It's not great but not bad either

Over the last few weeks or so there have been some interesting things happening in the homeless community. All of the happenings are a result of the pandemic that is affecting all of us either directly or indirectly. Several of the happenings in the homeless community look and are good. Some of the happenings are not so good or lacking in some areas.

Let's look at some of the good ones first. 

Recommendations for social distancing within the shelters had to be addressed (see my post named "Stack em, pack em and rack em). To address the social distancing requirement the shelters had to reduce the number of people they normally house which caused many of the homeless people to need somewhere else to sleep. For those who were not able to get a bed in the shelters the city arranged for an overnight overflow shelter at the downtown convention center. In addition to that, arrangements were made to bring in RVs to isolate the homeless people who tested positive for the virus. Meals and other services are still available for most of the homeless people but are available in a somewhat limited fashion. 

That's all well and good. In fact it is a great thing that the homeless community has not been forgotten what with all the changes in our lives to help eliminate the pandemics threat to our society.

I'll say this again. What about the unsheltered homeless people. The people who live on the street or in camps. All the changes I mentioned above concentrate on the homeless people who live in the shelters on or along East Lancaster as well as some of the homeless people who live in the same area. Most of the unsheltered homeless, people I know who for all kinds of reasons never go to that area. Meaning that those people are still not getting much help. In fact in some ways things actually got worse for them. There are a few outreach teams who work with those unsheltered homeless people by helping out with food and water but because of the pandemic those unsheltered homeless can't earn what little money they need whether by doing day jobs or picking up aluminum cans. In addition to that, many of the smaller local neighborhood food pantries are still closed forcing the unsheltered guys or campers to either not get the food they need or travel a long distance to get to the ones that are open. In my case alone the closest open food pantry is about 4 miles away and at 68 years of age carrying as much as 40 pounds of groceries is a real challenge.

Most of the true unsheltered homeless people or campers live quite a distance from the food pantries that are open as well as the shelter district on East Lancaster. With that in mind it's been reported by the local news outlets that the City of Ft Worth does not want people to give money, food, water or anything else directly to homeless people but instead give those things to the shelters and homeless service providers. Unfortunately when that happens the food and other supplies do not get to the homeless people who live unsheltered or camp out. The people who live or hang out on Lancaster do not need those supplies but the homeless people who live several miles away do need the money, food, water and other supplies. I understand why the city says what they do. There are plenty of homeless people who live in or near the shelter district who take advantage of the people trying to serve. The people who live away from the shelters are less predatory and less likely to take advantage of somebody's kindness.

If you do want to give directly to some of the homeless people who live unsheltered or are campers and in parts of the city not near the shelter district, use caution, but a bag of burgers, a box of chicken, bag of groceries or even a few dollars will be appreciated.

In the future I will write more about the outreach people who go and visit with the unsheltered homeless people. There are even things your church may be able to do to help.

Thank you to all of you who are helping the homeless community either through the shelters, through the outreach organizations or, with caution, directly to the homeless.

Coming together

Earlier posts on this blog I spoke about how many of the unsheltered homeless people were really in need of assistance after the closing of so many food pantries, the disappearance of day jobs and other factors caused by the response to the virus pandemic. At that time things were in chaos for everyone. Nobody was sure what was going to happen from day to day.

Since then I've seen individuals, church groups and other outreach organizations step up to help those who are struggling. Even the City of Ft Worth has stepped up to help the homeless community in more ways than normal. I am pleased to say that I am surprised at the response. At first I thought that the unsheltered homeless as well as the homeless people in the shelters would be left out in the confusion. Boy was I wrong. 

With that being said, to the people who are involved in this, Thank You.

A new way of getting along

Now that the various services available to the homeless are making changes while staying within the new rules, things are getting back to a new kind of normal. That's a good thing for the homeless people in the shelters. For the unsheltered homeless people it's a bit different. While there are few homeless / poverty level services available for the unsheltered, they are slowly getting back to their mission but with difficulty.

In prior posts I spoke about the difficulties getting food with many food pantries being closed and transportation to get to the food pantries that were open was difficult to use when several bus routes were not running. That's just the beginning of problems facing the unsheltered homeless and the campers.

In my neighborhood alone there are 6 people in 5 camps. One fellow has a regular if low paying job, one receives Social Security and the rest mostly do temp jobs or whatever they can to survive. The city is reminding everyone to not give us anything directly but to give money and donations to the shelters or other organizations that serve the homeless. Problem is that the unsheltered homeless fell through the cracks and seldom have ever received anything from those organizations. What the city says does make a certain amount of sense but there are many reasons why an unsheltered homeless person or a camper will not go to any shelter or any other place to find services. He or she has to get supplies from you directly. That's the only way. Unfortunately there are the people who do take advantage of those people that wish to give. Makes an honest unsheltered / camper look bad. Even so, giving directly to the people on the street in parts of town away from the shelters is the best way to help those who are struggling.

The other day I discovered, according to the homeless count done last January, that while the numbers of sheltered homeless people has risen by something like 3 or 4 percent, the numbers of unsheltered homeless has risen by more than 15 percent. I know for a fact that the reported increase in unsheltered homeless people is on the low side because not all of them are counted. In my 15 years in the area, I have only been counted once. The numbers of people I run into who are campers are far more numerous than the numbers reported. I'm not picking on the people who do the count in the field because it's harder to find someone camping in the woods after dark than it is counting someone in the shelter or on the sidewalk.

