Facts about Homeless People

This title is a joke. To pretend that we can categorize homeless people and nicely sum up their lives with a few numbers is a huge problem. Billions of dollars of funding that have been set aside to help homeless people go to studies for people to try to figure out how to "fix" the homeless "problem". The people who are actually in need and the people who do the frontline work to help them see very little of the money.

Jesus was homeless: And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head - Jesus

Native Americans: Many lived in tents.

Hunter Gatherers: For the majority of human existence humans have been hunter gatherers, foraging for their needs. Many individuals struggle with the complexity of modern society and its rules, some despair of making sense of it and choose to live on the streets free of the burden of social expectations. Others simply reject the unsustainable modern way of life.

Sustainable Living: Many homeless people support themselves through recycling, and reusing items that others discard. They are examples to all of us in sustainability and the massive waste created by our society.

Building Codes: Building Codes (a necessary evil) often directly contribute to homelessness by increasing the cost and difficulty of building a home so that an average person cannot of their own means build their own home, as has been the human tradition for thousands of years. (Most building codes are written by salesmen trying sell building products or engineers who are trying to justify their salaries).

Code Enforcement: It is easy to criticize someone living on a vacant community owned property, but if a person lived on their own property in an affordable shelter such as a tent or a car they would have fines levied and their property seized if they did not conform to the community standard of housing.

Addiction: Many people for personal reasons embrace their addictions. Some do so because it helps mask past traumatic experiences, some rebel against being told what to do, some have never found a program that works, and some enjoy their addictions. While we personally feel that everyone can have a more satisfying and meaningful life free of addiction, we do not think the solution is trying to force people to change their lives.