urbanSTL

Grover wrote:^ The largest budget outlays you cite (Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid) are not generally identified with "lazy" people and they are not entitlements that the majority of people attack, or want to see disappear. Placing "health" and "human services" together is simply a way to make something look like it costs more than military spending. And it makes it easy to villify spending on "social services" when in fact, less than 1% of our federal budget is spent on the homeless and welfare. The numbers can be bent and twisted, but when people assail the "welfare state" they use aggregate dollar amounts for corporate/mortgage/middle-class welfare to demonize spending on those who are needy.

I was talking about social services as a global term, rather than stating that "only" homelessness was to blame for all the spending.

I agree that taking "all" social services into account, overall spending on homeless may be < 1% of fed budget. It does not alter the fact that the leeches are taking money away from the ones who truly need that (the mentally disabled).

I have never been homeless and have perhaps not understood the spiral of decay that can afflict someone, but I do understand that able bodied people do have the opportunities not to be homeless. I have friends who are working 2 jobs to keep themselves afloat. Barely! but they are.

stlmizzoutiger wrote:

publiceye wrote:

One of the reasons I love living in Australia is that I don't have to deal with panhandling and aggressive homeless. I'm not quite sure every reason why that is, but perhaps it would be in the US's best interests to take a page from another country to clean up our homeless problem.

Let's see now. There's 20 million people in Australia and 100,000 homeless people. There's 300 million people in the US and 740,000 homeless people . . .

You can thank George W. Bush for that!

Uh, ok. Publiceye's stats indicate that Australia's homeless problem is twice as high per capita than the US. Personally, I think it's a bit silly to think the president has that much influence over the number of homeless from year to year. But hey, you do. So maybe we should thank George Bush for being two times more successful than Australia in this respect.

stlmizzoutiger wrote:

publiceye wrote:

One of the reasons I love living in Australia is that I don't have to deal with panhandling and aggressive homeless. I'm not quite sure every reason why that is, but perhaps it would be in the US's best interests to take a page from another country to clean up our homeless problem.

Let's see now. There's 20 million people in Australia and 100,000 homeless people. There's 300 million people in the US and 740,000 homeless people . . .

You can thank George W. Bush for that!

innov8ion wrote:Back to the Larry Rice / NLEC issue. He's despicable because one of the major tenets of Christianity is not to say the lord's name in vain. This doesn't really mean not saying "Jesus Christ" when pissed off at someone or something. It means if your deeds are inconsistent with god's word, don't attribute it to him. So here we have a "minister" who claims he is doing god's work but is more interested in promoting his own selfish interests than helping those on the streets get off. Utterly despicable.



You see, there's already a mental health center @ 5351 Delmar. It may make a lot of sense to build much of the 10 Year Plan homeless infrastructure near this location. Land is fairly inexpensive and there should be space enough to pull off a good, fairly integrated solution.



And you know, if this is successful... The "homeless" won't be homeless. They'll be staying at semi-permanent locations on Delmar. No one will be staying with Rice, rendering him inconsequential. If he is inconsequential, his building decays and becomes blighted. And the homeless issue downtown will be far lessened.



This would be quite a coup for downtown and the homeless.

[-o<

We can hope

Note that he's helped over 700, but the number to be housed and opposed by neighboring property owners only totals to ten.

From todays Post, I find it interesting that they say the homeless population has decreased by 26% in the last 2 years. Thank you President Bush or perhaps Governor Blunt or Mayor Slay or ..........



St. louis — Becky Wagner rarely knows exactly where she will sleep each night. Sometimes it's a friend's place. Sometimes it's the street.



One thing is certain. She knows she will volunteer preparing and serving meals at the Centenary Church Drop-in Center in downtown St. Louis.



"I can't wait to get to work," says Wagner, 41, who has been homeless for six months. "This place gives you spiritual focus, spiritual friendship and emotional healing."



Now the center is expanding. Thanks to church and foundation funds, about $130,000 in construction of new handicapped-accessible restrooms and social hall entrances and kitchen remodeling is under way. The work is expected to finish in about two months. The center also plans to offer evening meals and the use of showers and computers in the near future. Advertisement



The center is a crucial part of the city's 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness. The term refers to those with a disabling condition who have been living unaccompanied by family on the street for at least a year, or who have been homeless multiple times over several years, said Bill Siedhoff, director of the city's Department of Human Services.



