Homeless...

[Blue_Firefly]

As some of you are aware, I went to Toronto on Saturday for my 2nd Leafs game. Leafs lost, but I still had a blast spending time with my brother, and wandering around downtown Toronto :D

The last time I was in Toronto was a few years ago for my first Leafs game. Although Toronto is really improving the look of their city by adding all these new fancy apartment buildings and other little things, the number of homeless people there is still the same. As we were headed to the CN Tower, we passed by this homeless person who was curled up lying sideways on top of a large sidewalk steam grate. Most people hate walking across them (I dont walk on them when they're wet), but since heat comes out of them, I could see why he was lying there. We passed by him shortly after 1:00 that afternoon.
After the hockey game, we waited outside the arena until almost 12am to meet players (which did pay off), then we headed back to the bus station. The last bus to leave Toronto would be at 1:00am, so if we missed that, we would have to spend the night in the bus station till the 6:00am bus. As we walked back to the station, we passed by that same person, lying in the EXACT SAME position as before when we walked by him earlier :weird: Yeah, we're pretty sure he was dead.

Just my opinion, but if I was homeless, I would commit a crime, like stealing, to be put in jail. You'd be warm and you'd get fed. Being in jail would have to be better than picking food out of garbage cans and sleeping on steam grates to stay warm in the cold right? What would you do if you were homeless? Would you rather live on the streets, or would you rather be in jail? :uhh:

[MiniShaniaTwain]

As some of you are aware, I went to Toronto on Saturday for my 2nd Leafs game. Leafs lost, but I still had a blast spending time with my brother, and wandering around downtown Toronto :D

The last time I was in Toronto was a few years ago for my first Leafs game. Although Toronto is really improving the look of their city by adding all these new fancy apartment buildings and other little things, the number of homeless people there is still the same. As we were headed to the CN Tower, we passed by this homeless person who was curled up lying sideways on top of a large sidewalk steam grate. Most people hate walking across them (I dont walk on them when they're wet), but since heat comes out of them, I could see why he was lying there. We passed by him shortly after 1:00 that afternoon.
After the hockey game, we waited outside the arena until almost 12am to meet players (which did pay off), then we headed back to the bus station. The last bus to leave Toronto would be at 1:00am, so if we missed that, we would have to spend the night in the bus station till the 6:00am bus. As we walked back to the station, we passed by that same person, lying in the EXACT SAME position as before when we walked by him earlier :weird: Yeah, we're pretty sure he was dead.

Just my opinion, but if I was homeless, I would commit a crime, like stealing, to be put in jail. You'd be warm and you'd get fed. Being in jail would have to be better than picking food out of garbage cans and sleeping on steam grates to stay warm in the cold right? What would you do if you were homeless? Would you rather live on the streets, or would you rather be in jail? :uhh:

They had an article in a local newspaper about homeless people and crimes not too long ago (it might have been the Detroit News but I can't remember), and it said more and more homeless people were committing crimes so they could go to jail, get fed, and have a warm shelter.

[Paul]

Can hardly blame them. I guess being homeless you just aren't in any normal frame of mind and can't think logically like that. Very sad. There's a homeless person who lives in a bus shelter here in the UK, she's on a webcam all the time and people from all over the world started watching and sending donations. She doesn't want any help though. :(

[nds76]

It's a sad reality unfortunately. It's a serious problem that needs to be dealt with. When I was in downtown Grand Rapids at the midnight hour, there were many homeless people. We were approached and they wanted some money. It was heart breaking.

[Roger]

The number of homeless people in Ontario swelled when the Conservatives forced a lot of people out of mental institutions.

[AdorableEilleen]

Most likely taking advantage of the system???

[Troll]

It's a sad reality unfortunately. It's a serious problem that needs to be dealt with. When I was in downtown Grand Rapids at the midnight hour, there were many homeless people. We were approached and they wanted some money. It was heart breaking.

Yes it is a serious problem that needs to be dealt with.

[canoilers]

Here its a big problem and not for just people without jobs. Theres a huge increase in the working homless in Alberta. Rents have shot up so high that people are having a hard time paying rent, on top of that finding a place is tough period. City's like Red Deer have no vacancy what so ever. So even if you do have money, finding a place is really difficult. There are people here working and making money but can't find a place to live. Theres a downside to Alberta's massive upside.

[AdorableEilleen]

Yeah it's not easy these days.

[Skippy95]

Most of them don't want to go to the structures of emergency lodging because of agression and brawls.

