denver crews save freezing homeless woman

[niyad]

(please note the appalling statistic at the end of this article)


Denver Crews Save Freezing Homeless Woman



DENVER --

Denver firefighters are credited for saving the life of a homeless woman who nearly froze to death early Thanksgiving.

The woman, 57, rang the bell of a Denver Fire Station Number 8 at 1616 Park Avenue, said Lt. Phil Champagne, a spokesman for the Denver Fire Department.

"She was very sad, she was crying," said firefighter Robert Hedrick, who assisted the woman. "She wasn't going to last much longer in the cold."

Hedrick and other firefighters brought the woman inside, checked her vitals and called an ambulance. She was taken to Denver Health Medical Center and treated for hypothermia.

Champagne said hypothermia deaths among homeless people in Denver are common in winter months.



*******Emma Douglas, an advocate for the Delores Project, a shelter for single women, said the problem is especially stark for women who are homeless.

"There are 1,600 homeless women every night on any given night in Denver," said Douglas. "There are less than 150 beds that are reserved for single homeless women.**********

. . .

http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/denver-firefighters-save-homeless-woman-freezing

[Mimosa]

1. This tragedy shows our society doesn't care.

Yet we spend billions a month on wars far away.

[midnight]

2. Yep...

[niyad]

3. I used to wonder what in the hell had happened to this society, when, as a whole, we lost our basic

decency and humanity. there are days that I am not certain we ever had it.

trillions for the MIC, the bankers, the munitions makers, nothing for the people. there are a whole lot of people who need to be visited by the three spirits of christmas.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Churches used to remind people to be their brothers' keepers.

Now they actually complain when a soldier gets an award without killing anybody.

We all know about hate radio and media consolidation, but if you want to look for one tipping point, look at the Southern Baptist Convention of Satan Worshipers.

[awoke_in_2003]

29. we had it at one time...

it is slowly being beat out of us with a constant barrage of propaganda news and shaky financial situations. We are being programmed, just like the party members in "1984"

[maryf]

4. This should never, ever be...

:cry: K&R

[niyad]

8. this is the richest country in the world, but a country with completely skewed priorities.

it makes me ashamed.

[bobbolink]

9. Skewed priorities.....

Like creating a new political party solely on the issue of legalization of pot?

While people are homeless and suffering and dying?

Making such a big deal out of the arrest of a celebrity because "he has done so much good", while ignoring that many homeless people are DYING, and they, too, have done a lot of good?

Those priorities?

[Fumesucker]

12. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find that there are a lot of homeless people who are that way..

Because they have a "drug" conviction on their records and can't get a job for that reason.

In a time where there are five jobless people for every job opening even something minor like a conviction for pot can keep you from getting a job you are otherwise eminently qualified to do.

It's quite clear the the Democratic party has zero interest in ending the drug war that has ruined quite literally millions of lives, why shouldn't people organize a political party to represent what they think are their own interests?

[bobbolink]

18. I'm so tired of arguing all of this. Could we PLEASE focus on society's role in homelessness,

rather than the individual flaws?

This really is the RW line, and it is quite old.

[Fumesucker]

19. The Republican party has zero intention of ending the drug war either..

And I just pointed out the connection between the drug war and homelessness. Not to mention that the 70 billion dollars a year or so we spend on the drug war could feed, clothe and house a great many people if we weren't pumping it down a freedom destroying rathole.

I'd be homeless myself but for the kindness of family members, I understand the urgency but there are also other things in our society which are also urgent.

If you don't want to argue about a subject then don't bring it up in the first place.

[bobbolink]

21. Cute way to bring in legalization to a thread about something much more dire.

There are MUCH more stressful things in this society, and I get really tired of all of this.

When "progressives" are ready to back off from the RW meme of individual flaws causing homelessness, and hold society responsible, THEN things will change.

Until then, "progressives" are just as much at fault for the shame of homelessness as the RW.

[Fumesucker]

24. You were the one who brought it up in the first place..

I was just responding to your lead..

I note as well that you did not deny the points I made, there is a direct connection between the drug war and homelessness.

[bobbolink]

26. Apparently you are another one who insists on following the RW view of individual flaws

rather than society responsiblity.

I have learned there is no use trying to educate those who insist on clinging to myth.

