Are you homeless now and a member of DU?

[Breeze54]

Poll question: Are you homeless now and a member of DU?

If you are homeless and a member of DU?

Please PM someone at DU that you trust and let us try to help.

You can PM me anytime. ;)

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Thankfully I have a mother that would never allow me to be homeless.

So if I ever find myself on the streets, she'll be there for me.

[Breeze54]

3. That is good news, Drunken Irishman

I was homeless, once upon a time, and my teetotaler sober, Irish, hard, ass,
father told me to sink or swim. :cry: I not only floated but I swam!! :P

But later on, when all my money ran out; I was homeless.

And my dark Irish father took me in.

He wasn't such a hard ass, after all.

But there are many that are NOT as fortunate as we were.

They are the one's we must "pay forward"!

[Drunken Irishman]

21. I think of my mom as a real Irish momma.

She'd do anything for her boys. Go to the mat for them. I think if I murdered someone, she'd totally throw her support behind me. hah.

[JeffR]

2. Other.

I know a DUer who's homeless, and another who moved across the country twice to avoid such a thing for his family. I'm privileged to call both of them friends. And delighted to give you a kick for this thread. Good for you.

[Breeze54]

4. Hey there, JeffR ! Can we at DU assist them?

After all, we at DU ARE still family, right?

Long time, no see. Good to see you! :hug:

[JeffR]

8. Both have received much-deserved help from DUers.

But one of them needs more help. I'll PM ya, but only after I've talked with the person I have in mind first.

Good to see you too.:hug:

[Breeze54]

11. Thanks for the feed back.

;)

[JeffR]

22. And thanks for this thread.

Hell of a world out there. DUers are suffering; some of them have been for many years. None of them should be suffering. No one in our immensely abundant country should be suffering through these things. America was intended to be better than this.

[Ghost in the Machine]

14. I'll make the same offer to any DUer that I made to another one a week or so ago...

I've got a 2br/1ba mobile home here in East Tennessee that's empty. It needs a little work inside, but it's livable... I have most of the stuff to fix it up.. but no help doing it. If a fellow DUer needs a place to live and doesn't mind helping fix it up, I can hook them up with free rent for a month or two...

Jeff, you've got my email addy, let me know if I can help out in any way...

If any of you need a place please feel free to PM me... everything will be kept confidential.


Peace,

Ghost

[Subdivisions]

5. I don't have much money. But I do live alone in a small apartment

with only a couch to offer here in N. Texas. I hereby put said couch up for offer for someone who needs help.

[Breeze54]

10. I'll see your couch and offer my little bedroom... I never sleep there anyway

and it's a double bed AND we have bus service across town and to the trains into the 'big city'!! ;)

The local bus actually pulls right up to the back of my apartment! Pretty cool eh?! ;) I think so!! :D

[Breeze54]

6. 'WE ARE ONE' has 30% of the Votes!!!

So VERY cool!!! :)

(((((((( 30% :hug: ))))))))

[Breeze54]

7. ~~~~ Desiderata ~~~~

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --
Not "Found in Old St. Paul's Church"! -- see below

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great poem. ;)

Call me, if you need to do that.

[TahitiNut]

25. ~~~ Deteriorata ~~~

Deteriorata

Go placidly amid the noise and waste and remember what a comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Avoid quiet and passive persons unless you are in need of sleep.
Rotate your tires. --
Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself and heed well their advice even though they be turkeys; know what to kiss and when. --
Consider that two wrongs never make a right but that three do.
Wherever possible, put people on hold.
Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment and despite the changing fortunes of time, there is always a big fortune in computer maintenance. --
Remember the Pueblo.
Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate.
Know yourself; if you need help, call the FBI.
Exercise caution in your daily affairs, especially with those persons closest to you.
That lemon on your left, for instance.
Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet.
Fall not in love therefore; it will stick to your face. --
Gracefully surrender the things of youth, birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan; and let not the sands of time get in your lunch. --
Hire people with hooks. --
For a good time, call 606-4311; ask for Ken.
Take heart amid the deepening gloom that your dog is finally getting enough cheese; and reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot, it could only be worse in Milwaukee. --
You are a fluke of the universe; you have no right to be here, and whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back. --
Therefore make peace with your God whatever you conceive Him to be: Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin --
With all its hopes, dreams, promises, & urban renewal, the world continues to deteriorate. --
Give up.

Found in an old National Lampoon, dated 1972

[Suich]

9. K & R! n/t

[lbrtbell]

12. My family was homeless on two occasions

Thank God that, both times, we had enough money to stay at a motel until employment/housing was available.

Nowadays, that's not such a sure thing.

