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.

Another Year and another homeless count

In the past I've spoken about the yearly homeless count. In fact I've spoken about it many times. Mostly to say that the unsheltered homeless part of the count is on the low side, because I know it is.
This time I'd like to encourage you to signup and participate...
Don't be afraid of the people you are attempting to locate but do use reasonable caution. If your team is assigned a police officer, ask him or her if they know of or where to find the people to be counted in the area assigned to your team. Most of all listen to his advice.
Once, I participated in a count as a guide with two other ladies and a police officer. The ladies were extremely uncomfortable just getting out of their car / comfort zone. After I found our first person underneath a bridge and the ladies met him they cautiously started following me or our police escort into the woods.
I understand how uncomfortable it can be approaching a homeless person in the daytime much less at night, which is when the count takes place. Definitely use caution but at least try....
I mention all this because I've been camping for well over 15 years and got counted once. Just one time.
I'll be looking for a team this year. Who knows, I'll probably mention your team by name in my next posting.

A New Year

Once again I'll say THANK YOU to all of the people who have reached out to the unsheltered homeless over this past year and especially during this holiday season...
Now that's not to say that the sheltered homeless need your help and compassion too, it's just that with the shelters here running at or near capacity, the number of unsheltered folks is steadily increasing. In addition, the unsheltered people don't have access to the resources, for a number of reasons, that are available to those in the shelters.
Thanks again to all of you who help all the homeless out there, both sheltered and unsheltered.

We are now beginning a new year. The need for assistance within the homeless community is greater than ever because of the steadily increasing homeless population. Housing is of greater and greater importance. This past year homeless assistance networks all over the country, even here in Fort Worth, are saying that they have all but eliminated or greatly reduced the numbers of homeless Veterans. It's now time to look at another goal. How about senior citizens?
Technically I am homeless. I'm a retired senior and receive Social Security. Ever tried to find reasonable housing when your available income for housing is that limited? I'm not the only retired senior citizen with this dilemma. Social Security is a great thing don't get me wrong but affordable housing is just not available for many seniors on that sort of income. With that being said, the number of seniors going homeless is increasing too.
Now that the homeless veteran problem is almost solved, why not start addressing the homeless senior citizen problem?
I'm going to continue to discuss that dilemma in future posts as well as homelessness in general.

I hope all of you have a great holiday season. Let's continue this discussion.

Merry Christmas!!! and I hope you have a great New Year.

Thank You...

While I'm going to stay home and scrounge up something for my Thanksgiving meal, I want to thank all the volunteers and organizations who will or are now providing a good Thanksgiving meal to the homeless and disadvantaged people in Ft Worth. I know it will be welcome 😀.
THANK YOU!!!

Just Rambling

Here it is the day before Thanksgiving. Ive got to see if I can get something from one of the food banks. Tomorrow I hope to visit and have a meal with another homeless person who is not going anywhere.
Lately I've been looking at the housing situation here in Ft Worth. Homeless people, people on a small fixed income (like me) and many others just can't afford housing costs assuming you can find something suitable. My search alone looking for a room or small apt. have not worked out well. Mostly because the possibilities that I did look at were in unsafe areas (drugs, gangs, etc.) or were where there was no nearby public transportation and other problems. Those were just the places I could afford. I'd rather live in a tent. Homeless folks have the same problem not to mention folks who work but at low wages.
Then I remembered a village just outside of Austin, Texas created by Mobile Loaves and Fishes. They have tiny homes, rv's and other structures for those who for one reason or another don't have housing. Recently they started on an expansion to almost double in size. That being said, when the expansion is complete they will be able to house up to 40% of the unsheltered homeless in the area. Search for them on your favorite search engine and take a look at their web site. There are quite a few published articles about them too.
Could something like that be done in or very near Ft Worth????
Many of you have probably noticed that I write mainly about the unsheltered homeless here. There are several reasons for not writing much about those who live in shelters. The biggest reason is that the shelters are full. I'm not knocking the shelters. They do an amazing job with limited resources.
I am going to start writing here again concentrating on the folks living in tents, under bridges, abandoned buildings or just on the streets. They are the ones who always fall through the cracks.

Anyway, I'm winging it this Thanksgiving and need to get moving so I can cook a meal with my neighbor.

