Being Poor is Not A Crime

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RLF

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In Las Vegas, bringing food to the park and handing it out to the
homeless is punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

In Dallas, only approved churches, charities and individuals can serve
the homeless only in approved locations. If not approved, you so much
as offer a biscuit to a hungry person, you are subject to fines up to
$2,000.


Now in Redding if you are one of the more than 2,000 homeless men,
women, and children in Shasta County caught by a small campfire trying
to keep warm within Redding's city limits, you can receive up to six
months in jail, and a $1,000 fine.


Many more Cities are doing the same.......


God, from one end of the Bible to the other, expresses his desire for
us to care, uphold and provide for the poor. Is it God's will that
poverty should be a crime? Is it not written, "He who oppresses the
poor, reproaches His Maker?" Didn't Jesus say, "Assuredly, I say to
you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren,
you did it to me?"


Mental illness does not respond to increased fines and jail time. Home-
lessness does not respond to tearing down their temporary shelters,
throwing away their possessions, and driving them out of town. A lack
of hope does not respond to a lack of love.


We must constructively address the plight of the homeless, and its
multifaceted causes,
before its to late.......


Christian Website - Redding Loaves and Fishes Ministry - Home
 
You might not understand. Most drug people don't want work so they ended up being homeless. I learned that meth addict can ruin many people's life so fast. My stepdaugther used work at food sevice that they give homeless people foods. She told me that She felt sorry for homeless people at first but she learned that ugly truth that they dont want start their new life that they were meth addict. Meth addict people would steal anything and sell them for meth because they had no job and no money. She said very few people are trying get their life better.

that why States become very strict with them.

I am very very sorry for any children because they didnt ask for being homeless.
 
Its a sad situation, but honestly I think someone needs to give them an intervention - some jail time and a way to get dried out and live in a halfway house for a year before being re-released in to the world.

I feel bad for the kids that have to live out of the back of moms car because she wont get her life together for her kids.

Im homeless in a roundabout way - but because I stay off drugs and make an attempt to make my life better for my daughters, people are willing to lend me a hand when I need it, and more often than not, Im turning folks down because Im too stubborn.

But why punish those that are only trying to help? Punish the homeless that take handouts on a regular basis and are making no effort on their own to better themselves.
 
I used to live in Redding, CA. I don't ever remember it being that bad, then again this was back in 1994. How the times have changed...
 
I feel bad for them :(

It need open for shelter but I know that police from suburb are deport homeless people in Southside Chicago and Downtown Chicago, that make me feel so bad.
 
Keep it up.

Hello Amor Fati,

I see your heart for the poor and needy and your cry against injustice. That's love.

Deaf-friendly
 
I have seen homeless ppl down on the Cape Cod where I used to lived. But sadly most of them are drug addict. Some trying to find a shelter and built a fire during the winter time and no wonder some places get burned down. So it is need to punish the homeless and get them off the street to start a fresh new life.
 
Why not put them in housing where they are monitored where they go and when they come back, and with whom. Plus they are MADE to get a job and stay clean. After a full-year of working and staying clean they are given the next level-up housing, group home where they are given a mentor that guides them but they are still monitored to a certain degree. After a year in the step-up house they are free to find public housing and live on their own, with a mentor that visits daily and keeps them on track.

Something like that would help the chronic homeless.

Churches are nice, but love doesnt cure addiction. The addicts need an intervention.
 
The same thing applies here in Rochester, NY. We are not allowed to give left overs to the homeless.
 
Jail time sound warm and welcome place to spend than living outside cold and hunger for those drug addict homeless.
 
jazzy said:
Jail time sound warm and welcome place to spend than living outside cold and hunger for those drug addict homeless.
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Agreed 100% - if there is no homeless shelter then the homeless can spend some jailtime. Honestly if the addicts decided to get clean there are services out there that can find them housing and jobs.
 
The majority of homeless are not drug addicts and alcoholics. The fastest growing homeless are families--mothers, fathers, and children. It is a sad commentary on the economic climate and the social envirnoment in our country.
 
No, but the point is that drug addicts that are homeless are sucking up resources from those who are homeless because they fell on hard times.

