I met some homeless families the other night...

[CoffeeCat]

I'm involved in a book club, and we often work with local churches, to help out people in need. Usually we donate money, food or clothing--but last week--we organized a dinner for several homeless families in the area.

I've never met anyone who was homeless before. I guess I had some preconceived notions, without even realizing it. I apologize ahead of time for my ignorance.

I was a bit surprised when members of these homeless families showed up with their cell phones, Polo shirts, Nike tennis shoes and with children sporting clothing from Gymboree.

I sat and talked with two families after dinner. What I heard astounded me and frightened me. Family #1 (mother, father, two children--ages 7,5) became homeless after he was laid off for three months and they couldn't pay the rent. They were living paycheck-to-paycheck and drenched in credit-card debt. She worked nights at Walmart and he worked for John Deere (a decent job), before being temporarily laid off. They divulged that their combined income had been $45,000 just a few months ago.

The second family was a mother, father, 2 year old--and the woman was 5 months pregnant. She did not work, but her husband worked in sales for a furniture store. He also worked part time, at nights, at Starbuck's. Their landlord gave them 30-days notice to vacate--because she was selling the property. They have bad credit-- due to late credit-card bills and medical bills. They have money to rent another place, but they are being turned away from decent apartments due to their poor credit score. They've been homeless for two months and are still looking for an apartment.

I was astounded when I talked with these families. They are just like many of us. Many are living paycheck to paycheck and working hard. They are not lazy or unintelligent. They are making decent salaries. It's amazing that someone can be making $45k one minute--and homeless the next. I asked one of the mothers if she had plans tomorrow and she said, "I'm taking the kids to the dentist." Isn't that amazing? These people have decent jobs, a health plan that includes dental--and somehow they're homeless?

I used to think that homeless people were people who had lost everything. These people had so much for years--and still had a lot--but lost their homes due to unfortunate circumstances that happened during a time when they were financially vulnerable.

I'm very concerned for today's middle class. How many middle-class folks are treading dangerous waters with credit card debt and one setback away from credit-score disaster? Monthly credit-card payments are expected to double--due to new rules. The bankruptcy laws no longer protect citizens. I'm sure many of us would be in dire straights if an unexpected medical problem siphoned off our savings.

I feel like so many in the middle class are teetering on the verge of destitution. I also feel like this is totally by design. How can it not be?

With home heating bills expected to more than double this winter--and gas prices rising so much--I really see a perfect economic storm coming--with the middle class smack dab in the center of a horrible disaster.

Perhaps many of you understood the struggles of the homeless--better than I did. I do know that since I've met these families--I realize how vulnerable anyone can be and that we all need to protect ourselves.

[NMDemDist2]

1. kicked and nominated, there but by the grace........ n/t

[JanMichael]

3. So those that are there don't get no "grace"?

I've always found that phrase rather nasty.

EDIT: I really don't mean to be offensive but I guess I find those colloquilisms rather offensive.

[NMDemDist2]

7. that's not what I meant, but that phrase let everyone know I was very

close to the same position, and could relate

sometimes those "colloquialisms" serve as a cultural shorthand, which was how I used it.

Sorry if you were offended.

[JanMichael]

12. No biggie. I just relate that to the phrase 'I'm blessed".

And I wasn't personally offended.

I work with homelessness prevention groups every day and the people running those groups often use the same language. Which is "ok" but without those homeless people they wouldn't have a job yet they seek to sooth the problem. It's a weird relationship.

[NMDemDist2]

14. it's sometimes tough for me, I'm not a religious person at all and

certainly don't claim to be Christian, so the whole "grace of God" (I purposely left off the "God" part) thing is problematic

it's such a part of the lexicon though...

[lildreamer316]

2. Kick.

[Ladyhawk]

4. How many people are going to howl when the credit card companies

start charging 4%? If someone hadn't bailed me out, I would have ended up paying $160 a month and my gross income is only $812 a month. That's 20% of my gross income!!!!! Add on rent, bills, groceries, etc. and guess who would be out on the street, too?

This is really going to hurt people I know someone who has $20,000 in credit card debt. I'm afraid to bring this up to her, but I suppose I had better since the new law takes effect soon.

Good luck to everyone. This is going to suck ass.

[lcordero2]

5. man

A record was set this month for overdue credit card bills...it was all over the news. The really bad part is that Greenspan just went ahead and told all of the G7 countries that the nation's debt is out of control. I think this is the main reason why the media and the "powers that be" have turned against republicans. Cindy Sheehan and all of DeLay's scandals helped put the final nails to the coffin.

[JanMichael]

6. For some additional jolts ask your local homelessness prevention....

...coalition what their last "Point in Time Count" was.

It'll shock you if they're on the ball and have a good (All counts are LOW) count.