I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving day 😃.

Holidays

Here we are once again at the beginning of the holiday season. Thanksgiving is just a few days away and while I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing I do know that I have a lot to be thankful for.
Near where I live are 3 other guys. 2 of them have plans and the fellow who doesn't have plans intends to stay at his camp. Sort of a shame but I'll probably hang out with him.
There are far too many people who fall through the cracks in this fashion. I will do what I can but that is only a drop in the bucket.
Know of a camper near you? Make him or her a plate and reach out to them. Many times they are stuck with no one around who cares or are just To Stinking Proud to ask. Even I'm that way sometimes.
Just having someone reach out makes a difference.

Still Here 😃

It's been quite some time since my last post...
The simple update is that I'm technically still homeless. I've been pretty busy since I retired and have been moving around a lot. The technically homeless part is because finding a room/apartment that fits my budget is very difficult.
I've been watching the changes here in Ft Worth regarding homelessness and hope to learn more about all the improvements in homeless services. I'll report about these changes as time goes on.
On the flip side the number of unsheltered homeless people is still on the rise. One example is in an area where I once camped that at that time had no more than 5 camps now probably has more than 35 or 40 camps...
Bottom line is homelessness is still a real problem. The numbers of people who are homeless is still on the increase while certain services are lagging and other services are improving. It's a process.

We all can help

Just this past week a homeless encampment was told they have to leave the area in East Ft Worth or be arrested for trespassing. The unfortunate part of this particular scenario is that some of those in the encampment are just trying to get along. Instead they wound up being caught up near other homeless people who are just there for the drugs or to drink their alcohol. Personally I never went into that particular encampment because of safety issues.

Even though they are offered information about homeless services nearby, getting those services is another headache in and of itself. Why is that? Well for starters the three main shelters here are operating at capacity which is one of the reasons those folks are camping in the first place. Even then the shelters themselves have their own issues. They are much better today than they were during my homeless period but a shelter is not a real happy place. Secondly, while it is possible to find out about the other services available there is so much competition to receive those services that many people simply give up trying.

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the available homeless services themselves. They try hard. There is just not enough to go around. Here is an example; the wait for a housing voucher can be as long as a year and then that person has to find an apartment that will take him. It's not the voucher that the landlord does not want to accept it is the fact that a homeless person probably has no credit history, bad credit, maybe a criminal background or has no work history. All those and other barriers prevent a homeless person from ever getting an apartment. There are few if any available housing units for those who need them most.

I too personally went though much of this when I was homeless. I literally spend 10 years camping and then hit all the barriers that prevent a homeless person from ever rising up out of that pit. Sure it can be done but look how it took me 10 years and much patience before I could get out of my camp. In fact, while I was getting some homeless services from the various service providers, not once did I rise to the top of any housing list, assistance list or got into a position where I could see a light at the end of the tunnel. What it took was a lady who works for a large institution who wanted to hire me. She literally paved the way with her superiors and I became employed again.

Those sorts of things are rare.

Now let's get back to the homeless service providers. They mean well and work extremely hard, but there are not only not enough funding or services available to go around, then there are all the other barriers ahead of the homeless person. On top of that, the service providers themselves have a real problem with following up on their clients to make sure they can make the transition from homelessness. It's not their fault because they only have enough resources to get the process started and the follow through can sometimes be non-existent. There is a reason why the homeless person became homeless in the first place.

This is another problem I ran into after I left my camp and went back to work. Just getting a job was not enough for me to get my problems resolved. In the end I ultimately got old enough to retire and did so. Then I started therapy to work through the underlying reasons I became homeless in the first place and were causing me some real problems with working and adjusting to life in the world again. In fact I might still be working and not retired right now if I had gotten the therapy at the very beginning. I didn't think I needed it nor was it really available. There aren't many therapists who have experience with the homeless community.

There is another side to all of this. Homelessness has been on the rise since the mid to late 1980's. There are plenty of reason's for this and those very reason's need to be addressed. Homeless prevention can be a lot cheaper for everyone involved than paying for the homeless services themselves after the damage is done. It's not just the homeless services costs either, there is a health-care component, a law enforcement component, a legal system and confinement component, not to mention long term mental health-care cost that results just from being homeless.

