Posted on 08/13/2011 4:59:44 AM PDT by Son House
The rocky economic recovery and stagnant unemployment rate have led to a surge in the homeless seeking shelter in shanties and tents nationwide, experts say.
There's no official estimate on how many tent cities exist but, experts say, nearly every state has one and the presence of such communities is soaring.
"In just about every major city, there are tent cities," said Michael Stoop, a community organizer for the National Coalition for the Homeless. "Unfortunately, we're in a growth industry and the numbers are going to continue."
Stoop and his organization began formally tracking tent cities in 2010 but the numbers have grown so much that trying to keep a detailed report of every tent city has overwhelmed them.
"Imagine if you had never been homeless before and you'd just lost your job and you lost your home," he said. "What would you do? Would you immediately go begging or knocking on a door?
The communities range from just a few people living together in tents or wooden shelters to full-fledged organized communities such as the one in Lakewood. Just a few homeless people began gathering in the woods there in 2005, but as the financial meltdown worsened, their numbers grew.
Steve Brigham, a pastor, has been working with the community since it began forming. Two years ago, he quit his job as an electrical contractor and now lives with the homeless in the camp. He lives in a bus donated to him from a local school.
"I wonder to myself how long I can continue with the population growing, resources dwindling. ... I'm very concerned about this winter, extremely concerned about ... whether I'm going to have everything I need to keep these people satisfied and comfortable and the basic needs met," Brigham said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
This ‘’tent city’’ is about ten minutes from my house and this article is a crock. This ‘’pastor’ Steve Brigham is a leftie, open-border advocate and pretty much all of these people are drug addicts and illegal aliens.
The common sense conservative economic solutions are not political games for the left to defy, they are based in what works and what has been proven to work.
Keep informing the public with examples and devastating criticism of what Democrat legislation has caused, as Democrats and the media are going to be defiant.
ya gotta make this known somehow, jmcusa...
How about “Obamavilles”
Business opportunity....sell tents....EBT cards accepted.
Yes. They are Obama’s answer to the “rent is too damn high!” syndrome.
"Fundamentally transforming America". Here it is, folks. This is Obomas vision of a new and improved America.
Tent cities = Forward operating bases for thieves....
Jon Corzine January 17, 2006 to January 19, 2010 Democratic
Chris Christie January 19, 2010 incumbent Republican
Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
Not sure how reliable this is, but I’d heard once that the little disposable umbrellas sold on the streets during the Great Depression were called “Hooverettes.”
Obama Shelters, Obama Housing, Change You Can Believe In.
Google “Dignity Village, Portland, Oregon” and do some reading...Portland’s experiment in this nonsense is ongoing, and they are almost halfway through the timeframe they set to “abolish homelessness” in ten years. All they have done is make Portland a vagrant magnet and create an environment where so-called “homeless” are tolerated in ever increasing numbers.
Portland just finished opening a downtown center for the homeless where they can do laundry for free, take showers, hang out, watch cable TV and find access to any number of agencies and non-profits that cater to these people.
Many of these “homeless” are familiar faces to commuters, because they have been panhandling on the same street corners and freeway on ramps here for years. We have one panhandler here who begs all year long, good weather and bad. At Christmas he stands at the off-ramp, wearing a Santa cap and a portable oxygen mask with a tank...”Anything helps”...of course when he is done for the day you can watch him walking back to his car smoking a cigarette...
I would be very interested to find out just how much cash money and free services these people go through every year. It’s all gratis and tax free....
Actually it would be more accurate to call the camps Obama Change 1, Obama Change 2 . . .
Are you really expecting the likes of Boehner and McConnel to get any corrective action going? These people are sellouts to the Obama and his enablers game of destructive hindrance. The one thing I thought interesting in the Iowa debates was the panel appeared to telling the Repubs in Congress that they are apart as far as current behavior from the solutions needed.
More info here. (Might be where you got that one picture).
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http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/08/hooverettes.html
Among the frocks, smocks, coverall aprons and coat dresses are three “Hooverettes”, a term that seems forgotten.
One would guess the clothing was named for Herbert Hoover who was President from 1929 to 1933. Although most of the suffering occurred after Roosevelt took over, Hoover carried the blame for the Great Depression.
Dorothea Lange portrait of a woman in a California camp in the 1930s.
“Hoover buggies” were old cars so broken down they were pulled by horses; “Hoovervilles” were camps for the homeless and “Hoover hog” was a main dish of rabbit or armadillo.
Hooverette as a name for a dress costing 47 cents might thus reflect depression frugality. However, the Dictionary of American Region English defines “Hoover Apron” as slang for a coverall or housedress with an overlapping reversible front, a name reflecting Hoover’s earlier career as an effective administrator of post-WWI-relief in Europe. The wrap-front dress could be worn until the bodice was dirty and then the overlap reversed to reveal a clean area. The name Hooverette or Hoover Apron alludes to an efficient work dress.
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