"This is a centerpiece of changing the landscape in downtown," he said. "The critical thing is getting people inside, where they feel welcome and develop relationships."



Nearly 200 homeless and poor people visit the center any given day, except Sundays, when the center closes and services are held at the United Methodist Church, at 16th and Olive streets. Most come for free breakfast and lunch. Many come to use the restrooms or phone, or check for mail because they use the church mailing address for correspondence.



Others come to check their voice-mail messages because the center helps them set up free accounts. Some come for help applying for identity papers they have lost living on the street.



The center, which opened in December 2005, strives to be a less structured alternative to other homeless service providers.



"We don't expect you to make a life-changing decision. Our biggest requirement is you behave yourself," said the Rev. Conway Briscoe, Centenary's senior pastor. "People need a place where they can be. Hopefully, we can see their lives transformed in front of us."



The city has seen a decrease in its homeless population. A January count by city officials found 1,386 homeless people one night, 26 percent fewer than two years ago. So far, 235 homeless people have moved into permanent and supportive housing. Funding has been secured to provide another 194 permanent and supportive individual units over the next two years.



At the center, community groups provide homeless and poor people with nurse visits, legal help, mental health counseling, HIV testing and referrals for other social services.



Many formerly homeless people provide security — or as they call it here, "hospitality." The drop-in center requires about $600,000 in annual funding. So far, it has raised nearly half that amount, most of it from the city's Affordable Housing Commission and the rest from private donations and grants.



Woody Jackson goes to the center most days for breakfast and lunch. He also uses the center to receive his mail and to make phone calls. "The staff welcomes you with open arms," said Jackson, 49.



Jackson, who lives at a shelter, said he hopes to find a hotel housekeeping job and his own place soon.



"I really want to get off the street because this is no life for anyone," he said, "but I won't forget the people who really helped me."

deleted post

Thank you President Bush

I doubt it

southcitygent wrote:Thank you President Bush or perhaps Governor Blunt or Mayor Slay...

I won't blame the president directly, but I'm rather certain that the issue isn't even on his radar.



I have mixed emotions about Governor Blunt, but I'm pretty sure that homelessness isn't one of his priorities either.



At least Slay has a plan in place that seems to be working so far. And the SLMPD seems to be addressing the quality-of-life issues a bit more aggressively these days, which helps as well.

Just saw a bit on Fox 2 about the St Patricks Center that was really interesting. They dont consider themselves to be a "shelter" instead they help homeless people find homes and are working on a facility to train them in a number of trades so they can support themselves. Sounds great!

I am sure it is also in the P-D somewhere, but here's an AP story that mentions St. Louis's among the cities successfully addressing chronic homelessness. I found in on-line in about 20 papers across the country, though not in ours.



This is the link to the KC Star story:



http://www.kansascity.com/438/story/71467.html

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:If we're successful, I'd like to know what you have to do to fail.

Have your homeless population increase, instead of decrease by a third.

It might have decreased in the overall region, NOT from DT. At least not visually......

From personal experience, I see more of a problem with the panhandlers than homeless as there is a difference.



Last time I was downtown, I was again asked for money but not by a homeless person. If this fella who popped me the question "Yo man, can I get some money for some petrollll?" was able to afford the "grill" in his mouth, brand new shoes, and a car, then he can certainly afford "petrollll."



Well, I guess that wasn't as bad as the time someone asked me if I could give them a ride to their church on N Grand.

TIABstl wrote:was able to afford the "grill" in his mouth, brand new shoes, and a car, then he can certainly afford "petrollll."

"grill"?



I have often seen panhandlers and other bothersome people hang around the bus stop near 14th and Wash.

^Grill

Grill #1





Grill #2

I was out at Harrahs in the iBar this last weekend and some dude was trying to hustle me for $5 gas money. They find me everywhere.



Though I just gased up at the Olive/Compton BP station and I didn't get hassled. That just broke my string of 8 consecutive times of getting panhandled at that gas station.

I guess some of us are more prone to panhandling than others. I believe the scientific term is "sh*t Magnet."



And for more photos of "grillz" do an image search with the words grill and mouth. Or head over to your local library and check out a copy of "Bling, the hip-hop jewelry book." There is a whole chapter on grillz with a bonus section on Pimp Cups!!

TIABstl wrote:There is a whole chapter on grillz with a bonus section on Pimp Cups!!

Lil' Jon would approve.

^ OKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. What?