Today we are paying the price for ignoring the rise in the homeless population that began over 25 years ago. We could have prevented it or at least kept the ultimate costs and damage down. Because of ignoring the problems then letting them get out of control we now will have a huge cost just to get the current homeless people back into the community then there will be the longer term cost to resolve the damage done to the individual both mentally and physically from being homeless in the first place. Then on top of that, to actually prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place there must be a safety net to identify when a person is on his way to becoming homeless.

In the end we have a two part problem ahead of us if we are to make a dent in the homeless problem. The first part of the problem we need to find a reasonable way to get the people off the streets and reintegrated back into society. Then deal with the after-care involved while the homeless person goes through the reintegration process. That means affordable housing, living expenses, long-term health-care and mental health-care as well as a long-term plan of after-care to prevent a relapse back into homelessness. The second part of the problem to eliminate or at least drastically reduce the homeless population permanently is to identify the reasons that force people into becoming homeless in the first place. Prevention is the name of that game and prevention has to happen at the same time as getting people off the streets or the cycle will continue.

It's up to all of us to work on this.

Step Up

Well now that the elections are over and there is a new group of people in the White House and Congress the question is; how this will affect the homeless crisis we have been facing and attempting to deal with for so long. To be honest I don't expect much coming from Washington.

We shall see I guess.

In all honesty, while I am not a very political person, I didn't have much faith in either of the presidential candidates. Personally I don't expect any major changes in the funding to assist the homeless services community to change. In fact it wouldn't surprise me to see cuts in funding, grants and other sources that originate within our governmental system at all levels and no increases.

What it really takes is for the community as a whole to step up and assist those neighbors of ours who could use a hand. No I'm not just talking about money, even though money plays a part. It also takes the willingness to step up and personally take on some part of the problem. Are you in the position to employ a homeless person? Would you be willing to take that chance? Most homeless people would be beside themselves if they had a good job. Or how about befriending a homeless person? I've spoken about this many times on this blog. Maybe identifying your local unsheltered homeless person and providing them a “care package” from time. Things that they could use in their camps or maybe food items.

There are a lot of things that you could do. If it's money then donate to the various shelters. Don't forget the outreach groups such as Catholic Charities SOS team or another favorite of mine The Hands of Hope of Tarrant County. Both outreach groups live on donations. Another couple of groups who in one way or another assist homeless people and rely on donations is the 1^st Street Mission on 1^st and Henderson in Ft Worth and another is The Beautiful Feet Ministries on Hatie St in SE Ft Worth just off of Riverside. I'm sure there are several others but the ones I mention here have in one way or another helped me during my homeless years and hold a special place in my heart.

Truly I feel that it is up to us to step up and get it done. Far too much money, time and effort is being lost when we have to rely on the “government” to take care of the problem. Let's directly support the people who actually do the work with the sheltered and unsheltered homeless communities. If not, why not get a group of people from church or neighbors and volunteer. As you get to know the homeless people out there you may discover that they are, for the most part, good people who have just hit a bump in the road. Maybe even, once you know some of your homeless neighbors, get yourself directly involved with them on an individual basis. 

We can solve this or at least reduce the problem if we all try.  

Future???

We've just had the Homeless Point in Time count for Ft Worth last night.

Just a heads up guys, since I retired I have been technically homeless this past year. Just for fun I camped out last night in a relatively open spot that was extremely easy to get to ( less than 200 feet off of Riverside) and nobody showed up. I even stayed up to see if a team even showed up nearby. But either I didn't see them or they missed me. In fact during the 10+ years that I was homeless I was counted only twice.

I do have to give the teams credit and a congratulations for finding the people that they did find though. I know that it is extremely uncomfortable for some people to go into an unknown patch of woods looking for a camp. Even during the daylight hours some camps are difficult to locate.

In the past I have commented about the ultimate numbers of unsheltered homeless that are published for the Ft Worth area. About 5 or 6 years ago the published number of unsheltered homeless was listed as 348. Keep in mind that these are all the campers, the people who are living under bridges and in abandoned buildings within Tarrant County. I knew for a fact that there were over 150 unsheltered people living withing a short walking distance of the camp I lived in at the time. If I was to guess, the true number of unsheltered homeless at that time was probably closer to 600 people county wide.

