They leave a lot out of that story. Wonder why the guy was homeless? Is he a schizophrenic or an alkie? Schizophrenics are a truely disturbing segment of the homeless problem in the US today. Many refuse to take their medications and instead roam our city's streets like feral animals. I feel sorry for them. Its not like they can sit around and make good, rational judgements with all that noise coming in from their fillings in their teeth and the messages from God and the devil and the angels. They can be really scarey when in the full blown throes of paranoid psychosis and sweet as lambs a day later. What difficult lives they lead, and they can be very threatening to the rest of us. You'd think we'd come up with a better answer for them than to have them live under bridges, though. I knew one schizophrenic who did comply with his medications, and he was one of the kindest people I have ever met - always trying to help out folks he met on the streets or in the clinic. This got him into trouble often, because the predators would take complete advantage of him. He was also extremely delusional and used to tell me the most incredible stories. Poor man!
The social services system in this country is so bizarre. It heavily favors women who have children with no father around. Many of these women honestly DO need the help. The Dad may have deserted the family or maybe was abusive and the woman has no job skills. Such women and their children really do need assistance, and I don't begrudge them it for a moment. Then there are those who are obviously playing the system. They have kids just to stay on the benefits. These people sour the picture for everyone else.
Single people with disabilities can get really hit hard. If they had low paying jobs which didn't provide private disability insurance, they're just plain out of luck. SSI pays $579.00/month. Some states will supplement this, but many, including Colorado, don't. No one can live on that sum of money. They have to have a housing voucher to make it. Good luck! The US is busily bombing homes then awarding lucrative contracts to W's cronies to rebuild them in Iraq, but forget about our own people back here in the US of A.
The Iraqi's have Halliburten; we have HUD. Guess who gets the home and the first two guesses don't count. What's THAT all about? Why is Abdul so much more deserving than Joe? At least Joe paid taxes before becoming old and/or disabled. Abdul sure as hell didn't and is probably out aiming a sniper's rifle at one of our soldiers right now.
The housing voucher program is being dismantled. Colorado alone will lose 2,000 vouchers by 2010. Where are folks going to go? That bridge in Chicago is out. Where?