[Breeze54]

16. Welcome to DU, lbrtbell and glad you fought through it all !

:hug:

I was destitute at a critical point in my life, as well.

I was sleeping in my car and 8 months pregnant but friends

took me in and cared for me and gave me... 'peace of mind'.

When someone is homeless?

Peace of mind and security is the greatest gift.

Security. A safe place to keep your things and sleep....

Homelessness is extremely tiring.

Catching up on sleep is a necessity!!!

Poor people are not bad people... they're your family.

Love them and listen to them like a family would!

And if they mess up? You'll know what to do.

Peace.

[booley]

13. Possibly a dumb question but

IF someone was homeless, wouldn't that make it unlikely they would be able to log onto DU and do a poll?

[dmr]

15. The library is a safe refuge n/t

[bobbolink]

24. If you just think that through.....

signed,

Homeless DUer who logs in regularly.

[datasuspect]

27. some homeless shelters have computers with internet access

as does the library, the state unemployment office.

[Fumesucker]

17. If it wasn't for my daughter and son in law I would be homeless..

I carry my weight though, I play "Mr Belvedere" to my three grandkids and allow their parents to work their demanding jobs without having to worry about child care and making it to their kids' teacher conferences and that sort of thing.

It gives me a place to stay and something vitally important to do that I enjoy with kids that I love while freeing my daughter and son in law of a great deal of stress and expense, it's a win-win for all of us.

[Breeze54]

18. It sounds ideal to me, Fumesucker !!

Sounds like your children have embraced you into their little family
and made it bigger and all the more love to share!! You are blessed! ;)

Good for you and your children! I hope all continues to go well!

If not? Private Message me, OK? Thanks!

I'm in MA.

[Fumesucker]

20. I'll be fine, thanks for your kind words and your kind offer..

I enjoy kids a lot so this is really better for me than living on my own would be even if I had the money to do so.

We go bike riding on the local trail, go to museums, parks and various kinds of entertainment. We have a nice pool on the property and I taught my oldest granddaughter to skin dive last summer and I'm going to teach the middle one this summer.

I feel like the only thing I really have to call my own is the knowledge and experience I have spent a lifetime accumulating and it gives me a great deal of satisfaction to be able to pass what I have on to yet another generation.

[Breeze54]

19. To ' never thought I'd be in this position' ...How can we help?

I never thought I'd be in this position... EVER!!

:hug:

I hear that and I've done that back under Reagan. :puke:

and I never, in a million years, thought I'd be homeless either!!

But?

There we were. :(

It's a very difficult road to hoe, granted, but at the end?

You ARE wiser. ;)

PM me

[Kolesar]

23. My mother is going to be homeless eventually if I don't do something

After my father died in 2000, my brother moved back in with her. They took out a home equity line of credit and my brother proceeded to spend it on "sales kits" and other fool ventures. Now the home equity loan is "maxxed out" and they have $44,000 in credit card debt. I researched debt restructuring. They don't have the income to start a repayment scheme at a lower interest rate. They just keep rolling the interest onto their open lines of "credit".

I try to tell her that she's got to take the credit cards from him and she probably needs to use chapter 7 bankruptcy. She says: "I hope his real estate business picks up".

They are not getting collection letters yet.

If she goes through bankruptcy, "the bank" is going to have a lein on the house. I expect that they would foreclose and force a sale. I am wondering if the bank would take a discounted price then. The house looks like crap because my do nothing brother won't even lift a paint brush. It's also full of worn out appliances, newspapers and clothes.

[bobbolink]

26. The REALITY of being homeless in the U.S.

p. 30 In the research of Fisk and her colleagues, people were asked how different social groups are viewed by their society. When asked a series of questions about social warmth and the competency of different social and ethnic groups, the answers clustered around four emotional responses: pity, envy, pride, and disgust. For example, people routinely reach to the homeless with disgust. This is puzzling enough. You might have thought people would pity the homeless, empathize with their position, and feel sorry for them. Not at all. And in a functional MRI study, when study participants were presented with pictures of members from each social and ethnic group, the medial prefrontal cortex--the site that registers the potential for an object's social action--popped for all but one group: the homeless. The homeless maybe seen as human, but not fully so, not as social actors.14

The Empathy Gap by J.D. Trout 2009

I know that DUers will respond with the usual "It's those Repugs". In my experience, NO.

"Progressives" are just as likely to react with disgust and other negative responses.

To say it hurts is an understatement.

[bobbolink]

28. The reality is.... There is HOMELESSNESS in the US because we ACCEPT it.

When USians, and that includes "progressives", decide that homelessness is NOT ACCEPTABLE in the richest country in the world, it will be eradicated.

NOT until then.