Homelessness [split from Leadville and Salida Ranger Districts]

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Scattered site smaller units are preferred.
This is a trend I have seen, and is much preferable in many ways to the massive “Projects” of the last century,

The old Projects are being taken down in many parts of the country, replaced with more visually appealing neighborhoods of federally subsidized housing.

About Habitat for Humaniy, they are an excellent resource but, unless something has changed, are for working families with adequate resources to maintain a house once they are in it.

These are not the primary, chronically homeless/houseless population we have today.
 
^^^My point being the goal is to get as many as possible to a point they become people that qualify for something like Habitat for Humanity. Without goals and encouragement people quickly fall back into their old ways. It is important that goal is focused on self sufficiency and independence as a way to a better life as an end result and that results in a better life for everyone. A community is only as good as it’s worst member and it is to everyone’s advantage to see results that work to make the community better. One of the reasons I liked the smaller size of this forum when it first started, the caravans, Pirate camp and Homes on Wheels Alliance is it is people helping people instead of agencies or programs. They have their place but you have to somehow get the person to that place where they along with help are able to utilize the programs and agencies. Nothing is “easy” at first and it takes a lot of help to get to a point you can begin to improve yourself and continue to set higher and higher goals. A big part of the problem to me has been communities just want the people that are homeless to leave the community and not help fix the problems.
 
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^^^Everything he is saying he wants to do is good, but he has no plan and little political power to make it happen. I imagine he will have lots of support for removing the camps immediately but little hope of providing the low cost housing and health care required to help solve the problem. Good luck changing zoning laws to allow low cost housing in Denver in this market!
 
One thing that influences providing shelter for the homeless are the bureaucratic decisions in some places that allow criminals and deadbeat to squat in owned homes. The owners aren't allowed to evict them, but the cities want them to pay to clean up the mess left behind, when they finally do decide to leave.
 
One thing that influences providing shelter for the homeless are the bureaucratic decisions in some places that allow criminals and deadbeat to squat in owned homes. The owners aren't allowed to evict them, but the cities want them to pay to clean up the mess left behind, when they finally do decide to leave.
Most people see those as separate issues. If homeless folks wanted houses to squat in, rather than sleeping outdoors or in shelters, there are plenty of empty homes they could be using.

Aren't we all squatters? Unless you are a native American, then you are a squatter. Right?
 
Solving a root problem solves a lot of other problems. I would assume there are not a lot of places empty at least in the places I’ve been lately, it can be difficult to find a place to rent or even stay. There are not many privately owned properties you can trespass if the owner has asked you to leave unless you have been there for some time without being asked to leave or have had a rental agreement with the owner. I have had trespassers that were asked to leave removed by police within a few hours by simply asking. Any time you rent for a profit or allow someone to stay on your privately owned property there is risk involved. There were some instances during Covid where people were allowed to stay but they also could get assistance to pay back rent. In many cities even if the property owner permits a homeless person to stay on their property they can be cited for zoning violations which is why zoning rules and regulations need to be changed as a part of the solution to the homeless problem. Many counties and cities now allow single family properties to build or have an additional dwelling unit (ADU) as part of finding a way to get more housing into a community.
 
The wife and I did laundry today in Quartzsite. We normally take a short walk while waiting for our clothes to wash or dry. We walked down main street and walked over a wash that runs underneath the road. I peeked over the edge and there was a huge pile of trash on the side of the wash, some furniture, a mattress and a small solar panel tilted towards the sun. Someone is living under the bridge like a troll. Hope they are able to move out before the rains come this week.

I think a big part of the objection to the homeless populations is the amount of trash left behind. A few strategically placed dumpsters may alleviate part of the problem.
 
I think a big part of the objection to the homeless populations is the amount of trash left behind. A few strategically placed dumpsters may alleviate part of the problem.
I can't think of a reason why a person who is able to bring things to their place is unable to take the excess packaging out and dispose of it...
 
At the bottom of this, the beginning, imho, was the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill that began 40+ years ago.

People who could not function on their own, take their meds, keep themselves stable, were released to their families and into communities who were woefully unprepared to meet their needs on a voluntary, outpatient basis.

And, this continues today. People who would have been institutionalized for care are largely now left to voluntarily comply with the medications and treatment that could stabilize their lives.

Add to that the chronic substance abuse population and we have huge numbers of people who will likely never be able to comply with and meet the criteria for traditional housing of any kind.

