offer and have offered and helped in the past live in country or small town environments.

About 10 years ago, we offered our garage apt. free to a single mom who had two children - one 4 and one 16. They drove across the country from Calif. to Texas, hauling a trailer on the back of an older Toyota Corolla and stayed with us for some months, until she bought land and rehab'd a house. We are good friends to this day.
it's the opposite here, which is why most of our needy and homeless are in the cities, because that's where the majority of the resources are
 
It is possible to be a pet owner and also donate money and/or time to charities.

Just like it is possible to spend one's money on whatever you spend it on and do so or not do so.

The jibe toward pet owners was totally ludicrous.
Isn't it the truth. Big cars, expensive unnecessary items, Electronics, fancy vacations, out to dinner all the time, alcohol, cigarettes. Whatever it is people spend money on.

But go after pets. For many people pets may be their only companionship.
 
Not sure what Canada has as the equivalent of Social Security, but I know in the US, if you have not worked in a decent paying job to pay in, you don't really have enough to live off of with SS alone due to high rent and perhaps real estate taxes and expenses, so I can easily see how this type of thing is happening in the US. According to AARP, 1 out of 5 in the US lack a permanent place to live. https://www.aarp.org/home-family/your-home/info-2022/americas-homeless-over-50.html
 
I think it's disgusting that our govts (Can, US, UK) and more treat retirees with such pure hatred. There can be no other explanation. How can you (in the case of Canada) allow those that built the dam country suffer? Seniors living in poverty is gross negligence. If it was parents that treated their kids that way, they would be arrested or have the child/ren removed. You would be an abuser. But with seniors or retirees it's ok?
 
I think it's disgusting that our govts (Can, US, UK) and more treat retirees with such pure hatred. There can be no other explanation. How can you (in the case of Canada) allow those that built the dam country suffer? Seniors living in poverty is gross negligence. If it was parents that treated their kids that way, they would be arrested or have the child/ren removed. You would be an abuser. But with seniors or retirees it's ok?
hear hear !!... we say exactly the same thing here in the UK... pensioners are treated with utter disdain...
 
@dilettante …ahhhhh how young you must actually be. When I was young absolutely no place I rented charged first last and deposit. I payed for my first year and half of college working fast food. Second two years payed out of state tuition and housing while working in a livestock salesbarn and waitressing. I completed another two years working part time. I never had college debt. When i was so broke i could not pay my rent i told the landlord and moved on. I had no mandatory car insurance. It was doable is my point. Now i question if it is near as easy. As for being an adult….well i matured very late in life…and have a very hard time being judgemental.
 
Worth every penny and much more. I made a decent living in the pet industry (which allowed me to spoil my pets) and ended with a decent pension (Which allows me to continue to spoil my pets) I can think of many other bigger wastes of money that cause so much harm such as drugs, alcohol, gambling, Weapons etc.etc. But hay you just continue to do you. Anyway I’m bored of discussing this pet issue you seem to have and wont be commenting anymore.
 
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I won't cite all of the studies that show how emotionally and psychologically negative pet ownership is, leading to much anxiety and depression.
of course you would have to balance that with all the studies citing how positive pet ownership is for people

But it remains a ludicrous jibe at pet owners

Everybody can choose what to spend their money on and everybody, whether they spend money on pets, gardens, holidays, jewellery, sports, accessing the internet etc etc etc - can also donate money and/or time to charities. Or not.

I for example, do not spend much money on jewellery - but I dont write ludicrous jibes at people who do, as if that somehow is inconsistent with donating, just because it isnt my own thing 😵‍💫
 
And how am I the bad guy here?

If you have the money to piss away on torturing slave animals for your amusement you might consider redirecting it to help suffering people instead.

What's cowardly is turning a blind eye to your sins.
I have spent my entire adult life helping others either through donating money, babysitting, errands, rides, cleaning up their houses, etc. My dad was a great role model. I also spent my career in a helping profession. So I’m at peace with myself.

Something bad must have happened to you to make you hate animals so much. I never had a pet until I was 50 because my first responsibility was to my family. Now they are launched and I adopted an old dog that would have been killed and I’ve been doing it for the past 20 years and will do it until I die.

. I sacrifice in other areas to keep pets. I’ve rescued 9 old dogs and am very grateful for their existence. Don’t spend a dime on yourself except for subsistence so you can donate to the homeless. That’s what you seem to want others to do. I would love to know what you have done and what sacrifices you’ve made to help your fellow Americans.
 
Homelessness is an enormous problem with numerous causes. As @hollydolly said, most are in urban areas because of the availability of services. The majority have drug, alcohol, mental health problems and/or criminal records. Not all, but many.

The only statement I'll make about pet ownership is that a rather high percentage of homeless people themselves have pets, which is part of the reason they don't want to go into shelters.

From my own experience - when starting out in adulthood I had a roommate in a single furnished apartment. Single meaning a small room with two single beds, a small bathroom and tiny kitchen. It was what we could afford and was about 200 square feet, all told.

When she got a job on the other side of town, we went different ways. I moved to a lousy part of town - again, it was all I could afford. After a time, I found two roommates in a slightly better area and got a better job. We shared a creaky old 3 bedroom apt with such bad plumbing that the bathtub shower drained so slowly that the tub was nearly filled by the time one of us finished showering.

Our schedule: One showered after coming home from work/school, another in the evening before bed and the one who left the house last in the morning showered in the AM. The kitchen sink wasn't much better, BTW. We had no pets, virtually never ate out, had an old castoff B&W TV with wonky rabbit ear antennas, ate a lot of pasta and PB & J, and watched every dime.

By the time we split up a couple of years later, each had saved enough to rent nicer places. Even back then (mid 70s), landlords required first and last month's rent, plus a security deposit, and prospective tenants had to pass credit checks and provide references.

Sure, some folks come upon homelessness unexpectedly, but many sink in gradually with poor decisions greasing the path. What people today consider necessities are truly not.

My comments above don't appear to apply to the woman profiled in the Halifax video. How she and her partner wound up in such dire straits isn't explained, but my heart goes out to her.

I thought the Canadian government covered the costs of assisted living and other senior services, but based on her story, it seems not. Perhaps some Canadians can weigh in on how those benefits (and your version of SS) work.
 

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