Homeless Camping

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/us/portland-mayor-bans-homeless-encampments/index.html

While I wouldn’t want homeless people to be camping in unsafe area either, I hope that Portland isn’t just kicking them out with nowhere else to go.

It sickens me to think that there are so many people, men, women, and children, that are homeless. It sickens me even more to think that most of society consider them an eyesore and want them out of the way more than they want to help them.

On the other hand, there are great organizations out there that are trying to help the homeless, and give them a safer place to live rather than in tents next to unsafe roads. The video below talks about one of those efforts:

If we could get more orgainizations to help house the homeless like this, the safer the homeless people would be, and less of the eyesore that people don’t like to see.

Most of the homeless people I’ve talked to when I drop off clothing donations, or help out to distribute food every now and then, never intended on being homeless. I don’t think any kid growing up says “I want to be a homeless person”. But things happen in life, and it’s not always preventable.

Maybe they lost their job. Maybe there was a divorce and a person couldn’t afford rent anymore. Maybe they became disabled somehow. The stories of why people became homeless are unique to each person. But in no way should a person be shamed for being homeless.

These people are members of our society. They help our economy, they pay taxes, their kids go to school. Rather than bitch and moan about how they are making an eyesore, or urinating and #2 because there are no open public restrooms, why not try to help them out instead?

Would it be such a hard thing to install a few more porto-potty’s near where they homeless set up tent city’s? I’d rather city one of them every few blocks or so rather than stepping around where someone did #1 or #2 in public.

It’s great that Los Angles is making these tiny house villages, but we have a LONG way to go before we reduce homelessness to zero. And it’s great to see other cities making these villages as well.

I think with the way the economy is going, the rising cost of housing, food, gas, and everything else, and the low below living wage pay, homeless is going to get worse before it gets better. The more programs and locations like this there are though, the better suited society will be do deal with the issue.