October 22nd, 2007 8:48 am
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Dear Mayor,
While I agree with your new action plan to try and get homeless people off the streets, I thought I would send a few thoughts about this topic. There are some who honestly cannot help their situation, and those are the ones who would more likely be willing to take the alternative that they would be offered. Even a shelter is better than sleeping on a sidewalk or doorway.
There are various reasons why people end up on the streets, one of them being a personal choice. Most choose it so they don’t have to pay rent or other bills, which I find truly absurd. I have been homeless myself off and on for about a 10 year period. I hated it with a passion. I did not choose to be homeless. It was not the type of life I wanted to live. I never could bring myself to panhandle, but if a kind stranger did offer a few dollars or a bite to eat, I would accept it and tell them "thank you". I don’t even like to ask for money from people I know, much less a complete stranger. I am now employed full time as a security officer for more than a year and I live in a SRO hotel, but at least I have roof over my head.
I have given money to several homeless in the past, but I have now changed the way I feel about this whole situation. Most of these people are able-bodied and can go out and find some type of work to fend for themselves. There are several day labor jobs they can find, and many others as well. For those who have no drug/alcohol addictions or felony convictions, they can become security officers. A job is better than no job. Besides, what is the point of giving any of these folks any handouts when they are right back out there begging again? No amount of money kind folks give them will ever get them off the streets or even stop them from begging. Actually, the more they get, the more they will beg. Basically, these people are free-loaders.
I do not feel sorry for any of them. There is a huge difference between being less fortunate, and being a free-loader. Then we also have those who use their kids to prey on people’s sympathy. It is absolutely terrible to see little kids living on the streets, but a lot of the parents are only begging for drug money. Those kids need to be taken into protective custody by CPS. I acknowledge that there are some parents with small kids who are on the streets because of a situation at home that may have resulted in them being homeless.
I have compassion for those who are out there, but don’t want to be. I do not have sympathy for anybody. Compassion is for those who will accept any help they can get, including a job offer - whatever they can do to get out of this predicament. Sympathy is a waste of time, and solves nothing.
The biggest thing that bugs me the most about all of this are the ones who are aggressive and have the attitude that everybody owes them a free living. Where do they get the audacity?
It seems a rather Catch 22 situation a lot of times, but I applaud you for your efforts in at least trying to make some sense of it and doing what the City can to make a difference.
God Bless!
Scott
San Francisco
- : 10.0
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October 26th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I think this is a very accurate portrayal of how many people have changed their attitudes regarding the homeless. Congratulations to the writer for so eloquently presenting his position!
In my case I keep hearing about undocumented workers using city services but then I see them standing on street corners willing to take any type of day labor to feed their families and I can only applaud their courage. Contrast that to our aggressive “entitled” homeless - almost none of whom are undocumented migrants - and you begin to think that our values are all topsey turvey.
We need to exercise a triage and provide services for those who need them and stop pandering to those who have made homelessness a lifestyle choice.
I think that many SF residents feel the same way. We tried and tried to help the homeless and we understood and believed that a community should provide for the less fortunate. But, after years and years of handouts and the development of a homeless industry that more aligned with perpetuating homeless than eliminating it, I and many others have reached the point where we say “Enough is enough!”
Our vision of a continuum of care has morphed from sympathy to apathy to antipathy.