So, go ahead and blame people for the shit they are dealing with in a compassionless society. I guess it makes all of you feel better who can then look down on others in this way, rather than actually working to make it a better society for ALL.

This is why I have given up on "progressives": they are no more educable than RWers, and every bit as stubborn. You have no facts or stats, just your belief you cling to, regardless of the REAL facts. Just like the RWers.

Have fun with that.

Bye.

[Fumesucker]

34. Where have I blamed individuals at all?

The drug war is something our society engages in that causes a great many negative effects on a lot of people for very little to no positive return.

Just because my ideas do not coincide totally with yours does not mean that either of us is necessarily wrong in what we think or say.

There are a large number of facts and stats I could quote, but as you say, people are stubborn and do not wish to listen, you are no different in that respect than anyone else. You are reading things into my words that I'm not putting there at all.

Our society is broken and ill in myriad ways, so many things are a matter of perspective, we are like the blind men and the elephant, none of us see the entire picture but we are aware of different facets of reality from our various life experiences.

Perhaps if you had a loved one who has been denied job after job because they had a criminal record thanks to our societies' insane war on a common weed you might have something a little closer to my perspective on this matter, or maybe not.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. No it shouldn't!

[Nay]

5. What I'd like to know is where are all those churches that are supposed

to be helping the poor, the widows, the kids? How come they haven't supported/built enough shelters to house a measly 1600 people on a winter night? We keep hearing how the churches are better at charity, education, etc., but they don't seem to be interested in doing the job.

[bobbolink]

6. Where are all the "progressives", demanding Housing For All?

We keep hearing how Democrats are so much more compassionate than Republicans.....what are THEY doing?

The standard refraid is "We spent all the money on wars", yet who is making a lot of noise about creating the necessary housing?

Bitching about the wars is doing just as much as the RW.

[niyad]

7. we know that housing is absolutely critical, and yet, does not seem to be of importance to most

people

[maryf]

20. Until they are homeless anyway, or know someone who is, or

maybe because it is such a horrible thing that people won't look at it...that's why we have to keep talking about it...make folks force the issue...

[awoke_in_2003]

30. shelters are a stop gap measure at best...

we need affordable housing. We can dump trillions into warfare, but none for those in need. I was surfing the TV a couple days ago and they had a show on called "Mega Yachts". They are all the craze now, being built more than ever before. It is disgusting to think that there are people that can drop $50 million on a luxury while others are starving and dying from the elements.

[progressoid]

33. I remember during the Reagan years when they kept saying that

volunteers and Churches would fill in the gaps after social programs were cut.

Didn't happen then and it's even less likely today.

[niyad]

10. . . .

[fascisthunter]

11. The American Great Depression part II, brought to you by the wealthy

just as before....

Thank you idiot working class for voting against your own interests in the interests of sucking up to those who create depressions. I'd call you suckers but you have this weird desire to drag all of us down with you... oh, and thanks for destroying democracy.

[niyad]

14. an entire country of masochists, it seems.

[glitch]

27. Not entirely. Estimated 1% are proven sadists.

That would be the "top" 1%, to be very clear.

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. She came to them, they transported her to hospital. The title of article makes it

seem like they dug her from the snow.

[niyad]

17. how in the world do you figure that?

[EmeraldCityGrl]

22. She saved herself. They merely did their job.

Enough with the hero worship. When they find her a cheap affordable place to live, chip in for a few nights at a motel
or something along those lines we can say they "saved" her.

I couldn't agree with you more.

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. Exactly!

[bobbolink]

28. I think I understand what you are saying. She is the one doing the hard job of surviving an almost

impossible situation.

They simply did their jobs.

Thank you for saying this. I was focusing on the needless suffering and threat this woman is living with.......since it is so close to my own.

But you are right..... she accomplished a tremendous feat.... they simply took her to a hospital... something most of us could do, too.

Thank you.

[TwilightGardener]

23. Yeah...tomorrow's headline will be:

"FIREFIGHTERS SHOW UP AT BURNING HOME, ACTUALLY PUT OUT FIRE" or "AMBULANCE ARRIVES AT MALL, TRANSPORTS WOMAN WHO FAINTED". Kinda silly. The LEAST they could do was take her to the hospital.

[Jack Sprat]

31. I predict the day will come

when the United States is going to be charged by all nations with human rights violations against its' own citizens. I truly do believe that day is coming.

[niyad]

32. it cannot happen soon enough