They can’t cooperate with helpful others, engage with service providers, comply with rules/the external structure that could help them resolve living situations many find deplorable.

There are those who are houseless by choice, and happy about it, also many who have fallen into homeless but have the emotional and physical resources to accept help that is there and pull themselves out.

Then there is the housing shortage, the affordable housing issue, the lack of adequate federal subsidies for the low income, etc., all of which most impact those functioning at a high enough level to pull themselves up.

Such a complex issue, but the truth is that a huge proportion of the chronically homeless, in these encampments that rankle so many, are people who last century would have had full time caregivers.

All the services in the world cannot help those who don’t want help and/or can’t see that they need it.

There is no simple answer.

IMHO
 
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I can't think of a reason why a person who is able to bring things to their place is unable to take the excess packaging out and dispose of it...
You would think, but that's not the case.
 
I would assume there are not a lot of places empty at least in the places I’ve been lately, it can be difficult to find a place to rent or even stay.
There are 16 million empty homes across the United States, according to a LendingTree study published this month, and five states contain more than a third of the total U.S. vacancies. ~ https://www.newsweek.com/these-5-states-have-most-vacant-homes-1693493

Guessing in California and Florida most of the vacant homes are secondary vacation homes.
 
^^^Just too many variables in that study to glean any useful information from for me. It’s not like previous times when people abandoned houses cause they couldn’t make the payments. Most buyers are offering the asking price and setting a limit above that they are willing to go still at least as of last month in Southern Arizona! Most properties are selling within a month or so as opposed to hours but those are the ones marked up over 100% above what they sold for at last sale. When owners have a hard time making payments they just put the property up for sale for $100,000 more than they paid for it, as long as they can make the next two months payments they are good, ending up with enough money for a down payment for one of those $150,000 high top camper vans. You are lucky to find a $250,000 to $300,000 property that will pass VA home loan inspections with a 30 year mortgage and fees of less than $1800 a month payments not to mention utilities. At that rate tiny home villages for homeless veterans begin to make a lot of sense.
 
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There are 16 million empty homes across the United States, according to a LendingTree study published this month, and five states contain more than a third of the total U.S. vacancies. ~ https://www.newsweek.com/these-5-states-have-most-vacant-homes-1693493

Guessing in California and Florida most of the vacant homes are secondary vacation homes.
Or AirBnBs. I lost my apartment on Vashon Island, and couldn't find a replacement. Many people told me one of the reasons is that many landlords no longer wanted to have regular renters, they could make more money with less hassle by getting into the short-term rental business. This would be true any place that is popular for recreation.
 
At the bottom of this, the beginning, imho, was the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill that began 40+ years ago.

People who could not function on their own, take their meds, keep themselves stable, were released to their families and into communities who were woefully unprepared to meet their needs on a voluntary, outpatient basis.
Not just the mentally ill. I got started working with the homeless while in high school. I worked weekends in what was called 'the poor farm' in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. It housed not only mentally ill but indigent nursing home patients and men with nowhere else to go. In early 70's vagrancy laws were ruled unconstitutional so most street dwellers (mostly drunks) couldn't be picked up by police for things like 'public drunkeness' and transported to our site. Shortly after activists rammed through the courts 'since this is their home we couldn't limit what they kept in their room'. Alcohol flowed (our biggest problem), followed by drunken fights and damage. The place soon closed, nursing home patients were transferred to private nursing homes at 4X the cost, everyone else was released to the street.

This is exactly what about 1/2 of the guys we see today need: a safe space, a warm bed, a shower, a locker for your stuff, 3 good meals, medical care, laundry, organized activities. It got shut down by 'homeless advocates'.
All the services in the world cannot help those who don’t want help and/or can’t see that they need it.
This!!! First thing we vet for when determining entry into one of our recovery programs. If one is not willing to put in the hard work to recover the failure rate is 100%.
 
I remember when the YMCA used to rent out cheap rooms. I wonder if any still do that?
 
I remember when the YMCA used to rent out cheap rooms. I wonder if any still do that?
I googled it and it is on an individual basis on what facilities 'can rent' due to zoning issues and just their policy etc. But I saw many still do rent/provide rooms etc. Interesting on that one.
 
I can't think of a reason why a person who is able to bring things to their place is unable to take the excess packaging out and dispose of it...
For me that should be the distinction between problem homelessness and nomadism, whether the garbage is picked up.

Most places away from urban areas the garbage dumps are locals.
 

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