US government continues to ignore the plight of the homeless!

1 September 2010 Last updated at 01:21 GMT changing the face of homelessness in USBy Rajesh Mirchandani
BBC News, Los Angeles, California


AJ Goode and his wife Mary lived in their car for five months before getting a room at the shelter in Los Angeles, California
Mary Goode and her husband, AJ greet each other with a kiss and dissolve into laughter. They are irrepressibly upbeat.

But their attitude belies their story - and their status as faces of the new, working homeless.

The two are not destitute, but they live in one room at the five-storey Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles.

The homeless shelter is a step up from their previous address - a white Chevy pick-up truck.

"We were working in Tennessee at this motel, and it got really slow there. And we lost our jobs," Mr Goode says.

They lived where they worked, so they lost their home, too.

Mrs Goode laughs: "It's a good truck. But we lived in it for four months because of the recession."

"Life can be very hard on you. If you don't have a steady base of income coming in, if you don't have any savings, you can go down real fast and stay there," she says.

Skid Row

Along with several more shelters, the mission sits just a few grubby blocks from gleaming skyscrapers and the city's elegant City Hall.

In the shadow of power and wealth, this is Skid Row, LA's square mile of despair.

The traditional image of homelessness is shocking and all too obvious - people wrapped in filthy layers, some pushing their lives around on supermarket trolleys, others simply crouching in corners, seeking shade from the unrelenting summer sun.

According to the city's Homeless Services Authority, the number of people homeless each night in the city of LA dropped from around 40,000 to 25,000 between the recession years of 2007 and 2009.

But a US government report found the number of homeless families rose 30% between those same years.


Some homeless families in Los Angeles, California have found shelter at local missions in the city Countrywide, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates around 670,000 are homeless each night.

It says there is not yet enough data to quantify the effects of the recession.

But it points out that homelessness tends to be a delayed response to an economic downturn.

Reverend Andy Bales, who runs the Union Rescue Mission, doesn't need data to identify a changing problem.

"We've had a tsunami of families come in - families who are experiencing homelessness for the first time. And it just seems like the wave never ends," he says.

We walk through a large room containing several rows of bunk beds.

Stand-alone fans keep the room cool. Air conditioning is too expensive to install.

The shelter sleeps around 1000 people each night, mostly single adults in these dorms.

The 'economic reality'

Now for the first time, the shelter is asking some to pay $7 (£4.50) a night.

In return, residents can stay in their beds during the day, a change from the current policy of vacating the beds until the evening.

The shelter also gives them a locker and saves $2 on their behalf, a scheme designed for empowerment as much as economics.

"People feel better about themselves when they pay their own way, and it affirms their dignity," Reverend Bales says.


Some of Los Angeles' homeless have erected tents on sidewalks around the city He adds: "And really the economic reality has forced us into considering that. These are the toughest times in the history of Union Rescue Mission - 119 years. We are serving ten times the people that we were during the Great Depression, and LA is only three times bigger than it was during the Great Depression."

Donations on which the shelter depends are down, and some staff have been laid off.

Meanwhile, California's publicly-funded safety net is shrinking, a result of deep cuts in a state facing a $19bn (£15bn) budget shortfall.

Families in poverty

California's jobless are adding to the state's homelessness, with unemployment remaining stubbornly above 12% along with one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the US.

Among them is Jonathan Long.


By the door of his room at the Union Rescue Mission a hand-drawn sign reads "The Long Family".

Above it, a photograph of his wedding day - he and his bride wore red, as it was Valentine's Day.

Inside I met his four children and his wife, Veronica, pregnant with their fifth.

The room looked to measure around 15ft (4.5m) by 10ft (3m).

"It's better then being out there," Mr Long says.

There was a bunk bed against one wall and a single bed in the corner.

Through a window was a view of downtown skyscrapers.

Each night they pull out two extra mattresses so they all can sleep.

In a bookcase, food and toys are stored and a small electronic keyboard, the last reminder of the recording studio Jonathan used to own.

He lost his business when his clients stopped being able to pay.

Selling off equipment kept them going for a while, then his grandmother helped out while she could.

The family moved in with friends, until the friends were evicted.

"Three summers ago, we were actually so well off we were looking into buying a house. And then when the economy crashed, it completely screwed me up," Mr Long says.

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In fact, this was a dual income family. Mrs Long used to earn money as a massage therapist, until that too dried up through lack of clients.

Now she says the change has been hardest for the children.

"They don't have the space and the toys and the TV and the video games and the DVD player and the movies. We don't have these things anymore. That may be the reason he's been acting out some,' Mrs Long tells me, nodding towards their eldest son, Nathan.

They hadn't heard about the shelter starting to charge a fee.

"Some people here with their attitudes might think it was taking advantage," Jonathan says. "I think it might be weeding out the people who are serious about getting their life straight. It gives you back your pride as a man."

Places like the mission face unprecedented challenges.

They must now reach out to those they help.

And increasingly, even amongst the homeless, there are haves and have-nots.



“

We've had a tsunami of families come in - families who are experiencing homelessness for the first time. And it just seems like the wave never ends”
End Quote
Reverend Andy Bales, Director

Union Rescue Mission


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11145513

S.

If go outside on a quiet and listen, you can actually hear Obozo's poll numbers slipping.

[QUOTE=Gringo_1]
If go outside on a quiet and listen, you can actually hear Obozo's poll numbers slipping.
[/QUOTE]
They breathe profits; they eat the interest on money. If they don't get it, they die the way you die without air, without side-meat. [referring to the banks]
The Grapes of Wrath
Steinbeck

Now the government rescues the banks but not the poor people!
They get near nothing - and an increasing number have no homes.

