Homeless people

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Are you talking about Labor Ready? I don't know where you live, but there's no way people here in Seattle can afford rent, utilities, bills, etc. anywhere close to the city making the minimum wage that places like Labor Ready pay. YOU try working for $6.20/hour (or whatever it is now) and see if you can make it all on your own, without any family or friends for support. OH, and if you go to a place like McDonald's for a job, don't forget that the gov't gets its share, too!

The cost of living/rent in Seattle versus Oklahoma City is vast. Rent is especially cheap here. I actually have worked at jobs which pay close to that amount of money (while in college) and coworkers who were not college students and had no other means of support were doing just fine. They weren't living luxurious lifestyles, or even middle class, but they were definitely making ends meet.

Also, you seem to be uninformed about some of the services available to the homeless. Again, I don't know how it works in your city, but in many cities the homeless shelters only open in the evening for food and shelter...it's not like food is available to the homeless all day...and space is extremely limited. Usually most shelters in urban areas have to turn away many people, and shelters are also notoriously unsafe. Where do you expect people to shower for their job interviews once they're homeless? Or do their laundry?

Not sure about the safety, but as to the food, we do fine. I've actually done volunteer work for the homeless, the food pantry is very well stocked, and as far as availabel services go, we're nowhere near capacity.

Like I said, there are programs which help poor and homeless find jobs, even provide job training. Those programs are not being utilized. Apparently, the "poor" prefer to scam the system.

Most people who are homeless got that way because of some life-changing event/trauma, and they have no one to turn to to help them out while they rebound. Once you're out on the street, it's really hard to get yourself off of it even if you want to.

You assume I'm so ignorant of the facts regarding this, what is your personal experience?