Today with the increases in the numbers of homeless who are living in or cycling through the homeless shelter system what do you think is happening to the numbers of unsheltered homeless? Guesses anyone? They certainly aren't getting smaller.

The numbers developed by the Point in Time count will be used to determine such things as the funding provided to the shelters, funding to provide housing for those who have risen to the top of the waiting lists and other purposes. The unfortunate part in all of this is that the unsheltered homeless people just fall through the cracks. First because many of them are not noticed like the people living in the shelters. Then they don't get counted. Finally the outreach teams such as Tarrant County Hands of Hope, who in many ways are the only people even trying to help those homeless people, are extremely limited in the resources they have available to assist those homeless people they serve. Not to mention that the outreach teams are constantly finding new people to help and haven't found them all.

Today I would estimate that there are over 700 unsheltered homeless people in the Ft Worth and Tarrant County area. Most of whom do not get counted. On top of that, the bulk of any funding available is awarded to the homeless shelters with little or nothing made available to the outreach teams to assist those they serve.

I realize that total funding from all sources both public and private is limited. Just keep in mind that the unsheltered homeless are out there too and the outreach teams need financial assistance to help them.

We are part of the problem

It’s very common for homeless service providers to say “They don’t want our help. They’d rather sleep outdoors and be homeless. They don’t want people telling them what to do. It’s not my fault that they would rather live that way”.

Now ask yourself this. Would you like to have someone tell you what to do? We are supposed to live in a country that gives us freedom of choice but here we are making decisions for those we are supposed to be helping to get back on their feet. They are told when to eat, where to sleep, when to take a shower and then there are the faith based organizations who will require them to attend church services or church activities.

It’s a pretty serious problem when a person would prefer to sleep outdoors, as did I by sleeping in a tent for over 10 years, instead of receiving support from the homeless service providers at the shelters. More often than not, it is all about our dignity and our freedom of choice.

One solution that I see is to take the support services to the unsheltered homeless people by funding and supporting the outreach teams who go into the bushes to visit with and assist those who live unsheltered in tents, abandoned buildings and under bridges. Maybe establish new outreach teams or help existing outreach teams to expand their numbers and programs. As it stands now here in Ft Worth most, if not all, city, state and federal funding goes to the shelters with the outreach teams having to find alternate funding just to do the few things they can. What that means is that as many as 30% of all homeless people don’t have access to the support they need because they decided to use their freedom of choice to live where they do instead of where they are told to live.

Freedom of Choice and Dignity belongs to all of us 

Homeless In Ft Worth: Winter...

Homeless In Ft Worth: Winter...: For the last few days the temperature hasn’t been above 35 degrees and has been as low as 10 degrees at night. Now that’s what I say is p...

Winter...

For the last few days the temperature hasn’t been above 35 degrees and has been as low as 10 degrees at night. Now that’s what I say is pretty cold. Especially when you are homeless and living unsheltered or in a tent, abandoned building or under a bridge. I realize that many of you really feel sorry for them and wish to help. Keep in mind that the homeless people who live in the shelters along Lancaster already have many of the resources available to remain warm, fed and comfortable. There are many of those same homeless people who live in the shelters who will take what you have to give whether they really need it or not. Sometimes they will sell their excess for cash, drugs or whatever. The homeless people who really need the assistance are the unsheltered people. These are the folks who have fallen through the cracks and for their own reasons refuse to go into the shelters.

In my own case, I spent a couple of months in the shelters when I first became homeless and discovered that it wasn’t for me. In those days (around late 2002 to early 2003) Lancaster was not a very safe place at times. I personally had been robbed of things I had with any value, saw drug transactions in the open and blatant prostitution. I just was not comfortable. These days things are much safer and while the theft, drugs and prostitution is still there it is no longer as obvious nor does it make me feel unsafe as I did all those years ago. I still would not go to a shelter. The main reason is that I know how to camp. I can be far more relaxed and comfortable without having several hundred other people around all the time. Nuff said.

The real reason for this particular post is that all those unsheltered homeless, who number around 500 here in Ft Worth, tend not to receive any sort of assistance from donations like the folks in the shelters. In many cases the only times an unsheltered homeless person can find a warm coat, for example, he or she would have to either walk to the homeless district on Lancaster, which could be a matter of miles or he may get lucky and one of the few homeless outreach workers may find something for him or her. All that is assuming they have any luck in finding someone or someplace where coats are being provided.

