I too would rather stand in the median of a busy highway interchange for 12 hours a day, in the rain or snow, with a bag of my stuff getting ruined, holding a sign and watching everyone turn their head away from me to not make eye contact, day in and day out, than get a job. I’m so glad you understand
Had coworkers who would insist the guys panhandling on the street were making more than we were. In fairness, we were being paid shit. But there were so many back-of-the-envelop assumptions and urban legends flying around - “Well, if he gets $1 on every light and there’s 20 light changes every hour…” / “I hear they all drive nice cars and just pretend to be poor…” / “I heard on the AM Radio that there’s a trick homeless people use to get rich quickly…” - that you couldn’t have any kind of serious response to the right-wing rumor mill.
There are always going to be dirtbags that think they are too good to get a job but stand on the same corner at the same time every day.
There are always going to be far more dirtbags who let the rich convince them to betray their inherent solidarity with other struggling humans because of morality stories about who deserves empathy and who doesn’t that have ZERO percent to do with reality, actual effective policy or even common sense.
These dirtbags have used the incredible capacity of the human mind to mutilate their empathy and committed a colossal waste of time by using such a powerful organ of consciousness…… to rationalize not extending a basic mercy to those in need, which even children who know nothing of the world can easily identify as evil because ignorance is wiser than years of rotting the core of one’s soul out with hateful conservative rhetoric.
There are always going to be dirtbags that think they are too good to get a job but stand on the same corner at the same time every day.
You can’t seriously believe this right? You’re talking about fellow human beings who are down on their luck, not objects, could easily be you in a street corner some day.
Housing First’s early goal was to create 2,500 new homes. It has created 3,500. Since its launch in 2008, the number of long-term homeless people in Finland has fallen by more than 35%. Rough sleeping has been all but eradicated in Helsinki, where only one 50-bed night shelter remains, and where winter temperatures can plunge to -20C.
But Housing First is not just about housing. “Services have been crucial,” says Helsinki’s mayor, Jan Vapaavuori, who was housing minister when the original scheme was launched. “Many long-term homeless people have addictions, mental health issues, medical conditions that need ongoing care. The support has to be there.”
“We had to get rid of the night shelters and short-term hostels we still had back then. They had a very long history in Finland, and everyone could see they were not getting people out of homelessness. We decided to reverse the assumptions.”
I have sympathy for homeless people but I also realise they aren’t all good, harmless innocents (just like those who are lucky enough to have a home aren’t all good).
Some encampment activities were difficult to talk about — a disturbed camper throwing feces over the 97 Street bridge on unsuspecting passersby and cars.
Gangs are preying on vulnerable campers, setting up “taxation” tents like trolls under bridges, demanding payment for the use of safe consumption sites, or a chance to visit an agency to get free needles, or pick up a cheque
A 16-year-old girl was being sex-trafficked around the encampments. She was found in hospital with 75 per cent burns — under an alias.
They were sex trafficking a child, setting up wires to behead cyclists… those aren’t good people.
But yeah the solution isn’t to shuffle them into prison. They need homes.
“It’s worth every dollar. These are human lives. By making this new investment, we are going to put individuals on a new trajectory in life,” he [the mayor] said, adding that city staff are hearing from other municipalities across Ontario and the rest of Canada, as many grapple with how to deal with homelessness.
There is a security hub, washrooms and showers separate from the units, and a service room. One of the 50 units has a toaster, toaster oven and microwave. Laundry is done off site. An indoor community space, which will include a kitchenette and laundry facilities, is not open yet.
Each unit, which costs $21,150 to build, comes with a bed, bedding, mini fridge, smoke alarm, personal heater, air conditioning unit, and storage space. The units are side by side, with a door at the front and a window at the back.
Removed by mod
I too would rather stand in the median of a busy highway interchange for 12 hours a day, in the rain or snow, with a bag of my stuff getting ruined, holding a sign and watching everyone turn their head away from me to not make eye contact, day in and day out, than get a job. I’m so glad you understand
/s
Had coworkers who would insist the guys panhandling on the street were making more than we were. In fairness, we were being paid shit. But there were so many back-of-the-envelop assumptions and urban legends flying around - “Well, if he gets $1 on every light and there’s 20 light changes every hour…” / “I hear they all drive nice cars and just pretend to be poor…” / “I heard on the AM Radio that there’s a trick homeless people use to get rich quickly…” - that you couldn’t have any kind of serious response to the right-wing rumor mill.
There are always going to be far more dirtbags who let the rich convince them to betray their inherent solidarity with other struggling humans because of morality stories about who deserves empathy and who doesn’t that have ZERO percent to do with reality, actual effective policy or even common sense.
These dirtbags have used the incredible capacity of the human mind to mutilate their empathy and committed a colossal waste of time by using such a powerful organ of consciousness…… to rationalize not extending a basic mercy to those in need, which even children who know nothing of the world can easily identify as evil because ignorance is wiser than years of rotting the core of one’s soul out with hateful conservative rhetoric.
You can’t seriously believe this right? You’re talking about fellow human beings who are down on their luck, not objects, could easily be you in a street corner some day.
Helsinki’s radical solution to homelessness
Rich failkids don’t live out on the street.
I have sympathy for homeless people but I also realise they aren’t all good, harmless innocents (just like those who are lucky enough to have a home aren’t all good).
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/dozens-of-weapons-seized-in-encampment-removals-edmonton-police-share-graphic-images
They were sex trafficking a child, setting up wires to behead cyclists… those aren’t good people.
But yeah the solution isn’t to shuffle them into prison. They need homes.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peterborough-modular-housing-project-unhoused-people-1.7138608>