Housing for the homeless....Lifeark

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

On 6/30/2023 at 5:24 AM, Debp said:

Saw this yesterday on the news... interesting.

Lifeark creates modular, pre-fab, plastic housing for the homeless.   The housing units shown looked really nice and are also fireproof.

Each unit takes only four hours to complete.

The lady who now manages a complex used to live in a tent for seventeen years.

With the housing shortage and high rents here, I wish they would build these for seniors, too.

https://lifeark.net/about

It looks interesting, but is this given to everyone as an option? What about the working poor who are trying to make something in this world but can't afford a home? Personally I think they should be given priority. There has been much in our media about "helping" the homeless. However I would say they already have all the help they need. There is so much charity organizations in this country that most homeless never have to pay for their own food or clothing. There are so many jobs available if they would choose to work. I say this as a person who used to be homeless. I lived in a shelter that housed about 400 people. MANY homeless choose to live homeless. They don't wish to follow the daily grind of work and paying bills. I don;t mean to ramble on about the homeless. My point is that the working poor, our vets, and seniors should be given priority on those nice little homes.

[Alive]

Our compassion should be available to all as the Lord leads each individual as well as local bodies of Christ…this is normal for those in Christ.

My point in responding to this topic, is to point out an affordable option for working or retired folks, who for many reasons are in that group who do not have a lot of money. There are many reasons for folks being in a lower economic class and often not associated with laziness or lack of accountability.

Avoid the polarity and see what lies between the poles.

[Vine Abider]

2 hours ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

It looks interesting, but is this given to everyone as an option? What about the working poor who are trying to make something in this world but can't afford a home? Personally I think they should be given priority. There has been much in our media about "helping" the homeless. However I would say they already have all the help they need. There is so much charity organizations in this country that most homeless never have to pay for their own food or clothing. There are so many jobs available if they would choose to work. I say this as a person who used to be homeless. I lived in a shelter that housed about 400 people. MANY homeless choose to live homeless. They don't wish to follow the daily grind of work and paying bills. I don;t mean to ramble on about the homeless. My point is that the working poor, our vets, and seniors should be given priority on those nice little homes.

I think you make a real good point - it is the working poor that likely need more help.  I see a lot of money and effort bring put into the homeless, and so many of them are now there because they can get a handout and want to be there.  As I mentioned earlier, I have been associated with a nonprofit whose sole mission is to help homeless and disadvantaged find good jobs.  Close to 90% of those who go to that agency, who are willing and able to work, do get jobs.

But that next tier up, the working poor, do not get as much focus. (BTW:  as more money is poured into the homeless situation, the numbers just increase and it's then thought more money needs thrown at the problem. IMO Money is a causal effect of a good deal of homelessness!)

To illustrate your point, back in my early 20s, my new wife already had three kids and another was on the way.  I had no marketable skills and barely earned minimum wage.  As a result, the government couldn't give us enough money and support! But I remember when I first started with a decent job (after getting a technical degree) there came a point when my income started shutting down the government support.  There was actually one point where it made more sense financially, to quit my job and stay on welfare.  That is, they were cutting the support much faster than I could make it up through employment.

We knew we wanted loose from the government's apron strings, so we bit the bullet and learned to live on less overall income for a period.  The focus was definitely not on the working poor! (and in some respects, seems to be more geared to keeping us on welfare!)

[FJK]

4 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

The focus was definitely not on the working poor!

Never is the focus, but as robotics continue to slowly eliminate their positions, a movement only in its infant stages today but soon to accelerate astoundingly, you will find more and more of them moving into the status of being the homeless where you can help them.

This is the result, at least a one of them, of putting money ahead of people, of worshiping Mammon instead of God while we pretend we don't.

[Ghostdog]

when i was homeless i worked with 2 other people and would get up at 5am or 4am on recycling days and pick bottles and make $25-30. on recycling days we made around $200 so at the end of the month we split around $500 between 3 people. i worked from 5am or 4am until about 8am and then have the rest of the day to do w/e i wanted. it  was a good life at the time and somedays i want to go back to that but where i live theres too many homeless to make it profitable.