The Briefing Room
State Chapters => Texas => Topic started by: Elderberry on January 18, 2020, 02:02:56 pm
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Houston Chronicle by Sarah Smith Jan. 17, 2020
After homelessness in Houston: Those who spent time on the streets struggle to adjust to life indoors
Shari Wilson stared down the coffees stacked on the shelves in Randall’s and wondered how anyone could possibly deal with so many options.
There were plastic Folgers containers one on top of the other on one shelf (hazelnut, classic, “1/2 caff,†decaf, Colombian), blue Maxwell House below those (wake-up roast and morning boost) and, on the very top shelf, the McDonald’s blend that had somehow made its way into grocery stores. And she wasn’t even looking near the Starbucks bags.
“Oh wow. It’d just be easier to get the instant. Holy crap,†she muttered, one hand on her hip and the other on her chin.
This was Wilson’s third trip to the grocery store since getting into temporary supportive housing with Catholic Charities in December. Wilson, 58, had been on-and-off homeless for about four years — with short stays in friends’ apartments, in housing that didn’t work out and in jail after a DWI breaking up the time mostly spent in a tent. When she first confronted a coffeemaker in Catholic Charities’ kitchen, she realized she’d forgotten how to use it.
“It is so weird,†she said “You go to the grocery store and you’re like — you’re used to buying things that are sealed or just one of something you can eat right then. I have a refrigerator and I buy one thing at a time.â€
More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/homeless-people-streets-Catholic-struggles-Lubbock-14980206.php (https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/homeless-people-streets-Catholic-struggles-Lubbock-14980206.php)
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Wilson, taking the Chron's description at face value, can probably transition back to a more ordinary - housing and job - lifestyle (though the DWI may indicate an ongoing problem with alcohol). She's done it before and apparently wants to do so again.
The sad fact is that most homeless people are one or more of the following: significantly mentally ill; chemically dependent; do not want the responsibilities that come with an ordinary lifestyle. The program Wilson is in (there are lots of charities with similar residential & training programs) cannot work for most homeless people.
Worse still, cities and counties play games with statistics to conceal that fact. They supposedly fear that the truth being known would result in less $$ for whatever their programs are. That the reaction to their lies being exposed might be worse seems to elude them. Even just the realization that, "We spend $###M on the homeless and things are getting worse," is likely to result in ordinary citizens taking more vigorous self-defense and property-defense action (obstructing sidewalks so homeless people can't sleep on them is probably just the start).
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Wilson, taking the Chron's description at face value, can probably transition back to a more ordinary - housing and job - lifestyle (though the DWI may indicate an ongoing problem with alcohol). She's done it before and apparently wants to do so again.
The sad fact is that most homeless people are one or more of the following: significantly mentally ill; chemically dependent; do not want the responsibilities that come with an ordinary lifestyle. The program Wilson is in (there are lots of charities with similar residential & training programs) cannot work for most homeless people.
Worse still, cities and counties play games with statistics to conceal that fact. They supposedly fear that the truth being known would result in less $$ for whatever their programs are. That the reaction to their lies being exposed might be worse seems to elude them. Even just the realization that, "We spend $###M on the homeless and things are getting worse," is likely to result in ordinary citizens taking more vigorous self-defense and property-defense action (obstructing sidewalks so homeless people can't sleep on them is probably just the start).
Didn't San Francisco neutralize the sidewalk defense by removing the obstacles within a couple days?
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I get that... Spending too much time up in the sticks, you 'go native'... Coming back down is weird. Jangley. Way too many things. Way too many decisions. You kinda do forget how to cook on a stove.
Kinda like when I first got up out of the chair, and drove for the first time. Like the Japanese say: "Hory Clap!" WAY, WAY too fast! even 25mph made me jumpy. And I'm a hot rod guy!.
Perspective is a strange thing.
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Interesting article.
I read elsewhere that Austin has a location, for "tiny homes," etc.
I have also heard "conservatives," suggest that one of the strengths of federalism, is the ability to experiment, in search for what really does work.
Good luck for Texas. CA Gov. Newsome claimed mamy of the homeless in San Fran came from Texas.
We DO NEED a case to reach the USSC, that returns to local jurisdictions, they ability to confine people, against their will.