REFUGEES & SQUATTER'S RIGHTS

[choir loft]

Note:  I'm not exactly sure where to drop this post, so I put it among the General discussions.

AS YOU ARE AWARE a horrible war is being conducted in Ukraine.  Russian aggression has caused loss of life and incalculable damage to private property.  Millions of Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled the country with millions more expected before the guns go silent again.  Most of the refugees have been initially welcomed into Poland, but the situation cannot last long.   One nation can't bear the whole weight of the problem.   Sooner or later they will come to America.

Charity to those who suffer and are homeless is one of the primary pillars of Christian ethics.  

However, it comes with a caveat in the 21st century.  Not every charitable act ends with the benefit its donors intended.   We need to be aware of the pitfalls of giving as well as those innocents who need it.

Cash is the primary method of giving in America.  As a people we are accustomed to giving money we sometimes can't afford to benefit those in need.  More often than not, those hard earned and freely given dollars end up in the pockets of people we didn't intend to have it.  Many charitable organizations skim the money they're given as 'administrative costs'.  Less than fifty cents of each dollar finds its way into the work it was given to support.  For instance, Audubon Society's in several states and cities skim over forty percent of each dollar donated to them.  In Tucson the executive director is paid nearly eighty thousand dollars for his services.  The American Psychiatric Foundation skims nearly 44% of donations for administrative costs which are said to total over half a million dollars annually.  The Huston based Gospel to the Unreached Millions only pays out 18% of each donated dollar for actual evangelical work.  And so it goes......  

The web site charitynavigator.org is one site available for those who wish to vett the reputation of charitable organizations.   

I recommend the reader explore such vetting organizations before giving money to refugees or others who need help.   We owe it to them to check out these organizations before we donate.

SQUATTER'S RIGHTS

Finally, it should be carefully noted that a movement is growing in the United States to pressure homeowners to welcome the homeless into their domiciles.  City and state administrators don't generally like to deal with the homeless, which has resulted in many private organizations trying to do the job.  Private citizens are being pressured to open their homes to the homeless.   Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, the same open house attitude is being adopted in Poland and other central European nations.  In the United States, homeless people fall under the legal category of Squatters.  

In cities, squatters inhabit streets, alleys, abandoned buildings, parks, beneath bridges and anywhere they can find shelter from the elements. In cities this isn't a legal problem.  It becomes a legal problem when squatters settle on private property.   The problem goes beyond the filth they generate.   The problem is legally defined as "ownership of property from adverse possession."  Laws differ between cities and states, but generally speaking a squatter can claim ownership of a property simply by living upon it for a specified period of time.  

Allow me to relate a personal situation where this became a serious problem.

My son had a good friend who I'll call J.   J. and his wife fell on hard times due to their own bad decisions.  My son and his wife took pity on J. and his wife and welcomed them into their home.  The basement of their home had been tricked out nicely with a full bath and dry living conditions.  The original agreement was that J. and his wife would stay only two or three weeks until they got on their feet again.  J. and his wife never intended to leave the house and after three months the situation became intolerable.  The guests helped themselves to the food pantry and refrigerator without paying for it, without replacing any of it or without performing any helpful household tasks.  They just squatted.  They made a pig sty out of the basement and refused to leave.   Long story short, my wife and I got involved and began procedures to get the police to evict J. and his wife.  Today they're gone, but hesitancy about doing it again remains.  Chances are we won't do such a thing again - ever.  'Once bitten, twice shy as the axiom says.'

According to the law a property owner cannot physically evict a squatter.  A judge must order the police to do it.  Getting a judge and the police involved isn't simple or cheap even when a signed document is available to prove the limits of the owner's generosity.  It still costs money time and grief.  In the end the one who thought they were doing good ended up with heaps of remorse and a bad taste in their mouth from the experience.

Think about these matters before you open your wallet or home to strangers.   It's your money.  It's your home.  It will be your grief if someone takes advantage of you.  Think before you act.

Hope this helps.

that's me, hollering from the choir loft...

Edited March 11, 2022 by choir loft

[Mama Etna]

I can too speak from experience, in the late 1990's my husband and I opened our home to a couple that fell on hard times.  They turned into a squatters.  The converted the home into a pigsty.  The wife punched a hole in the wall.  The son poked and colored on my son with a pen and generally terrorized him.  They spent our money and wrecked my health when the wife did the cooking making meals much bigger than I would normally eat.  My husband said enough is enough and evicted them.  Back then the laws were friendlier to homeowners and we were able to remove them.

[ayin jade]

Not long ago, a woman was killed by a homeless person she compassionately let into her home. 

A few years ago, in my metro city area, a woman offered to buy a homeless man lunch. He responded by attacking her with a knife, and following her into the restaurant as she tried to escape, attacking others before the police came. 

I am not saying that one should avoid all homeless people but one should consider using some caution. 

[branchesofHim]

15 minutes ago, ayin jade said:

I am not saying that one should avoid all homeless people but one should consider using some caution. 

Follow the Spirit. He will direct you. Shalom

John 16:[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

[Marathoner]

5 hours ago, ayin jade said:

Not long ago, a woman was killed by a homeless person she compassionately let into her home. 

A few years ago, in my metro city area, a woman offered to buy a homeless man lunch. He responded by attacking her with a knife, and following her into the restaurant as she tried to escape, attacking others before the police came. 