For those of you who do attempt to help those who are unsheltered or campers, please be careful that you don't get scammed and don't take everything at face value. One last thing, many of the people you see on street corners asking for money are basically professional panhandlers....

Shelter in place

Well, here we go. Sounds like Ft Worth is going to do a shelter in place recommendation as have many other cities across the country. Actually it's a very good idea to prevent the spread of the virus. It does create some issues for the unsheltered homeless people.

In the last two posts here I was on my soap box about the difficulties getting food. That's still a big factor even during the best of times. In fact getting food now for the unsheltered homeless is probably the number one priority but there are other things that are important to.

Many campers but not all of them try to get work doing day jobs or whatever it takes to earn money. Sure, some of those people use the money for alcohol and drugs but almost all of them use the money they earn for food too. Now, temporary or day jobs have pretty much dried up meaning no money for groceries, transportation and other supplies needed around the camp to survive.

Transportation is another problem for the camper as well as many other people. Basically all of the homeless people rely on the bus system to get around. With the unsheltered and the campers buses are extremely important. Without the money for a bus you can't go get the supplies needed. On top of that it appears that here in Ft Worth the busses are running on a Sunday schedule for the duration, meaning that the busses don't go to places they normally do. That means that the bus probably doesn't go to the area where the unsheltered homeless people live. Added to the money issue, things start getting complicated.

In my situation I have a camp, but it is my home too with the same sort of comfort your house provides. My way is to be able to live in reasonable comfort. The supplies I mentioned earlier help me to survive without too much stress. It's not just the food but other things like batteries, fuel for my stove, coffee and a lot of other things. I'm not alone in this but with the shelter in place ordinances the acquisition of everything becomes almost impossible.

Now with all that being said, the scammers are out there making things difficult for the people who really need your help. Please be careful.

Unsheltered and the Virus

In the last post I wrote the other day I was really worried about the unsheltered guys....

I still am. 

Food is a huge problem for us. There's no way to make any money for groceries, not all food pantries are open and the places we could go to for a hot meal such as the Beautiful Feet Ministry or Broadway Baptist Church are closed. Even getting to a food pantry that's open is problematic because they are too far away. Especially for me.

Last week I found a food pantry that was open. I was walking and I was wiped out when I got to camp. Unfortunately none of the other people camped nearby were having any luck so I shared what I had. Lucky for us even though the groceries only lasted for two days. Others are not that lucky though.

Until this emergency settles down the unsheltered guys, some senior citizens and poverty level people are really going to get hurt.

Thanks to all of you who have been doing something to help those less fortunate. God Bless you

Epidemic

I know you have been wondering where I went. Well truth is that I needed time to decompress from the years that I spent far too deeply involved in parts of the homeless world that really affected me. So here goes...

Today we are all involved in the epidemic that's going around the whole world. Just last week Ft Worth has basically done many very smart things to prevent the spread of the virus causing all the problems. My real issue is that the services that most real unsheltered homeless people as well as the people who live on or below the poverty line are severely affected because of the rules about people gathering at one place and at the same time.

The one that affects me and many others the most is food pantries. Because of the new rules the food pantries only have a few options. Worse yet some are just closed. I did visit one food pantry that had people lined up in the parking lot and standing 6 feet apart. Then served each person with a prepackaged assortment of groceries. That's the good news. For that food pantry I have nothing but good things to say because they were really trying to serve their clients.

There were several food pantries I attempted to visit that were closed. Whether it was because of a lack of donations (which is a real problem these days) or lack of volunteers or just an over abundance of caution. I can't fault them at all. They are doing their best to help those who are struggling.

For many of us we have to travel by walking and if the closest open food pantry is 5 miles away, getting there and back is difficult. I know because I did it last week. I'm 68 years old and hauling what groceries they distributed took me several hours to get back to camp.

Younger people probably wouldn't have as much trouble but what about the elderly people who live unsheltered or who have a home but haven't got the means to travel longer distances just to be able to eat. 

It's time for all of us to figure out how to help those people who are struggling to survive. In this instance I have used myself as an example because I really struggled that day so I know what others are going through as well. 

There are probably many ways you can make a difference. Know of anyone who might be needing help with groceries? Maybe putting together a food box for them and delivering it to them. Stop an unsheltered homeless person and buy him a bag of burgers or give him a box of food. You don't have to violate the 6 foot rule. It sure would be appreciated.

Things are getting better

Or... Simple Works for Me

Over these last many years I have been told by many friends and people who are close to me that they do not understand why I live as I do or in other words, my lifestyle.
During my time being homeless I discovered a much simpler and less stressed way to live. When I returned to working after my 10 + homeless years, I attempted to blend back into what I was before homelessness. It turns out I wasn't particularly happy trying to live a lifestyle I once had. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the work I was doing but my personal life became too stressed and complicated.
Now that I'm retired I find that I much prefer a simpler lifestyle. A tent, camper or efficiency apartment with basic necessities is more my speed these days. Unfortunately none of those things except the tent seem to be available to me at this point. Sure I can get an conventional apartment full of things, but the cost is way too much in terms of money and my own personal style.
Over the last few years I have met quite a few people, both men and women, who are technically homeless. They work as needed. They live in tents, motels and with friends. These homeless people prefer a simpler lifestyle just like mine. Some of them are even of retirement age but like me can't find living arrangements that are affordable.
Bottom line here is that I, as well as many unsheltered homeless people, prefer a simpler lifestyle. We still use technology. We just prefer life in a different way. We are comfortable with less.