While I don't approve of or want to encourage or enable the encampments, there is another issue here that causes me concern--and that's the sky-high cost of housing, not just in Omaha, but in other cities and communities as well. Elderly people are struggling. There are people being made homeless, and not all of them are drug addicts or otherwise unsavory people.
I mention this because Dad had to step in a while ago to keep a disabled man off the streets. He's since passed away, and now Dad has had to intervene again on behalf of a man with memory issues.
People want to believe that the homeless deserve to be that, but it isn't always true.
We have a lot of people aging. We are also in the middle of a population implosion. This means that there are (and will continue to be) increasingly fewer able-bodied people to care for those who need it.
And--then there's this real estate grift going on tied to unsecured building loans for public schools, and--it's a huge disaster in the making. These unsecured building loans are motivating county treasurers to reassess real estate values in ways that are highly unethical, driving up the costs to where people are having trouble affording housing.
If you really want to fix things,
1. Sign up to be a guardian for someone who needs it and help them gain the assistance they need to get off the street and properly cared for.
2. Show up at City Council meetings and ASK about the unsecured building loans AND HOW THEY ARE IMPACTING your local community. Point out that this is illegal, and demand answers. Hold them accountable. It's your taxes and property values that are in their crosshairs. Just because the schools are shut down does NOT make those loans go away. Communities remain on the hook to pay them.
Most of the homeless in Omaha stay in shelters. There are only 200 or so who live in encampments. If encampments are banned, what will be done with the encampers? Will they be put in jail? If so, for how long? Then what will happen? They're likely to just resume encamping until they are picked up by the police again. I think we should just let them encamp as unobtrusively as possible.
Hey Jack, thanks for reading and making a comment.
The first problem is ending the enabling behavior. There is not a way to correct the bad behavior without actively discouraging it. Unfortunately, this is difficult for people as they don’t have the discipline to say “no” and emotions prefer to say “yes”.
Most of these homeless people have smartphones. So they are not poor or destitute to the extent you may think. The reason some of these people are on the street is they refuse to give up drugs, and the local shelters will not allow drug addicts in. At the same time, the shelters are filled with freeloaders who are capable of finding housing, but why pay rent for shelter when you can get it for free by being Pathetic?
Your approach will cause productive taxpaying people to leave.
While I don't approve of or want to encourage or enable the encampments, there is another issue here that causes me concern--and that's the sky-high cost of housing, not just in Omaha, but in other cities and communities as well. Elderly people are struggling. There are people being made homeless, and not all of them are drug addicts or otherwise unsavory people.
I mention this because Dad had to step in a while ago to keep a disabled man off the streets. He's since passed away, and now Dad has had to intervene again on behalf of a man with memory issues.
People want to believe that the homeless deserve to be that, but it isn't always true.
We have a lot of people aging. We are also in the middle of a population implosion. This means that there are (and will continue to be) increasingly fewer able-bodied people to care for those who need it.
And--then there's this real estate grift going on tied to unsecured building loans for public schools, and--it's a huge disaster in the making. These unsecured building loans are motivating county treasurers to reassess real estate values in ways that are highly unethical, driving up the costs to where people are having trouble affording housing.
If you really want to fix things,
1. Sign up to be a guardian for someone who needs it and help them gain the assistance they need to get off the street and properly cared for.
2. Show up at City Council meetings and ASK about the unsecured building loans AND HOW THEY ARE IMPACTING your local community. Point out that this is illegal, and demand answers. Hold them accountable. It's your taxes and property values that are in their crosshairs. Just because the schools are shut down does NOT make those loans go away. Communities remain on the hook to pay them.
Most of the homeless in Omaha stay in shelters. There are only 200 or so who live in encampments. If encampments are banned, what will be done with the encampers? Will they be put in jail? If so, for how long? Then what will happen? They're likely to just resume encamping until they are picked up by the police again. I think we should just let them encamp as unobtrusively as possible.
Hey Jack, thanks for reading and making a comment.
The first problem is ending the enabling behavior. There is not a way to correct the bad behavior without actively discouraging it. Unfortunately, this is difficult for people as they don’t have the discipline to say “no” and emotions prefer to say “yes”.
Most of these homeless people have smartphones. So they are not poor or destitute to the extent you may think. The reason some of these people are on the street is they refuse to give up drugs, and the local shelters will not allow drug addicts in. At the same time, the shelters are filled with freeloaders who are capable of finding housing, but why pay rent for shelter when you can get it for free by being Pathetic?
Your approach will cause productive taxpaying people to leave.