Now that’s not to say that the unsheltered or camping homeless people just need clothes. Many of them have all sorts of needs. But first you have to locate them which may or may not be simple. Keep your eyes open when you are travelling through the city and its outskirts. Ask your friends or neighbors if they have seen any homeless people in your area. Is there a secluded patch of woods nearby? Take a walk and see what you find there but if you do run up on a camp please announce yourself when you approach.

Now once you have located an unsheltered homeless person or persons, ask them what they can use. In my case I always had a need for propane fuel for my camp stove. Sometimes shoes or boots that were in good repair were nice to have. Even food items either already prepared, easily cooked or just eaten as is are always acceptable. Other items that are nice to have are hygiene items, maybe some sweets, socks, gloves and scarves are good too. The important thing here is to ask them what they can use. Many times they may say they don’t need anything but his or her clothes, coat and shoes are in poor repair that’s a clue. Use good judgement.

Now with all that being said. Don’t just give to an unsheltered homeless person just the one time and feel good about yourself. Keep in touch with them. Make sure that they are OK in extremely bad weather. I have spoken in past postings about the family who adopted me the last couple of years before I finally left my camp. They made sure that I was OK and basically checked on me to make sure I had fuel, food and other supplies on a regular basis.

Who knows, you may develop a friendship and in the end help someone rise up out of what has brought him or her to homelessness.

Beginning another New Year

Beginning another New Year

I hope all of you had a great holiday season.

For the past several months I have been getting emails from people who want to know how they can help, where to go, assistance with locating a missing loved one and what to do about a loved one who is an addict and on the street. I have heard back from a couple of those people and in every case they told me that the information I gave them was a big help. Last month I even helped several battered women into safe homes where they could get away from their abuser, drugs or just get their heads straightened out.

That’s only a drop in the bucket and as fast as one is gotten off the street then another takes his or her place. There are many areas where you and I can continue to help the homeless. There are many ideas we can promote to assist our homeless neighbors. I’m going to run through a few that I’ve spoken about in the past and may spark something in you.

Many of the things I will talk about cover the unsheltered homeless. The people who live in camps, abandoned building and under the bridges. They are all over the city and while sometimes not easy to find, if you keep an eye out you will start noticing them. They tend to hide in plain sight.

Adopt a homeless person. Now this one takes some thinking about and a certain amount of caution on your part. In my case a family adopted me after getting to know each other. In the end they made sure I had fuel for my stove (I was camping). Brought me food. Invited me to their home for meals, clean up and laundry. Plus a lot of love.

Organize some people in your church to help out some of your local homeless neighbors. I know of a couple of churches who put together care packages that they then deliver to their homeless friends. The care packages can be just a box of things or placed in a backpack. Popular items are hygiene products like soap, razors, tooth paste, tooth brush, gloves, socks, small food items like Vienna sausages, crackers, even candy. Be creative, ask you homeless friends what they would like to be included in a care package.

Here’s a project that is long term and could easily be expanded upon here in Ft Worth. Take a look at the Mobile Loaves and Fishes web site. They have developed a housing community for the homeless in Austin, TX. Their web site is http://mlf.org/ . Might this be something you or your church could promote here in Ft Worth?

A similar project. How about building “Tiny Homes” for the homeless and then locate safe places to put them. Just do a search for “tiny houses” and you will find all sorts of ideas, articles and information about them. In some cities there are people who build them just for homeless to give them a secure roof over their heads. Check it out.

One other way to help is to donate to those to go out into the bushes. One organization I am proud to know is The Hands of Hope, hohtx.com. Take a look at their web site. See the sort of work they are doing. I met the founder John Ramsey and his wife during their very first days of starting this very special outreach team. There are other groups and organizations other than the shelters who work with the homeless. Especially the unsheltered homeless. I intend to talk about them as things progress.

These are only some ideas. The most important part of helping the homeless is to remember that each one of these people is an individual so no one solution will be right for everyone. Love is another part of helping. I probably would still be in the woods if it hadn’t been for the love I received from several people. Just reach out to them and see what happens. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the response you are looking for. Be patient and get to know them. They will surprise you.