Well these folks seem to be popping up everywhere and most of them are none too bright! I have witnessed countless situations with the Bend Police and these folks and I am stunned at how brainless these individuals are. Now granted we are supposed to feel sorry for these destitute human beings who chose their course of action by not paying taxes, by not being involved with the community. We are supposed to feel sorry for their choices of alcoholism, their polluting habits, their foul mouths, their other poor habits etc.
I have lived in many cities and visited many, many places throughout the USA and there is nothing more pathetic than grown men whining about how life sucks for them. The economy sucks for everyone especially for the families doing everything they can to keep the family afloat. I have put myself, deliberately, in situations with the homeless and through my own investigations most of these folk are taking advantage of the system. Do you think we should still feel sorry for them? I don’t! Should we feel sorry then for the terrorists blowing up our soldiers because most of them are not in their right minds either? Of course not. So let’s apply common sense and take action by booting these people out of here into either a rehab institution or let them help out “The Peace Corps.”
When someone has premeditated plans to live a certain life style that is by “choice” is it not? When people are fed up with the system and want to live out in the woods, hey I am all for it but don’t come back to town whining, complaining you need money for food from people who work their butts off. It is very simple if “the homeless” need help and really need help GOD’s doors are wide open to help out but they need to make a conscious effort.
To those lobby groups who wish to feel sorry for these folks, just give your names, addresses and phone numbers to the city so they can contact you. The city can then have you make space in your home for these lovely people to stay for free. I know there are thousands of you out there who really, really want to help these folks so open your doors and help them and even give them money.
I was thinking about making a movie of these transient shelters and putting it out there for Bendites to see. These transients who flit here and flit there are living in these abominations that the city is doing nothing about. Very telling of Americans, focus on the outside and forget the inside…………..hmmm sounds familiar! I am not here to stir the pot but it seems that the only way to get most peoples butt moving is to stir the pot. Well enough said, and, yes, I can imagine many of you are seething inside saying “who does he think he is?” or, “I fought for this country, well I used to…” Blah, blah, blah. So to all of you wonderful residents who “love Bend” get out there and make a difference I know I have!
Bye, bye!!
P. Disbury
Editor’s note: According to the most recent homeless survey, children make up two out of every five people identified as homeless in our region. Together with seniors and the disabled they account for two thirds of the roughly 2,200 homeless identified in the last count. The most frequently cited cause of homelessness was inability to afford rent, followed by home foreclosure and loss of a job.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.
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My, how very “Christ” like.
Mr Disbury is to be congratulated for “making a difference”, for getting out there and doing his own independent research and on making the right “choices” to pay his taxes and hold down a good job.
He is to be criticized for showing us that the less one knows about a complex social problem the more likely one is to perceive it in the good ol’ Republican tones of black and white. Human problems are never black and white…and the more you learn, the more nuanced the grey tones become.
He makes the mistake – so common amongst the Right – of thinking that everyone has the same set of options to choose from. For some, the choice is move out of home in penury and live on the streets to be despised, or stay at home to be beaten and raped again. Surely you can’t have missed that many homeless people are mentally sick – guess which administration drastically reduced psychiatric in-patient services? What should a paranoid schizophrenic “choose to do” by way of a career, Mr. Disbury? What is the difference between your “final solution” Mr. Disbury and Hitler’s?
Mr. Ware implied above that you are being un-Christian- maybe you are not a follower of Christ but as a human being you should have empathy for others and be willing to spend as much on relieving their suffering as on bombing or exterminating them.
I’d much rather spend time around any of those homeless people than around you. You’re bitter and mean.
Why don’t these stupid homeless people “choose” to be rich like me and my dad and his dad and his dad? What a bunch of morons.
Richard Shortall, a couple of things…
First, who said this person was a republican or on the right? You are stereotyping and judging someone you don’t know the same way Mr./Ms. Disbury does. Hypocrisy unfortunately runs deep in the human race.
Second, frustration with the social issue of homeless people is not a right or left issue, itâ ™s a human race issue. Each person on the street has their own life story, like everyone else in this world. Because of this, there is no general policy for dealing with this issue. Itâ ™s got to be looked at case by case. The only problem I have with seeing someone standing on the corner asking for “help” is it makes me ask “What are they doing to help themselves?” Standing on a corner at the mercy of the average person is not positive improvement. Every human bean is worth more than that. We all have talents and skills that can be converted into a pay check. So if youâ ™re on the corner asking for help, as an absolute last resort, then by all means. But all humanâ ™s are worth more than that, and deserve more than that. Lifeâ ™s not fair, but that doesnâ ™t give you the green light to give up.
Guest,
First of all, I think that it is a fairly educated guess to assume that Mr. Disbury is right leaning. If nothing else, he put Peace Corps in quotes!
Secondly, how can you state that if someone is begging as a last resort then, “by all means,” but in the next sentence state that begging is giving up? Not to mention how contradictory that statement is, how would a passerby know the difference? That was Richard’s point…all situations are different, so it isn’t very humane/Christlike to assume that all homeless are “guilty” of something.
A couple of things for Guest: I didn’t say Mr. Disbury was a Republican – read my letter again – though I have little doubt he is. That party it seems attracts people with stunted ethical, social and intellectual development to its ranks.
Secondly, he did not express “frustration” he expressed disgust – different.
Thirdly, I am entitled to judge him on the basis of his expressed opinions – this is only hypocrisy if I share his beliefs and judge him nevertheless. I don’t – thus I am not a hypocrite.
