Homeless, who are they???😳
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Homeless “Pigeon Holes.”
So many “Pigeon Holes” that society will never be able to plug them up.
A. The mentally challenged who fight demons daily, large and small, real and perceived, who do not have anyone willing or able to take care of their basic needs, such as shelter and food to eat..
B. The addicted to alcohol and legal and illegal drugs who are escaping from reality because they can’t deal with the realities of living in the general society. This starts at a very young age as they are not taught accountability, cause and effect, responsibility, and a good work ethic. A good indication of this is to learn what jobs they held before age 16. And who do not have anyone willing or able to take care of their basic needs, such as shelter and food to eat..
C. Those just out of prison with one or more “sub-pigeon holes” attached. And who do not have anyone willing or able to take care of their basic needs, such as shelter and food to eat..
D. Those unskilled individuals who do not have the opportunity or ability to learn wage-earning skills. And who do not have anyone willing or able to take care of their basic needs, such as shelter and food to eat..
E. The older persons who are viewed as too old to learn a new trade, a possible burden to one’s business and might be “set in their ways.” And who do not have anyone willing or able to take care of their basic needs, such as shelter and food to eat..
F. The 54+year old who lost everything and was deemed “too knowledgeable” in his field to be trained for a younger, growing company and was perhaps a past competitor. (in my case) And who do not have anyone willing or able to take care of their basic needs, such as shelter and food to eat..
G. The transient, wandering explorer, “Hobo” of past years, who is an adventurer in their mind. They’re always looking over the next hill.
H. 18-year-olds who have aged out of Foster Care. They will fit in many of these Pigeon Holes. And who do not have anyone willing or able to take care of their basic needs, such as shelter and food to eat..
I. Victims of domestic violence. Special facilities and treatment are needed. El Dorado County does have places where these victims can go for help.
CAN WE HELP?
A & B will always be with us. Hospitalization, compassionate incarceration, continued tailored professional mentoring and care would be the only solution, and would need to be formatted to suit each individual’s needs without enabling them or their bad behavior. And this is not about to happen. Unfortunately, this is the “face” of homelessness.
C, D, E, F, & H are there for us to uplift spiritually and materially. Giving them a job for long/short term with minimal or above wage that gives dignity and allows some sense of independence. But resisting the tendency to enable.
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Our Homeless Children. We now have 531 children in El Dorado County that meet the definition described by the U.S. Government HUD as homeless. Those are only the ones we know about.
Some statistics on Homelessness for the month of January: 7 young adults; 4 seniors; 11 families; 3 veterans and 6 Chronically Homeless persons, completed the “Front Door” (coordinated entry) process. At the same time, 14 homeless persons left the county. 1 young adult; 5 seniors; 3 families; 2 veterans; and 2, possibility 3, Chronically Homeless persons left the county.
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Exciting News!
On Site Health Care. Marshall Medical with community area support is planning to provide “On Site” health care to our homeless community. How and when this will be implemented is yet to be determined. But the concept is in the works.
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El Dorado Opportunity Knocks (EDOK) CoC Board. This is NEW, an organization that is REALLY trying to solve/understand homelessness in coordination with the El Dorado County government. The CoC has been around since I started out in 2006 as a requirement of the U.S. Government but just met without doing much of anything.
SUPPORT IT!
El Dorado Opportunity Knocks (EDOK) CoC Board.