[koopie57]

8. a couple weeks ago my son's car broke down in a

Burger King parking lot. My husband went down there to work on it and see if he could get in running. He had noticed a man and lady and did not pay too much attention. Eventually they came up to him and asked if he could give them some money for food. They were both deaf, but the man could read lips. Anyway, they conversed through writing notes back and forth. They were trying to get downtown and barely had money for the bus fair. Anyway, my husband offered to drive them but they said no, so he drove them to a grocery store and they picked out a loaf of bread, some balonga and some fruit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Your husband sounds like a wonderful man

and smart too.

I work in the 'inner city' and see homeless people every day. The absolute wrong thing to do is to give them money when they ask for it. All too often, I see them walk to the nearest liquor store and spend that money they collect on the street; needless to say, they aren't buying food. So your husband did exactly the right thing by taking them to the store and buying them food. Most of us would never take the time to do that. Good for him.

[niallmac]

9. "...How can it not be?"

"I also feel like this is totally by design. How can it not be?"

"They" want it all and othewise don't give a damn. That's the only
conclusion I have ever been able to come to.
As Peak Oil guru Kunstler says and I paraphrase;
'This will be an entirely different
country after this winter.'

[nytemare]

10. Families, and Veterans.

The administration won't give them decent body armor to go to a shitty war in, and then they don't give them the services they need when they return from said shitty war.

This is a corporate welfare state. I don't even think they have tried to make the argument that it is a trickle down economy, because they don't care if anything trickles down. They eliminated the minimum wage for people working in the Katrina zone. Can you imagine paying for gasoline to get yourself around even on minimum wage, let alone lower???? And, now they are not hiring local contracters as required to rebuild. As far as I'm concerned, they should be going into the shelters asking these displaced folks if they would like to help rebuild their homes.

You have brought up a great point, and bless you for your charity.

[AuntPatsy]

11. This is so sad, Nominated, this is something that should NOT

find itself lost in archives..a disturbing aspect of today.

[Erika]

13. The GOP want to cast them as lazy

saying it's their own fault they are homeless. Not much of a Christian is W or the GOP?

[bleedingheart]

15. My friend just mortgaged her home to pay for healthcare...

her husband is ill...she can't go without it but it is costing them $800 a month...and with the rising costs of fuel oil...they are basically living on very little...

[mntleo2]

16. Now Become An Activist

Much of the problems with homelessness comes with the shrinking of the safety net. Housing often takes over half of a family's income, and this administration have cut programs such as Section 8 until there are years and years of waiting before a family gets assistance.

Also Section 8 housing assistance is the *only* help there is left for immigrants. thanks to the 1996 Personal Responsibility Act, (Welfare DEformed) they are no longer allowed to get food stamps or welfare, so they are often given housing assistance because there IS nothing else for them. Because of the horrible conditions our country has created for so many other nations, many of these immigrants are political refugees, and they have some from unbelievably horrible situations in their home countries, thanks to our policies we have imposed upon them. I have worked with the Somalian population, for instance and you would just not believe the terrors they faced.

But the bottom line is that we Americans are often in competition with one another as well as with helpless refugees for these services because the funding has been cut while corporate welfare is being lavishly funded ~ with our tax dollars.

There are many things you can do: make sure your representatives know you support the safety net. Make sure to write to your newspapers and let them know how horrified you are that Americans are homeless, that you know it is because of the cuts, while corporate welfare are the ones who are benefiting from our taxes. Besides working for food banks and shelters, there are non-profits who are working toward creating housing, but they are also struggling. Your local tax infrastructures are often something to watch because simply the absence of corporations and the wealthy not paying taxes that could support the community could significantly help.

I heard something recently about the reason some people should pay more than others, when it came to taxes: If a family went on an overnight hike, the mother, the father, and two kids 8 and 4 years old and they have 200 pounds of gear, should the 4 year old carry the same weight as the father and mother? It would be "fair" wouldn't it? Yet, if the 4 and 8 year old tried to carry the same weight as their parents, they would not even be able to make it.

There is nothing to be ashamed about as far as not knowing what is going on, the shame should come when you see and do not do anything about it. The homeless need every citizen in this nation's assistance. You began by posting here. Thank-you.

My two cents

Cat In Seattle <---low income activist who feels pretty lonely most of the time because my fellow Americans are so compliant

[davikim]

20. was in seattle recently

and it felt so much less lonely than my side of the mt.s in WA where I don't really know anyone who cares. The people in Seattle kinda' lifted me out of a Repub based depression, so thanks for not being so compliant....

[CrispyQ]

30. Why the Rich Should Pay More Taxes

Here is an excellent article pointing out many examples of how the rich have more assets to protect, therefore should shoulder more of the tax bill to protect those assets.

http://www.zompist.com/richtax.htm

snip...