I am not saying that one should avoid all homeless people but one should consider using some caution. 

I do know this, that with fentanyl use on the rise in the city where I reside, those who are dependent upon this narcotic (it isn't exactly fentanyl anymore, but also mixed with meth) are randomly attacking passerby. It's perfectly insane, sister. Of course, this isn't the only factor involved in this horrendous evil but it's definitely something to be reckoned with. 

I'm in the thick of it in this part of town. Law enforcement have more than they can handle between armed robbery, kidnappings, dealers, murders, and senseless violence. I've noticed a change since I came here to work with the homeless and needy... for the longest time, most of the downtrodden here were what I consider to be "harmless." I could speak with them and they would share their burdens with me. If they refused to pursue the different resources I offered, they would go their way in peace.

Now? There are raving lunatics wandering the street armed with swords. 

[Willa]

Recently a man my son works with was forced to try to sell his home because he couldn't get rid of a man he had rented a room to.  The guy stopped paying rent and acted extremely weird.  Recently he shot and killed someone in a grocery store near here and made the newspapers.  At least he was arrested.  Hopefully son's friend will be able to sell his house so he won't be back.

[Marathoner]

I will share this with my brothers and sisters: serving the homeless is a calling. This is not to say that we ought to refrain from extending a hand to our neighbor in their time of need if the Lord hasn't specifically dedicated us to this work... it is indeed a ministry which the Lord prepares and equips us to walk in... but there is so much heartbreak and sorrow we must face that it can be overwhelming even for one Christ has prepared. 

In the beginning, I was crushed to the point of weeping and crying out to the Lord for the sake of every precious soul He entrusted to my care. I would see some flounder, their lives ruled by the likes of alcohol and heroin (or meth), and then they would slip away.

Months later, I would learn of their end from someone on the street. A man who fought so hard to free himself of narcotics and alcohol for the sake of his teenaged son, left our housing shelter one day. 5 months later, I learned that he passed away from an overdose... his son was with him when it happened. I remember him like it was yesterday; no one else could get through to him, but the Lord made it possible for me to break through the agony this man suffered. He listened to me. 

I felt responsible for what happened to him, friends. No, of course I wasn't responsible... but I felt so powerless and useless, like I was failing the Lord, that I blamed myself for the loss which his son endured. It crushed my heart for quite some time. 

This work isn't easy by any means. The Lord teaches me the meaning of endurance every day, and what it means to never grow weary of doing good. I can't give up no matter how often my heart is torn in two. This is why He sent me here, after all. Christ prepared me to do this work.   

Edited March 12, 2022 by Marathoner

[ayin jade]

16 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

I will share this with my brothers and sisters: serving the homeless is a calling. This is not to say that we ought to refrain from extending a hand to our neighbor in their time of need if the Lord hasn't specifically dedicated us to this work...

 

Years ago, a man came up to my car and asked me for money. He said he was here for a funeral and his car broke. He needed 25 dollars or so to get a part. I am handicapped and freaked out a bit, feeling vulnerable. I gave him a couple of dollars and drove off. I felt bad and asked the Lord how I should have handled it. The response was that I should have driven to the auto parts store and gotten the part for him. 

The Lord has not called me to this work, but He has shown me ways I could still reach out without compromising my safety. 

[Marathoner]

1 minute ago, ayin jade said:

Years ago, a man came up to my car and asked me for money. He said he was here for a funeral and his car broke. He needed 25 dollars or so to get a part. I am handicapped and freaked out a bit, feeling vulnerable. I gave him a couple of dollars and drove off. I felt bad and asked the Lord how I should have handled it. The response was that I should have driven to the auto parts store and gotten the part for him. 

The Lord has not called me to this work, but He has shown me ways I could still reach out without compromising my safety. 

I understand. I would never turn to my brother or sister and say, "Come and walk these streets with me." Yes, there is most definitely risk involved every time I make my rounds on the block where our transitional housing is located. I am not blind nor oblivious to this by any means. 

I know how to read a situation. I can honestly report that after the Lord brought me back from a horrible illness which almost ended my time on earth, I lost the fear of death. My time will come when my time comes. As for right now, I am only here by the grace of God. He's the reason why I'm alive. 

But this isn't for everyone. 

[ladypeartree]

It is not only the individual who may have fallen on hard times but the systamatic abuse that is so common in these days ...it is no longer a case of people trying ( even if they fail ) to lift themselves out of poverty and return the help they have recieved, we now have proffessional beggars  that actually earn more by sitting around and begging than they ever could by an honest days work . My own daughter came to live with me along with her family when her own greed caused them to lose their home. Instead of using the time wisely to earn enough to start over they stayed here for two years, never contributed to anything but left me to almost lose my home with the amount of debt they caused and did nothing but lay around watching tv all day and well into the night . They were supposed to have been here for two months whilst they found somewhere to rent but after two years I had to tell them to pack their things and move out  The sad thing is that they didnt learn anything by relying on me to support them and continued to live well beyond their means buying luxury items and then asking me to pay for them with sob story after sob story Eventually I had to say NO  but it made me feel so very guilty as I had enabled them by doing too much to help them all along .     It is hard to know who really needs help and who should be allowed to fend for themselves in order to learn