By the way - those that think I am some strange communist or something I only quote what most people in the World consider responsible jounalism - the BBC for example.



S.

I agree!

Cradle to grave entitlements has created a welfare class.

Time for some tough love.


BTW California is one of the more "progressive" states in the US.

By "progressive" I mean Liberal, over-taxed, over-regulated, politically correct.

You forgot to add f**ked up and bankrupt!

Like Hong Kong for example. Or Sweden,UK, Denmark,Japan etc.

Capitalists have foulded up; selling worthless securities, loans on very dubious projects, running the US in debt importing oil by promoting and advertising gaz guzling cars that require the US to import lakes of oil,
not financing railways, renewable energy etc.
They are bailed out but the average joe who just wants to do a fair days work for a fair days pay and have somewhere to live is left destitute.
S..

Comrade ABCommie,
Why do you choose to live in a capitalist country if everything is as bad as you say?

I am not a communist........ I belive in a mixed economy and a strong welfare state.

DR is trying with new hospitals, schools, public housing and of course the main bank is nationalised.

So as my income comes from abroard and I contribute this to the local economy and hopefully DR can develop even further. Country has been exploited for many years by the US and is now recovering from this period of exploitation.

I meet more Americans here that think the same way - get out of the US while you can.

It's a wonderful chance that people have to leave the problems of the US behind and live simply in a 100,000 dollar house and enjoy the wonderful weather, people, food, natural environment. At the same time be located in a major communication hub so travel is easy.

S.

US can cut unemployment by going green!

With poverty; such as that imposed by the US government people will loose their faith in democracy.

Poverty in Germany
'People Are Losing Their Faith in the State'
A total of 1 million people get help every day from Germany's "Deutsche Tafel" food banks -- and that number is set to increase because of the recession. The organization's head, Gerd Häuser, talks to SPIEGEL ONLINE about Germany's new poverty and the dangers of social unrest.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Häuser, you know what poverty looks like in Germany. Does the worsening economic crisis make you feel afraid?

Gerd Häuser: I wouldn't say I'm afraid, but I've become unsure. Economic trends can no longer be predicted, the forecasts are no longer reliable. Only one thing is clear: The number of unemployed will rise significantly -- and with it the number of people who need our assistance.


SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are you seeing that already?

Häuser: Not yet. There is a time lag in the visible effects of the crisis. The social systems kick in first of all. But in the long term, the number of people receiving Hartz IV (ed's note: welfare payments for the long-term unemployed, regarded by critics as insufficient to live on) will rise -- and they can hardly live on the money they receive. Already, 1 million people come to us every day, which amounts to about one-seventh of welfare recipients in Germany.


REPRINTS
Find out how you can reprint this SPIEGEL ONLINE article.
.SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are companies donating less because they are affected by the crisis?

Häuser: Naturally we are seeing savings being made in certain areas, such as with suppliers, for example. But we have not yet noticed a decline in donations of products. The food sector is feeling the crisis less because people are more likely to cut back on luxury goods than on their daily staples. Even in bad times, for example, there are five different frozen pizzas available in supermarkets. And there are always some left over for us.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is it just Hartz IV recipients who seek your help?

Häuser: No. In the past, our clients were mainly homeless people. Today, however, there is a new poverty, which is affecting families with children in particular. These are people who are working full time but whose income is still not enough. This affects people with part-time jobs, single mothers or employees in the low-wage sector who need to top up their incomes with welfare payments. And more and more senior citizens who are living on the minimum state pension are now coming to us.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So these people are completely dependent on you for their food?

Häuser: We aren't able to provide all the food that people need. We only offer a supplement to what the families have themselves. We mostly provide fresh things like fruit, vegetables, bread or sausage. We are not part of the social system -- if it worked, then we would be superfluous. But the gap between those people who have enough and those who have too little is unfortunately increasing. In the long term, it poses the threat of social unrest.


SPIEGEL ONLINE: That is precisely the thing that the trade unions and the SPD's presidential candidate, Gesine Schwan, are afraid of. Do you think it will come to that?

Häuser: It remains to be seen whether our social systems are good enough to prevent that from happening. It is completely unclear what risks will hit the state and whether benefits will need to be cut back. Just the plans for the so-called "bad banks" present an equation with many unknown factors. Ordinary people do not understand why (the state) is haggling over every penny at the bottom of the heap while billions are being paid out at the top. As a result, some people are losing their faith in the state, which in the long term threat could turn into a threat to democracy.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: How can you stop that from happening?

Häuser: Ultimately, it is a question of preserving human dignity. The way we do this is we make each person pay a symbolic amount -- basically just one coin per family per visit. That way people see themselves as customers and not as recipients of charity. These days people slip quickly into the Hartz IV bracket, which means that really anyone can find themselves in the situation where they need help. Nevertheless, some people still feel ashamed to accept aid, especially older people.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What is the effect of the fact that a growing number of people are forced to live like this?

Häuser: If young people are stigmatized from the outset, if they do not get any opportunities from the outset, that leads to dissatisfaction. That doesn't mean that the masses will take to the streets in Germany. That is more likely to happen in France. But it can't be ruled out that here too, some people might resort to violence in a bid to get their voices heard.

Interview conducted by Susanne Amann


Since this the German government has created many jobs and unemployment is reduced.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,622965,00.html

S.