quote:

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The posters will start showing up around Halifax Regional Municipality this week as part of a housing week organized by the Community Action on Homelessness. The people in the photos are actors but the situations they portray are real.

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quote:

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A teen in a sleeping bag is trying to study on the steps of a local high school. How Do I Get Through School Without a Home is the caption.

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~~"The homeless are those people I step over on the way to the opera" -- Maggie Thatcher grrrr

[ 21 October 2006: Message edited by: Fidel ]

But I think it is also important to be realistic.

I don't know what province would not help a youth who is going to high school who has no home.

I don't know what province wouldn't ensure that a single mother with a toddler wouldn't have a place to live.

There are a lot of homeless people out there, but very, very rarely would homeless people fit into the two scenarios you describe above.

quote:

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Originally posted by Pearson:
It's a good idea to put a face on homelessness, as so many people like to invent blame for those that are homeless - so that they don't feel any responsibility.

But I think it is also important to be realistic.

I don't know what province would not help a youth who is going to high school who has no home.

I don't know what province wouldn't ensure that a single mother with a toddler wouldn't have a place to live.

There are a lot of homeless people out there, but very, very rarely would homeless people fit into the two scenarios you describe above.

Now then, that is not to say that youth, and single mothers do not face many problems and completely inadequate funding - but homelessness seems an exaggeration - perhaps I am wrong.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pearson:
It's a good idea to put a face on homelessness, as so many people like to invent blame for those that are homeless - so that they don't feel any responsibility.

But I think it is also important to be realistic.

I don't know what province would not help a youth who is going to high school who has no home.

I don't know what province wouldn't ensure that a single mother with a toddler wouldn't have a place to live.

There are a lot of homeless people out there, but very, very rarely would homeless people fit into the two scenarios you describe above.

Now then, that is not to say that youth, and single mothers do not face many problems and completely inadequate funding - but homelessness seems an exaggeration - perhaps I am wrong.

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http://www.moresafehomes.net/images/research/homeless_count_Oct_2002.pdf

A few highlights:
*total number of homeless, 1915
*of this total, 1213 were absolute homeless, with no housing alternative
*702 were sheltered homeless (living in emergency accomodation)

Of course, counting the homeless is difficult, for obvious reasons.

Now, to do a demographic breakdown for you, so you can get a sense of what kinds of people are homeless.

There were:
*118 families, encompassing 267 children under the age of 15. 70% of these families were absolute homeless, the rest were sheltered homeless.
*A majority of homeless are single, 1507 of the total
*67% of the homeless are male (not including children)
*the split between Caucasian and Aboriginal is roughly even at 43% each, the rest of the homeless were neither (by the way, consider that Aboriginals make up 2% of the total population, and yet are representing 43% of the homeless???)

This is just one city, one snapshot. It is so easy not to see our homeless people, and so easy to under-represent the problem because of that.

Maybe 1915 homeless people out of a population of roughly 930,000 in the metropolitan area seems like a low number. But that perception fails to give weight to the suffering of men, women and children who quite often DO NOT CHOOSE to live in this state.

[ 23 October 2006: Message edited by: Fidel ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Fidel:
I think the City of Calgary has admitted to 2700 people there in need of homes. Any old fire trap or someone's couch will do in a country with unparalleled natural wealth at our disposal. Our weak and subordinate colonial administrators couldn't run a lemonade stand without effin it up.

[ 23 October 2006: Message edited by: Fidel ]

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Originally posted by Gollygee:
All hotels, motels, schools. etc. are inspected on a regular basis and held to standards. I know the fire inspector in our town and she, like those in larger larger cities, who will not compromise safety by turning a blind eye or accepting bribes.[/QB]

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Here in Vancouver the inspectors just shut the SOR hotels down adding to the problem of an insufficient number of low cost housing units being available.

They have the power to order repairs but for some unknown reason they prefer not to do it.

http://www.pivotlegal.org/News/pivotpost1.6.htm

On the background of some homeless people:

http://www.pivotlegal.org/News/pivotpost1.1.htm

REPORT: Cracks in the Foundation
Summary and link to full report

http://www.pivotlegal.org/Publications/reportscitf.htm

An occupation of an empty building started today (or yesterday):

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Originally posted by Gollygee:

Your hyteria again makes you sound silly.

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City of Calgary Homeless Count 2006

3,436 homeless people in Calgary the night the count was conducted May 10, 2006

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GeeWhiz GollyGee, it's hard to keep up with how little you know about western Canada in general.

ETA: They should pull down a few of those Stars and Stripes flapping on the Calgary skyline and hand them out to the homeless trying to keep warm this winter. Or at least some Hudson Bay blankets, if they still make them in Canada that is.

[ 23 October 2006: Message edited by: Fidel ]

Now, where is your evidence of these firetraps? Another one of your throw away hysterial lines? I'll give you the benefit that you don't purposefully lie but rather you aren't well rooted in reality and let your imagination get away in your exagerrations.

quote:

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Originally posted by Fidel:
TROLL ALERT!!!

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Still waiting for your evidence, Fidel. Stop the avoidance or is it something you can't help? A fantasy syndrome?

Exactly what riding were you in when you and Tommy Douglas campaigned and heard all of those ill-informed rural voters comparing the NDP to Stalinists? Was that the same year you were in Newfoundland and all those 'ignorant' mothers receiving family allowance told you that those cheques came directly from Joey Smallwood's pocket?

You have all the credibity of a George Bush claiming Saddam has WMDs.

[ 23 October 2006: Message edited by: Gollygee ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gollygee:
Stop the avoidance or is it something you can't help?

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The same holds true for you. This thread is about homelessness not Che Guevara.

I just watched the news on 2 channels (Global and CBC) about the homeless problem in BC. It's not only in Vancouver but in other towns as well.

Your only relevant response so far has been the claim that SRO hotels are safe.

The question is: Are there enough affordable housing units available for those who sleep on the sidewalks, in shelters or on the floor of a friend's place?

quote:

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Originally posted by Pearson:
It's a good idea to put a face on homelessness, as so many people like to invent blame for those that are homeless - so that they don't feel any responsibility.

But I think it is also important to be realistic.

I don't know what province would not help a youth who is going to high school who has no home.

I don't know what province wouldn't ensure that a single mother with a toddler wouldn't have a place to live.

There are a lot of homeless people out there, but very, very rarely would homeless people fit into the two scenarios you describe above.

Now then, that is not to say that youth, and single mothers do not face many problems and completely inadequate funding - but homelessness seems an exaggeration - perhaps I am wrong.

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You are wrong. I've been working on homelessness for years now, and the appalling inadequacy of our attempts to address the issue mean that youths, and single mothers, are often homeless.

I don't know about the other provinces, but BC has certainly accepted homelessness among its youths in particular. A surprising number of homeless youths are trying to maintain their connections with school - with limited success, but they are trying. Being denied support everywhere they turn does not help at all.

quote:

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Originally posted by Gollygee:
Exactly what riding were you in when you and Tommy Douglas campaigned and heard all of those ill-informed rural voters comparing the NDP to Stalinists?

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If you were able to read and comprehend at even a grade eight level, you should have realized I was referring to a point in Saskatchewan's political history, and nowhere did I claim to have actually lived it, you moron.