The Core
Why We Are Here => Water Cooler => Topic started by: rcjordan on June 18, 2019, 11:14:26 PM
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/08/homeless-people-wearing-barcodes-new-project-increase-donations/
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https://www.12keysrehab.com/drug-addiction-and-homelessness/
Not familiar with this source BUT drugs play a large part...
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Not familiar with this source BUT drugs play a large part
I can't comment on the US, but in the UK, since 2010, the Tory government's austerity policy has prioritised reducing the budget deficit over public spending. Over the same period, homelessness has tripled. There are over 300,000 homeless in the UK now, for a population of 66m. That's not to mention the 120,000 deaths that have been linked to the same policy.
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Not familiar with this source BUT drugs play a large part...
Around here there are two big factors
- affordability crisis
- drug addiction
The affordability crisis is ultimately one that's easier to see a path to solution. The county is looking into buying land that would be long-term leased, changing zoning for higher density and developing off-the-shelf small home plans to avoid design and engineering costs. These all seem like smart solutions to get families into houses. EXCEPT when they're alcoholics or meth addicts... and that's a huge problem here.
I used to talk the a homeless guy a lot in Berkeley. He would stand in the rain begging for 12 hours and I would think, "Wouldn't it be easier to have a job?" The guy would literally put in 60-70 hours weeks. But then, he'd go on a bender and disappear for a month, come back looking like crap, and start begging 60 hours a week again. He had an incredible work ethic. But he was addicted to alcohol, and that meant that about twice a year he would take an action that no regular employer would tolerate. Thus he was jobless and homeless, even though he typically "worked" as many or more hours than I did.
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The website Mike linked to notes that about 30% of those people (homeless and addicted) have mental illness. I guess that's a third and precursor factor - lots of them are addicted because they are self-medicating.