For more than a century it's been generally recognized that the best taxes (admittedly this is an expression reminiscent of "the most pleasant death" or "the funniest Family Circus cartoon") are progressive-- that is, proportionate to income.

Lately, however, it's become fashionable to question this. Various Republican leaders have trotted out the idea of a flat tax, meaning a fixed percentage of income tax levied on everyone. And in their hearts they may be anxious to emulate Maggie Thatcher's poll tax-- a single amount that everyone must pay.

Isn't that more fair? Shouldn't everyone pay the same amount?

In a word-- no. It's not more fair; it's appallingly unfair. Why? The rich should pay more taxes, because the rich get more from the government.

Consider defense, for example, which makes up 20% of the budget. Defending the country benefits everyone; but it benefits the rich more, because they have more to defend. It's the same principle as insurance: if you have a bigger house or a fancier car, you pay more to insure it.

Social security payments, which make up another 20% of the budget, are dependent on income-- if you've put more into the system, you get higher payments when you retire.

Investments in the nation's infrastructure-- transportation, education, research & development, energy, police subsidies, the courts, etc.-- again are more useful the more you have. The interstates and airports benefit interstate commerce and people who can travel, not ghetto dwellers. Energy is used disproportionately by the rich and by industry.


===
This needs to be spread far & wide so that the middle & lower classes have a solid rebuttal when faced with the selfish, greedy "we should all pay the same amount in taxes" bullshit.

[davekriss]

18. Some advice for the newly outsourced, downsized, and generally unemployed

DuctapeFatwa wrote a series of top-shelf posts in 2003 on the chilling tragedy of falling through the gaping holes in our safety nets to land in poverty and homelessness. They're still in the archive. I post links here. I highly recommend the read:

Some advice for the newly outsourced, downsized, and generally unemployed
Advice for the New Poor, Part II
Advice for the New Poor, Part III
Advice for the New Poor, Part IV
Advice for the New Poor, Part V
Advice for the New Poor, Part VI
Advice for the New Poor, Part VII
Advice for the New Poor, Part VIII
Advice for the New Poor, Part IX (Final)

[willing dwarf]

19. Chances are

You've met a lot more homeless folk than you know. There's an army of people with no fixed addresss, sleeping on a friend's couch, sharing a room with a few others, working the night shift at a dead end job and sitting up at night in the bus station.

They are everywhere, but you don't see them because the face of paverty is invisible to us in the US. We don't want to see poor people.

While you are right to be concerned about their precarious position, I'm not convinced that it's the middle class who need your charity. Most middle class folks have enough ballast through a network of family and friends to weather the storms of life with some grace. It's the poor folks whose lives are so chaotic due to the unpredictable nature of chaos brought on by poverty who really need your help. These folks live on the margin, and have very little chance to feel safe or at home in the world.

Find your local soup kitchen or local health clinic. Give them money. That will help make a real difference.

[mzmolly]

21. Heating costs are going to have a huge impact on our society.

It's downright frightening.

Thanks for sharing this.

[alittlelark]

22. PG&E is raising Nat Gas by 71% this year.

Replacing all the windows in our house a few months ago is going to hit the break-even level much sooner than expected !!!!

But then, I live in Los Altos, The majority of ppl that will be affected will be hurt by the rise. It's going to get worse and worse.

The homeless pop. that I see w/in 5 miles of me has quadrupled or more in 3-4 years... and it's getting worse every day.

[alphafemale]

23. kick

[LunaC]

24. We're on the verge of another Depression

Easy credit and consumer spending has been propping up the economy since 911 but outsourcing, high unemployment, low wages, and a loss of “discretionary” income due to high gas prices and exorbitant health care costs put the economy in a precarious situation pre-Katrina. People were already hurting and the number of middle-class “working poor“ showing up in food lines was staggering.

Now with so many Gulf oil rigs and refineries out of commission and fuel/heating costs poised to skyrocket beyond belief, coupled with changes to the bankruptcy laws and credit card practices, and you’ve got a recipe for economic disaster of epic proportions.

This winter people will have to choose between taking their meds, eating or staying warm and few will be able to do all three. Forget about credit card payments or holiday travel when basic survival is at stake. Retailers will report dismal holiday revenues and some struggling airlines will cease to exist. The travel industry will collapse, along with the housing market. Unemployment will increase and the dominos will continue to fall.

We’re in deep shit and most people don’t even see this train wreck coming.

[EFerrari]

25. We are all vulnerable. And I'm so glad you posted.

Doug went from making bundle to being homeless.

What we all have to notice is that, being homeless isn't that hard to achieve.

Beth

[expatriate]

26. It is very easy to slip into poverty in the US.

All it takes is getting your credit rating hammered because of late payments - and all sorts of things can lead to that - unemployment, illness, unexpected costs. So many Americans are literally living hand to mouth - what happens when the car suddenly needs major work, or someone becomes deathly ill? Particularly if there is no health insurance.

