topic Re: Street Beggars/homeless in Community Spirit

Street Beggars/homeless

givemeaspell — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:23:57 GMT

Do you give to street beggars? We have had a woman in the past week sitting outside our local supermarket with a sign (I need help, homeless, please donate your spare change). She had her head down with a cap on, quite thin, I don't usually give to street beggars but for some reason I felt the need, however when she lifted her head after I had placed the money in the container I could see she was clearly suffering the effects of drugs..very sad indeed. I would have rather gone buy her a drink or some food than perhaps donating to her habit.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

azureline** — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:30:07 GMT

That was nice of you.... I would also rather give food or drink....

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

crystal**flake — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:33:23 GMT

No they freak me out.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

freakiness — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:45:13 GMT

A young woman that was at school with my daughters was begging on the street this week.

Sad life to be living.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

i-need-a-martini — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:22:32 GMT

I get accosted for money at least 10 times a week (I work in Surry Hills and have to walk through Central Station - the area is full of people asking for money). So I keep spare change handy to give out. How much I give out and to who depends on how polite they are.

Some are clearly homeless and some are clearly addicts. But I don't care - they clearly need the money and that's that. I take the view that it's best that an addict gets their money honestly (by begging) than by stealing. Giving them a sandwich still means they have to get their money for a hit.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

aspie*mum — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 23:31:13 GMT

No, I don't give them a cent. In Australia we have a government that provides assistance. If you truly are homeless there is help out there.

AND I have never had someone (in Australia) ask me for money that I haven't believed was on drugs.

I'm not going to support some junkies drug habit. Not now, not tomorrow NOT EVER.

There is no reason to be homeless and starving in Australia apart from drug use / alcohol abuse.

I support neither.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

kengillard — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 23:37:38 GMT

giving money to someone who is obviously a Junkie, is not helping the addicted person at all. They need to hit rock bottom to trigger a real desire to stay off the drug.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

izabsmiling — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:33:25 GMT

In Australia we have a government that provides assistance. If you truly are homeless there is help out there.

There is no reason to be homeless and starving in Australia apart from drug use / alcohol abuse.

Do you really think this is how it is Aspie Mum ?

It's hard to imagine living on the streets, where a piece of cardboard could be your pillow, your bed, your roof, your home.

Every night across Australia, more than 100,000 people are homeless, of these 14,000 sleep rough. Every day, two out of three people who look for crisis accommodation are turned away; there are ‘no vacancies’.

Many end up on the street or living in inadequate single rooms, caravans, squats, cars, refuges, or sleeping on friends' couches. Vast numbers of our fellow Australians live in these dangerous and miserable conditions.

Each has a different journey into homelessness, and they are not who you may think. Close to half the homeless are female — many with young children — and nearly half of all homeless are under the age of 25.

A recent study by SAAP showed that domestic/family violence was the biggest single contributor to homelessness. Other major contributors are poor mental health, family breakdown, debt, poverty, lease expiry, family violence and abuse, chronic gambling and substance addiction. This is a long way from the favoured media image of our homeless population. It is a national disgrace that, in some areas, four out of five of those seeking help are suffering from a mental illness, but have nowhere else to go.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

izabsmiling — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:34:13 GMT

the link for #7

http://www.streetsmartaustralia.org/homelessness

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

i-need-a-martini — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:36:37 GMT

Rock bottom for many drug addicts is death.

The majority of the ones who can save themselves are the ones who have the money and the support to do so. Most drug addicts can' afford to seek help so they never get rehab. The govt helps them only to a certain point - not enough to kick an ingrained habit for good.

And no aspie - for some homeless there is no help from the government. Most the shelters are privately run and only temporary accommodation. You also forget that many homeless people are too far gone to think about collecting welfare or any entitlements. Most of the homeless people you see on the streets are mentally ill or not entitled to anything. Young teens make up over half this countriies homelessness and they can't access any government entitlements.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

catsnknots — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:01:22 GMT

When I lived in Melbourne there was this well known beggar and when I actually met someone that knew him personally I found out he earned about $3000 per week begging on top of his unemployment benefits and lived in a house way better than mine...

from then on I stopped giving as I had given to this bloke and genuinely thought he was a homeless man in need...

