Saturday, July 29, 2006

More Proof That People Are Pigeons...

 

Las Vegas Makes It Illegal to Feed Homeless in Parks - New York Times

    This story kind of irks me.  I don't know if it's the rhetoric used in this article or what, but this argument reminds me exactly why I can't feed the ducks at the little pond here for fear of creating an "unnatural" food chain.  But, the whole issue just seems horribly dehumanizing to me.  I think it's important to remember that homeless people are, in fact, people. 

    Anyone else got some thoughts on this? 

-DP

8 comments:

  1. Sorry, but if anybody told me not to feed the ducks - or people for that matter, I think I'd make a point of doing just that. Maybe it's just me.
    B.

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  2. They are people first, homeless only second.  But this seems to be  the current American war on poverty or, more accurately, war on the poverty-stricken.  We want to pretend they don't exist in this wealthiest country in the world.  We want them out of sight, out of mind.  The self-rightousness of the mayor of Sin City makes me laugh.

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  3.   Homelessness is a hot topic in many major North American cities right now. Many of those people are not truly homeless. They have a home, they just don't want to go there. Others have really lost their homes, for a variety of reasons. Somehow, we must find a path whereby we treat these people with respect without enabling them. It's a tough road to find. I don't know what the solution is.
    -Paul
    http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/AuroraWalkingVacation/

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  4. Having been homeless in a couple of cities, I never fail to keep a few dollar bills in my pocket when I know that I will be passing through places frequented by the homeless. Just trying to "pay back" for my present good fortune. And I do not care if someone spends their panhandled dollars on "drugs" either, because I know that drugs can be very comforting when you're down. Makes wherever you're sleeping just a little bit softer, ya know?

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  5. it sure doesn't seem right that's for sure.

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  6. If I could share, and someone was in need, I sure as heck hope I'd do the moral thing and provide food and water or whatever.   I don't care if someone decides that's illegal.   I'd rather respond to "my higher power" if that were to occur.
    I like the other posters response about helping w/out enabling -- it IS a fine line, that's not always a set line, either.   Yet until we know each individuals story, sometimes I believe it's better to err on the side of helping the short-term "need."   If we can help enough to know an individuals story, hey, great, tho only so many of us can / do end up knowing that.
    I can sympathize a bit more with the idea of not feeding the wildlife human food, because I understand all the stuff behind that, including that the wild horses will then go into roads where cars are for the handouts (thinking Assateague Island), and put themselves into potential danger, when they have plenty of food sources available w/out human help.   But, humans helping another human, how is that unnatural?   For the most part, at the most basic of levels, how is it wrong?

    Okay, thanks for the vent space:)  lol  -- Robin  

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  7. Did you know (I don't know if it's one city or all over the country) but they are requiring homeless people to go to the public libraries and get email addy's?  I don't remember for what reason.  So if you can get an email address...oh don't get me started.  Give em a couple of bucks and let them feed themselves.
    I believe that God put on  Earth to accomplish a certain number of things.  Right now I am so far behind, I will never die.  
    Barb  

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  8. Many communities across the nation have established 10-year plans to end homelessness, especially to house the "chronic homeless" people (like the ones many people tend to think of first when hearing "homeless") ... many cities are reporting progress already in their first 1-2 years of implementing the plans.  (see www.endhomelessness.org for more on 10-year plans and a list of areas that have set to work on the task)
    i work for an organization that exists to end homelessness in our city/county. our city isn't huge--only 172,000 in whole county. so, the majority of our people who are homeless are families.
    for instance, on any given night, there are at least 400 homeless people in our shelters & transitional housing programs ... with 1/3 of them children.  another 30-40 are out living in places not meant for human habitation.  and it's not possible to count those who are "doubled up" (living with friend/relatives or in motels).
    see my new blog called HousingMatters ... i'm slowly adding to it
    http://journals.aol.com/housingmatters/HousingMatters/
    my job is community awareness ... educating about the realities of homelessness, clearing up myths, and promoting our 10-year plan & its strategies. (if you're interested, i can email you our website to check things out too)
    if somebody knows what city that was that was requiring emails, could you pass that info along. i'd like to check out any news stories on that.  (there's been a recent little thing in our state of some libraries banning or limiting items checked out by people/children living in homeless shelters/transitional housing.)

    like someone else has said, homelessness can happen to anyone, even temporarily ... anyone spending more than 30% of his/her income on housing/utilities is riding close to that risky edge of being 1-2 paychecks from homelessness.  Housing Matters!

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