CaptainMan251What should one give to the homeless population besides money? If you were homeless at one time, what did you need besides money?
Handjobs.
Or any other job that pays a living wage.
A handjob is still a job.
“Handjobs not handouts!”
🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 Back when I could afford it, I gave out care packages with foods that could keep without refrigeration and didn’t have to be cooked, basic first-aid supplies, reading material, warm socks, and 2 joints. I’d also want to include hygene products but other than women specific needs and deordorant, there’s not much in the way I could think of that could work even if they don’t have access to water.
Socks. Underwear. For women, hygiene products.
When I was text book definition homeless (I slept on couches for half a year during college), all I wanted was cheap rent.
DevolutionTherapy. Many of the homeless have mental illness and/or substance dependency.
And that’s a shame. If in the US, I’m sorry. If in Europe, there’s resources.
Ada
definitely_AIFood, beer, and weed. Not necessarily in that order. We can provide for ourselves pretty well. But those three definitely help with day to day life quality.
Lots of alcoholism in the homeless community. Happy to give a little weed though
Can’t fucking believe someone downvoted us for speaking our mind. No worries, I’m used to it. Get a lot worse on the street, just bizarre how disconnected from reality some people are.
Yeah, lots of alcoholics. I mean lots of drugs overall. A lot of the times it’s the reason we become homeless. A lot of the rest of the time we become addicts after becoming homeless. You hang out with the same people day in day out, and it becomes like kind of a fraternity. In some weird way it’s more honest than “housed society”. It’s like, it reminded me a lot of the army in a way. You’re constantly on your feet, constantly working, constantly hustling, constantly hungry, constantly fighting, constantly on edge, right? And just like in the army you quickly grow tight knit connections with people, because you go through the same fucking struggle every day, not necessarily together, but sometimes, but in any case, at the end of the day, there’s no pretention, there’s no grandstanding, we’re all a bunch of dirty old bums scrounging for food in trash cans, there’s no room for formalities if you catch my drift.
You ever been homeless? It’s… A humbling experience. A valuable one. Sure as fuck makes you appreciate everything around you a lot more, and sure as fuck makes you realize just how little you actually need to survive, and how bountiful society actually is, and how fighting for survival awakes deep primal instincts in you that you didn’t know you had.
Sorry for rambling, just happened I suppose. Peace.
ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠
roofuskitIf i was homeless i’d probably want driving to some smaller towns or hooking up with jobs, but the latter is a lot to ask for and nobody seems to do the small town strategy i have in my head, so i guess I truly don’t know what it’s like.
Then again, the decent homeless shelters and charities are in big cities. My city has LOADS but also has/recently had an industry of drug dealers exploiting these charities.
If you want to genuinely help homeless people, go into it being aware that there are dangerous and horrible people who it is not safe to help, who just love exploiting people.
If you want to help the homeless, do it through a charity, i.e making face-2-face contact with ones going through the right channels to get help - perhaps you will encounter people who need directing to these charities or don’t know they exist.
Why would you want to be driven to smaller towns?
My logic is that it has less competition of homeless people, and in my country they have more jobs there because not enough non-retired people live there or can travel there for work.
I live in a city next to a big national park and there’s a bunch of villages out there with many hotels and cafes and shops for hikers and climbers visiting the area, but - the train fare to these places costs 1 hour of wages. Buses and trains only go through occasionally so timing it is a bit of a pain too.
If one needs a job but doesn’t have to worry about getting back home to the city, why not go somewhere where they need more hands?
When we lived in a big city, we would hit the occasional Costco sale, then go out and hand out blankets, tents, tarps, water, socks, and warm clothing. Also, toys and school supplies.
In a smaller city, donations to the local food and housing groups, school fundraisers to help cover costs for books and supplies for those who can’t afford it, and refilling the neighborhood open-access fridge.
Basic responsibility to pay it forward.
I have known a few homeless people, and it’s mostly socks, good footwear that can take a daily beating for years on end. And someone to give them a chance to work and improve their situation.
Never donate anything made of cotton in the winter. It kills people.