I agree with everything else you had to say but I think you got carried away in your haste to chastise me.
Again some armchair expert who wishes to have a simple solution to an epidemic of people ending up on the streets. Clearly you are the one who lacks any intelligence and soul. You have done ZERO research and wish to be angry, bitter and simply an a–hole which is your right.
the TRUTH of the matter is that the real statistics show that less than 5% of Americas homeless are hooked on drugs, alcohol, whining about having been war vets and simply being pathetic. Clearly you know nothing and are simply one of the jerks that lives in my home owners association who whines about everything , sends out letters bitching when peoples grass gets too long according to your standards. I suggest you get a life and perhaps do your part in helping someone for a change, a fellow HUMAN BEING. not some eyesore for your elitist eyes knowing that some people are a lot less fortunate, but you moving to “perfect ville” AKA Bend which has been on a pink cloud for the last decade, oh well wake up, get off of your lazy ass and go help someone for a change and perhaps you will find your soul in doing some service work for the very community you live in.
Your letter reads of some right winger trust fund baby who used all of your daddies connections, got a great job and used people to get to where you are at and simply want to see yourself as some “working class hero” that made it to wealth and fame. However the reality is that you have spent your life being scared and ignorant by CHOICE. As well as arrogant. You think it is bad right now, well wait a year and you will see these numbers quadruple as you are most likley one of the right wing hitler youth who wishes for Bend to be your private whitey town mecca.
These are human beings you are talking about. Being your a self serving , self righteous jerk, chances you will continue to give your lectures about “bootstrapping” and how these people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but keep in mind that they did not all have the same privileged life of Riley like you had.
HE IS RIGHT WING and it reeks or RIGHT WING ” NEW WORLD ORDER” politics where the less fortunate are hidden in the sweat shops and work camps and or servants to clean their golf clubs and wash their new shiny cars and flipping them a nickel and expecting them to be grateful to be graced with their presence.
Perhaps when speaking of being less than smart, you fit this to a TEE. Go do some real research and meet me somewhere so I cam pulverize your self induced delusional theories.
It must really suck to be as spiritually bankrupt as you are. I pity you more than the pan handler. The pan handler at least still has his or her soul. You have no soul and are selfish, egotistical and EVIL. I bet you voted for Bush twice also. Thank god you did not get the McSame and Pain in the white house.
thank you Wow, I couldn’t agree more, although I wouldn’t go so far as to indulge in any physical shananigans with Mr. Dusbury or Guest. My experience over 10 years here is that these right wing tough guys are only tough in writing or if they have several like-“minded” toughies around them. I have always found they wither immediately – instantly – if their Fascist and Un-Christian ideas (and I use that term loosely) are challenged by one who clearly will not back off when they brandish their square jawline at him. Your letter and those of other contributors above reassure me that I am not alone in my disgust of American Fascism and that this great country is not finished yet.
The ‘problem’ with homelessness is finding research data that is current and impartial. It seems that everyone has an agenda and uses the studies to support their POVs by picking and choosing. I find recent studies suspect because they were done in 2007 when there was pressure to provide a clear cut demonstration that progress had been made since the 1996 study and the 2000 census. It’s all in the parameters they choose.
Statistical studies all agree, however, that the vat majority, over 60%, of homeless are single member ‘households’ (how’s that for irony?) and that addiction is an enormous problem, not just 5% as claimed by Wow:
On any given night in America, anywhere from 700,000 to 2 million people are homeless, according to estimates of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
According to a December, 2000 report of the US Conference of Mayors:
* single men comprise 44 percent of the homeless, single women 13 percent, families with children 36 percent, and unaccompanied minors seven percent.
* the homeless population is about 50 percent African-American, 35 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Native American and 1 percent Asian.
According to the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC):
* single homeless individuals in 1996 reported an average income of $348 during the last 30 days, about 51 percent of the 1996 federal poverty level of $680/month for one person.
* 28 percent said they sometimes or often do not get enough to eat, compared with 12 percent of poor American adults.
* 44 percent did paid work during the past month.
* 21 percent received income from family members or friends.
* 66 percent of the homeless have problems with alcohol, drug abuse, or mental illness.
* 22 percent have been physically assaulted.
* 7 percent have been sexually assaulted.
* 38 percent say someone stole money or things directly from them.
* 30 percent have been homeless for more than two years.
February 2007 report by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Race
White, 41.1%
Black or African-American 45.0%
Asian 1.2%
American Indian or Alaska Native 1.7%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.2%
Age
Under 1 5.1%
1 to 5 8.7%
6 to 12 7.5%
13 to 17 4.0%
18 to 30 21.3%
31 to 50 41.3%
51to 61 10.3%
62 and older 1.8%
Age not reported 2.9%
Persons by Household Size
1 person 66.2%
2 people 10.6%
3 people 10.3%
4 people 6.8%
5 or more people 6.1%
Veteran (adults) 18.7%
Disabled (adults) 25.0%
These figures can vary, but not by as much as one might expect. Regardless, without treatment, jobs, shelter or assistance, the outlook for the homeless is bleak. They deserve better–but most of us forget John Donne’s wisdom and prefer to think that we are not diminished by our ignorance and inaction…
Donate to one of the shelters today!
Thanks for your excellent report Stephen.
Also for your Donne quote which I think should be recited daily in every school in the country. We are diminished by our ignorance, our inaction and our lack of empathy for those less fortunate than us.
Source should hire you to do an article on homelessness – this was a very good discussion