Posted on 05/11/2014 8:43:13 AM PDT by JoeProBono
MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - After surviving two long, cold Wisconsin winters on the streets, Betty Ybarra traded freezing park benches and tents for a tiny house made of recycled wood she helped build herself. Her 99-square-foot home, which boasts flower window boxes, was built by volunteers of the Occupy Madison group, as part of about a half dozen similar projects around the United States, including in New York and Texas, to shelter the homeless. "We can check on our flowers and we can now try to live a normal life," said Ybarra, 49, who shares her new home with her friend Chris Derrick, 55, who had also been homeless.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
lol We already own a sailboat and are currently looking for a 40 ft motoryacht to upgrade to. For me there would be nothing better than living on a larger motoryacht but Hubby says.....no place for my stuff.
I survived breast cancer so to me ‘stuff’ doesn’t really matter anymore.
Not big enough. ;) I need a condo on the water.
What we are now seeing is media/government bureaucrats saying to themselves, "oh, tiny houses are a thing now? We like that! We can cram thousands into an encampment where we control everyone and call it ' tiny house sustainability / urban permaculture!" Government is evil.
Preppers, not peppers. Don’t like this iPad keyboard .
Not bitchin, not criticizing, not picking an argument, but there are NO poor in the US. The sooner we spread this truth, the faster we uplift everybody.
You may be right, I don't know how you define "poor." When I was in my late 20s, I had a job working as a rental agent but it was only 30 hours a week, and was minimum wage. I had a cute little apartment in a decent neighborhood, a tv and basic cable (back then it meant I could see FOX, CNN, MTV and the big three.) I had no phone, health insurance, or car, but I did have electricity, a little window unit a/c, a gas stove and a refrigerator. I had about $30 a week for food, but fortunately I actually LIKE rice and beans and ramen. I'd say I was pretty poor by US standards, but by, say, Ethiopian? Probably not.
It's not that we lack compassion, just that we are mostly experienced enough to know that the majority of homeless will not use any freebies to "better themselves." They'll merely accept the freebies with a big, toothless smile and a great deal of flattery, and then settle back to enjoy it while congratulating themselves on how well they played that. And they'll wait for you to bring more.
Most of them are like stray cats. If you feed them, they do not spend their newfound time and energy going to night school. They spend it wandering around and getting laid. Unlike stray cats, they aren't as cute.
Yes, I tried to help a family member once too. Cocaine, erratic behavior, couldn't hold down a job, had to bail out her car after a ton of tickets and a boot... I gave up too, before I got pulled under along with her.
Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. She had a child and discovered purpose. Now she lives in a better house than I do! LOL! But it was a decision she had to make. I couldn't do it for her. I couldn't do anything for her.
Until about the mid60s we had those institutions to care for the mentally ill and addicted but in their wisdom someone decided that such places were unnecessary and that they would should be released. I believe a close relationship exists between the closing of such institutions and the rise in the homeless population. The economic downtrend has added to the homeless problem but I don’t think it is the main factor.
Wish I had an RV and was a nomad. Screw property taxes.
Um, where’s the water and sewer? Do these meet sanitary building codes?
One would think so, but the reality doesn't play out that way. As several of us with personal experience in that area have stated.
For the most part these people are mentally ill alcoholics and druggies, bipolar and clinical depression. All of which are devilishly difficult to deal with in the best of circumstances with unlimited resources. Providing them with a place to live usually accomplishes nothing because the root problem is not lacking a domicile. See my post #37. People like this cannot be helped until they find the desire and motivation to be helped. Most never do. It is a sad reality.
Not to mention a lack of purpose, which will ultimately doom the “normal” life she envisions.
“I dont know the first thing about boats...”
I know a guy who watched some youtube videos and bought an old 35 foot sailboat. Hasn’t drowned yet.
God bless ya, Hon. When I retired in 2010, I said “Sell all your Crap, were going to Belize.” My girlfriend said ‘No I don’t want to leave my kids.” They are 45 and 53 yrs. old. “No I don’t want to leave my grandkids (18 and 26 years old). Then it was “I’m claustrophic, I can’t get on a plane.” Then I said we’ll take a Cruise Ship down and get off, forever. “ I don’t want to get on the water.” Finally, it was “I don’t like the food down there.” I’ve talked to some higher ups, and hope to leave for Camh Ranh Bay in December. Let her take care of the place.
See by your bio you state you are an athiest. May I ask why?
Homeowners do not become responsible because they own their own home. Homeowners become homeowners because they are resposible people. If these folks “own” these little homes, how long will it take before they sell it for drugs, booze, or start running it as a brothel or crack house?The government subsidized “projects” didn’t start out as crapholes; at one time they were brand new apartments. Their residents did not take care of them. The problem of most homeless is not that they do not have a home. Their problem is whatever caused them not to have a home: mental illness, addiction, or simply not wanting to be part of the rat race.
That’s nicer than some fish camps. :)
I always wonder, why is it that, when a Republican is president, the homeless issue is blamed on the policies of that president?
Yet, here we are 5 plus years into the Obama era, and the MSM never ties the growing number of homeless to the policies of this president.
We like to alternate depending on which one they are biting under!
lol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.