I have also known kids that have left perfectly good homes that went and lived on the street and begged.... they also earned a good amount on top of their unemployment benefits...

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

margomeoz — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:01:26 GMT

I used to give to them all the time, there were always heaps of them outside Paddy's Market, and I hated to walk past any of them without trying to help.

Then one day I got cured.

There was this particular guy in a wheel chair appeared to have Cerebral Palsy and with his wonky hand hit a xylophone all day, I always gave to him, then one of the other stall holders said to me to watch him all day see how much he gets and see what he does when he finishes.

I did this and saw he collected a lot of money, then at the end of the market this guy wheeled his chair over to a disabled spot where a mecedes was parked, he jumped out of the chair straightened himself up threw the wheel chair in the back and drove away with a lot better days takings than I was ever able to get.

I never gave another halfpenny after that. :^O

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

lakeland27 — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:11:52 GMT

theres always been the pro-fake beggars. there was a famous one who lived in an upscale london suburb and caught the train in to town in a suit with briefcase. he changed at the station toilets into his beggar costume. he'd lost his job and couldn't get another, supported a wife and 3 kids this way. these people are rare though. most are genuine.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

i-need-a-martini — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:17:14 GMT

cat and margo - there are rorters in any system.

But what I see is genuine. Probably because I work close to a few crisis centres and hostels. The people that use the services offered by the Sydney City Mission and and the centres around my end of the city are absolute in need.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

izabsmiling — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:34:09 GMT

giving money to someone who is obviously a Junkie, is not helping the addicted person at all. They need to hit rock bottom to trigger a real desire to stay off the drug.

hitting rock bottom (being homeless) could also be what it takes some to actually start taking the drug in the first place ?

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

catsnknots — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:40:22 GMT

cat and margo - there are rorters in any system.

But what I see is genuine. Probably because I work close to a few crisis centres and hostels. The people that use the services offered by the Sydney City Mission and and the centres around my end of the city are absolute in need.

100% agree there is a real problem and it is huge...

I just won't give directly... ever again..

I did see an old lady give a guy a sandwich on Tuesday...

He had his bag of goodies in one hand, bottle of half drunk wine in the other... no shoes and well groomed.

I would rather he was given the food rather than cash...

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

the_great_she_elephant — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 02:22:17 GMT

I wonder how many of the people who rant against 'druggies' are themselves hopelessly addicted to nicotine. The only difference between the two forms of addiction is that nicotine is a relatively cheap drug and while it may have a serious impact on physical health, doesn't affect one's ability to function in everday life.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

margomeoz — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 04:12:43 GMT

I wonder how many of the people who rant against 'druggies' are themselves hopelessly addicted to nicotine. The only difference between the two forms of addiction is that nicotine is a relatively cheap drug and while it may have a serious impact on physical health, doesn't affect one's ability to function in everday life.

I wonder what your comment has to do with beggars and people giving to them.

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

catsnknots — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 05:33:05 GMT

Remember this guy???

Revealed: 'Barefoot, homeless' beggar has apartment and 30 pairs of shoes

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/revealed-barefoot-homeless-beggar-has-apartment-and-30-pairs-of-shoes/story-fneszs56-1226608937715#ixzz2Ou6uWbyp

Re: Street Beggars/homeless

the_great_she_elephant — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 05:43:10 GMT

I wonder what your comment has to do with beggars and people giving to them.

It has to do with the fact that many people (including at least one who has posted in this thread) refuse to give to beggars because they believe they are all druggies who brought their misfortune on themselves and are therefore unworthy of assistance.

When you and I were teenagers, Margo, illicit drugs were not easily available and our drugs of choice were alcohol and nicotine. Most of us did not become addicted to alcohol - we did however become addicted to nicotine. Some of us have managed to kick that addiction, most of us haven't and I'm willing to bet if nicotine addiction cost us our jobs, homes and dignity and reduced us to begging on the streets, most of us still wouldn't be able to give it up.

And in case anyone is wondering, no I am not a smoker - but only because there is apparently something peculiar in my makeup that allowed me to smoke like a chimney when I was younger without ever becoming addicted. When I realised what smoking was likely to do to my health it didn't cost me any effort of willpower to give it up.