[jamesmicoff]

Can hardly blame them. I guess being homeless you just aren't in any normal frame of mind and can't think logically like that. Very sad. There's a homeless person who lives in a bus shelter here in the UK, she's on a webcam all the time and people from all over the world started watching and sending donations. She doesn't want any help though. :(

Condition of the mind has little to do with the homeless state. Although mental ilness can lead to homelessness. Logic is a useless tool for breaking the cycle. As far as rejecting help, there is a certain pride achieved in doing for ones self.

[jamesmicoff]

They had an article in a local newspaper about homeless people and crimes not too long ago (it might have been the Detroit News but I can't remember), and it said more and more homeless people were committing crimes so they could go to jail, get fed, and have a warm shelter.

If it is necessary to maintain one life, by all means comitt a petty crime. Anything less is tantamount to sucide

[jamesmicoff]

There is a sad need for the society to see the whole matter as a survival option

[jamesmicoff]

The number of homeless people in Ontario swelled when the Conservatives forced a lot of people out of mental institutions.

Now that is a brilliant thing to do

[jamesmicoff]

Most of them don't want to go to the structures of emergency lodging because of agression and brawls.

If there is any way to avoid a shelter thst is the way to go. There is something to be said for independance even at the homeless level and if you encounter someone avoiding the shelters. Good on them.

[ShaniaKoukla]

Homelessness is a problem in all major cities not just Toronto :P

[Blue_Firefly]

Homelessness is a problem in all major cities not just Toronto :P

I'm well aware of this. I was just asking people what they would do if they were homeless. I'd rather be in jail...3 meals a day and a warm place to sleep? Sounds good to me.

[ELEANOR MAW]

It is very bad that governments in first world countries do not help the homeless. we are all human.

[Troll]

Study: 744,000 homeless people in U.S.
First national canvass in a decade finds a quarter were chronically homeless

WASHINGTON - There were 744,000 homeless people in the United States in 2005, according to the first national estimate in a decade.

A little more than half were living in shelters, and nearly a quarter were chronically homeless, according to the report Wednesday by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, an advocacy group.

A majority of the homeless were single adults, but about 41 percent were in families, the report said.

The group compiled data collected by the Department of Housing and Urban Development from service providers throughout the country. It is the first national study on the number of homeless people since 1996. That study came up with a wide range for America’s homeless population: between 444,000 and 842,000.

Counting people without permanent addresses, especially those living on the street, is an inexact process. But the new study is expected to provide a baseline to help measure progress on the issue.

“Having this data brings all of us another step closer to understanding the scope and nature of homelessness in America, and establishing this baseline is an extremely challenging task,” HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said. “Understanding homelessness is a necessary step to addressing it successfully.”

U.S. agency plans its own report
HUD is preparing to release its own report on homelessness in the coming weeks, Jackson said. In the future, the department plans to issue annual reports on the number of homeless people in the U.S.

Some cities and states have done their own counts of the homeless, providing a mix of trends, said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. For example, New York City and San Francisco have seen decreases, while the number of homeless in Washington, D.C., has increased, Roman said.

“In the last 12 to 18 months, the homeless population has essentially exploded in Philadelphia,” said Marsha Cohen, executive director of the Homeless Advocacy Project, which provides free legal services to the homeless in Philadelphia. “We are seeing big increases in singles and families, both on the street and attempting to enter the homeless system.”

“It’s a whole influx of new people, and that’s the really scary part,” Cohen said.

In Columbus, Ohio, workers are scrambling to help an increasing number of people living under bridges and in wooded encampments near rivers and streams, said Barbara Poppe, executive director of the Community Shelter Board.

“We’re very concerned about the health and well being of those people being out in the elements,” Poppe said. “We had an encampment set on fire, and we had a woman struck by a train.”

Calif., N.Y. lead nation
California was the state with most homeless people in 2005, about 170,000, followed by New York, Florida, Texas and Georgia, according to the report.

Nevada had the highest share of its population homeless, about 0.68 percent. It was followed by Rhode Island, Colorado, California and Hawaii.

“The driver in homelessness is the affordable housing crisis,” Roman said. “If we don’t do something to address the crisis in affordable housing we are not going to solve homelessness.”

She said many of the chronically homeless have mental health and substance abuse problems. Others, she said, simply cannot afford housing.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16564208/

[ELEANOR MAW]

744,000 homeless people in U.S.

THIS SORT OF NEWS MAKES ME CRY, HOW A FIRST WORLD COUNTRY LIKE THE U.S.A. COULD LET THIS HAPPEN TO 744,000 HUMANS IN IT’S OWN COUNTRY IS A SIN AND A CRIME.