How I did it: A homeless man asked me for money, so I told him I would buy him a meal instead, and I listed to his story about how his mother died.
I felt like he was pretty much a whiner, and that I had endured much more in my life, and I certainly wasn't begging for money.
Lessons & tips: Be careful, strangers can be dangerous. I think I was stupid to do this. It wasn't all that satisfying of an experience.
Resources: Money and a homeless guy.
ambergamgee is prioritizing
mentally ill. Lots of homeless people are homeless because they’re mentally ill. I’m sorry you became jaded from it. My dad was homeless for a long time-he’s schizophrenic. This was a good deed you did! You gave him the 2 biggest things: a meal and a listening ear.
Stephen lost power all day Sunday and power supply on computer failed :-(
Not everyone has the same capacity to deal with life like we do. Statistics say that more than 1/3 of the people on the streets have major emotional issues that keep them from getting off the streets, be it depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar, drug dependency, or a rash of other common mental ailments. I learned from years of working in Los Angeles among homeless people is that many are homeless by choice.
There are lots of programs for helping the homeless help themselves like the Chrysalis organization here in Los Angeles. http://www.changelives.org/
You did a good thing for yourself by learning how strong you are. The thing I learned by volunteering and spending time among the homeless is that in order to truly help them, they need to want help first. And I don’t mean a quarter on the street corner to buy their next alcohol or drug fix. I never give money to the poor that way because I know how destructive that is to them. Instead I donate to programs like Chrysalis so they can find a way out when they are ready.
Stephen cheered this 4 months ago
ambergamgee cheered this 4 months ago