SO drug addicted homeless need to spend their time in jail and free up some beds and housing for those homeless families that are making an effort to not be homeless.

Thats where I stand anyway.
 
Dixie said:
No, but the point is that drug addicts that are homeless are sucking up resources from those who are homeless because they fell on hard times.

SO drug addicted homeless need to spend their time in jail and free up some beds and housing for those homeless families that are making an effort to not be homeless.

Thats where I stand anyway.
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Jail does not cure drug addiction.
 
jillio said:
Jail does not cure drug addiction.
Click to expand...

True. And jails/prisons are more expensive on a per-person basis than shelters and programs run by civic organizations. Jails are also crime schools.

A larger percentage of the homeless are not there by choice, and aren't crackheads and alkies. May you have the excellent good fortune to never be in that position. Especially with children. I have. It is no picnic. It was not something I chose. And by faith and hard work, I got past it. Some people get broken, fall, and give up. We are our brother's keepers.
 
Codger said:
True. And jails/prisons are more expensive on a per-person basis than shelters and programs run by civic organizations. Jails are also crime schools.

A larger percentage of the homeless are not there by choice, and aren't crackheads and alkies. May you have the excellent good fortune to never be in that position. Especially with children. I have. It is no picnic. It was not something I chose. And by faith and hard work, I got past it. Some people get broken, fall, and give up. We are our brother's keepers.
Click to expand...

Kudos to you for getting your life back togather after some truly hard times.

And I agree jail alone doesnt cure addiction but most prisons that house inmates for drug crimes have a detox program within the system. Think about the jails where they house people coming off a 3 week binge on meth? A person can go into shock and die if they dont have immediate medical intervention when they are coming down. During the first 48 hours they are very closely monitored by medical personnel. Some are even placed in a hospital (cuffed to the bed of course) Sure it sucks up taxpayer dollars but at least these people are getting an intervention of some sort. I dont think of any bigger intervention than jail time and a criminal record that really limits what jobs you can and cant have. Most people wont hire a felon right out of prison unless the state puts together a job plan for the newly released inmate - most are placed in halfway houses and have to meet their porole/probation officer once a week and get tested weekly. Its not a perfect program but its a step in the right direction IMHO.
 
Dixie said:
Kudos to you for getting your life back togather after some truly hard times.

And I agree jail alone doesnt cure addiction but most prisons that house inmates for drug crimes have a detox program within the system. Think about the jails where they house people coming off a 3 week binge on meth? A person can go into shock and die if they dont have immediate medical intervention when they are coming down. During the first 48 hours they are very closely monitored by medical personnel. Some are even placed in a hospital (cuffed to the bed of course) Sure it sucks up taxpayer dollars but at least these people are getting an intervention of some sort. I dont think of any bigger intervention than jail time and a criminal record that really limits what jobs you can and cant have. Most people wont hire a felon right out of prison unless the state puts together a job plan for the newly released inmate - most are placed in halfway houses and have to meet their porole/probation officer once a week and get tested weekly. Its not a perfect program but its a step in the right direction IMHO.
Click to expand...

Medical intervention/detox only work for the immediate repucussions of withdrawal. Once back on the streets, the addictive cycle will continue without long term support services. Actually a criminal record only contributes to the cycle of drug crime. Once arrested for drug crimes, the employment opportunites for these people are so severly limited that they will return to a life of crime just to survive. And you must realize that drug addition is a symptom of the greater ill in society.
 
:gpost:
Codger said:
True. And jails/prisons are more expensive on a per-person basis than shelters and programs run by civic organizations. Jails are also crime schools.

A larger percentage of the homeless are not there by choice, and aren't crackheads and alkies. May you have the excellent good fortune to never be in that position. Especially with children. I have. It is no picnic. It was not something I chose. And by faith and hard work, I got past it. Some people get broken, fall, and give up. We are our brother's keepers.
Click to expand...

You are to be admired for your success.
 
Sometimes when we see homeless people with their signs standing at the corner of the ramps entering the streets from the freeways or on major streets at the corner, we give them some food that we don't want, so they can have something to eat. We NEVER give them money because sometimes they will use it to buy drugs.
 
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