It happened to me. I went from being middle class to homeless in six months. Husband lost a job due to downsizing, no more work in the area, no money to move elsewhere. Child was diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes the day that the health insurance expired. COBRA wanted $650 a month to insure three people. Couldn't pay it.

When income stops for whatever reason, the bills continue to come in. When medicine is needed and there is no health insurance, money has to go for the vital medicine - so bills don't get paid on time.

Unemployment runs out - then what, if you have no money, no relatives who can help you out, and a constant drain of providing medication that is vital to keeping someone alive? By then the credit rating is destroyed. No money to move elsewhere or even to pay for travel to job interviews.

Then our landlord sold the house we rented, which we'd been able to scratch enough money together to pay the rent. Credit rating destroyed - so couldn't get another place to live. Finally ended up in a rat and roach infested tenement. Then ended up borrowing money we couldn't pay back from a relative, and went to live with the husband's family. That was a nightmare. Finally had to leave. Went to a shelter - it was so bad that we ended up living in the car.

In six months. It can happen to anyone. And it isn't a matter of "hard work" to keep your head above water these days either. Nobody could work as hard as I did during those years. But at minimum wage, and with employers refusing to hire anyone full time so they don't have to pay for health insurance or other benefits - well ... You just can't get anywhere in that situation, no matter how hard you work.

It can happen to anyone - and once it happens, and the credit rating is destroyed, recovering can be well nigh impossible.

[rman]

27. More then 100 million Americans have a credit card debt

More then 100 million Americans have a credit card debt and use credit cards "to make ends meet". The average US family has 8 credit cards and $8000 debt.
Monthly payments used to be 5% of the debt balance. It was lowered to 2% to make it more attractive for consumers to use a credit card.

PBS Frontline: Secret history of the credit card
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/

======

"The House of Representatives approves an overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws Wednesday, in a vote of 302 to 126. The bill, which passed in the Senate last month, will make it more difficult to get rid of debts by filing for bankruptcy, forcing tens of thousand of people to work out repayment plans instead.
President Bush is expected to sign the bill, which opponents say will hurt the economically vulnerable."

NPR
Congress Overhauls Bankruptcy Laws
by Brian Naylor
April 14, 2005
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4600645

======

"Within the next month, Bank of America, MBNA and Citigroup will raise minimum monthly payments on their cards from 2 percent of the balance to up to 4 percent, not including interest. Other card issuers are expected to make similar changes by the end of the year."

"On the good side of that, they will get out of debt faster, but on the down side, it's gonna be a squeeze," Greg Burgess, of Compass of Carolina, told WYFF News 4's Tim Waller.

Yahoo News
Minimum Credit Card Payments to double in next few months
Mon Jul 18, 5:47 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=401&e=2&u=/wyff/20050718/lo_wyff/2831815

[mntleo2]

29. You Tell A Common Story, Expatriot

I notice by your name, you are now an expatriot. Where do you live now? I wish I could do as Jesus advised when they encounter a bunch of fools and leave this place - just brush the dust off my feet! I am an activist, but all it has done is reveal the stinking underbelly of this administration's filthy reach and it makes me sick. I see human suffering every day at their immaculately manicured ignorance. I have come to detest them, even though I have to smile and bow in order to get them to take their eyes off their lies for one minute while I try to tell the truth in 30 seconds. I just long for a country that did not demonize their poor and give the elite things they do not need, while their own citizens languish. All in the name of a fictional Jeeeeezus who never existed. At least it is not the historical Jesus Who would have disdained the likes of them. Sometimes I hate them, and whenever I see the haunted eyes of a single mother or refugee facing the streets, I am ashamed of being an American.

My two cents,

Cat In Seattle

[wryter2000]

28. That almost happened to us

Their landlord gave them 30-days notice to vacate--because she was selling the property. They have bad credit-- due to late credit-card bills and medical bills. They have money to rent another place, but they are being turned away from decent apartments due to their poor credit score. They've been homeless for two months and are still looking for an apartment.

I was blown away. We'd defaulted on a lot of credit card debt because my husband had been laid off and my salary wasn't enough to live on. But we always managed to pay the rent. Ironically, he had just started to receive SS, so we -- finally -- had enough money to live on.

I tried making my case to the real estate office that managed an apartment building, and the man told me if he made an exception for us the company might be in violation of fair housing laws. He told me (and bless him!) what we needed to do was find a landlord with one or two rental properties because they would be too small to be subject to the laws. We found a couple who were renting their original home, and I STAYED ON THEM MERCILESSLY until they rented to us.

Five years later, they sold us the house, and now I'm a homeowner. But we were almost on the street.