Have you ever met a homeless person and actually talked to them?

1. 74

   eye sayposted 11 years ago

   Have you ever met a homeless person and actually talked to them?
   
   What was your impression as you walked away?

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2. 73

   BlissfulWriterposted 11 years ago

   Not as in a conversation, but I asked them if they wanted my left over lunch, coffee, etc.   I see homeless in the area all the time and I would give away my half-drunk coffee, or other food if possible.  Some are quite grateful for it.

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   Moon Willow Lakeposted 11 years ago

   Yes, I have. I participated in a 21 day challenge that is free for anyone to participate in. The last challenge involved contacting someone who is homeless. I came away with the impression that there needs to be more to help people who are in those circumstances. With the way things have been, there are a number of people who are in that position through no fault of their own. It was very difficult to realize that those two men I found in sleeping bags next to a garbage can a 1/2 block off a very popular pedestrian street were there because they had nowhere else to go on that cold night.

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   Dee aka Nonnaposted 11 years ago

   Yes, it happened on a trip to New York City.  A woman and her little girl were sitting in a doorway.  She was combing the little girls hair.  She had a sign...asking for help.  I stopped, we talked and I found out they were living in a shelter and what she wanted more than anything was for someone to help her find a job.  The money she collected on the street was used to keep their clothes clean and to help her get to and from job interviews.
   
   My impression was a woman who did not want to be where she was but because of circumstances out of her control she landing in a hole that she was having a hard time digging out of.

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   Alastar Packerposted 11 years ago

   Heres one homeless person a friend talked to recently: she noticed a middle-aged woman standing in the same spot with a help sign for several days running. She heard from someone who lived over that way that the woman had been kicked out of her ex-lovers mobile home and was sleeping in the woods. Feeling sorry for the woman the friend got up a couple bags of good groceries. When she took them to the lady, the woman said and I quote " What in the hell am I gonna do with that, Give Me Money!!!" True story.

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   capricornrisingposted 11 years ago

   She was probably 14 and "working" on the streets. A beautiful girl. I'd seen her on my corner in NYC several times. One day I finally approached her and asked her whether she wouldn't be better finishing school and getting a good job. She replied, in what seemed like a genuine attempt to convince me, that she wasn't going to be doing what she was doing for long, and that she was planning the very things I suggested. She then disappeared from my corner for several months. The next time I saw her she had deteriorated, with several marks on her once clear, smooth skin that could have been either injuries or drug-related.

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   kj forceposted 11 years ago

   I have always lived in the country,so homeless people are not prevalent here..however..the Hospital that I worked at was in the city and there were many,that would stand outside a coffee shoppe,near the Hospital. One cold morning I took notice and bought coffee for several of them , we all sat and chatted. They were from every walk of life,one who had been professor at a college up north,who after losing his wife, and having no family, turned to drugs/drinking and lost everything. Now he just wanders the streets, calls himself " Gator". I never saw him after that day, but I came away that morning realizing just how important family is..they may not be perfect,but they are the glue that sometime holds us together..I am  now retired from the medical profession and don't go to that area anymore ..however.. I do volunteer at the mission for abused women and children and often wonder whatever happened to the " Gator"..

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   cclitgirlposted 11 years ago

   Yes!  Actually, it was my mom.  And she brought the guy home and fed him!  Eye say, you gave me an idea for a hub.  Thanks!

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   nightwork4posted 11 years ago

   i'm betting thousands of them considering i was homeless for years. on average , most of them are just useless fools who can't be bothered working or doing anything productive with their lives. there are exceptions, don't get me wrong.

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10. 61

    engelfantasydreamposted 11 years ago

    i always talked to homeless people on the street..i wonder why they homeless..kids,old folks..as you give them something whether in kind or in cash..i can't help myself asking why they are on the street cos it is dangerous..and all of them have story to tell,,those kids are abandoned by their parents..don't like to live in an orphanage house and old folks are also abandoned by their heartless children cos their already old and of no use???? oh gosh...what the heck...as you walk away..you can't help but wonder why is there such people who do this to their own children and parents..and it makes you appreciate the life you have and still complaining about something..so it is kinda sort of humbling experience to talk to them..and it touch your heart!!! ..and you wish you could have do better or give more to make their life better!!!

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11. 60

    ThroughGlassposted 11 years ago

    No i have not, but i have a lot of respect for those who are homeless.
    Not all, because some are homeless for terrible reasons, that they may have permitted themselves.
    
    I have been on the brink, one day, away from being literally homeless with two young babies. In today's world people are so wrapped in their own lives, and the lives of other's who do well. They often forget there is people living on the street starving because they lost their job, they were taken for granted, they are mentally challenged and have been thrown out. They have a drug addiction, it really has no matter to me, but it matters to everyone else.
    
    I feel immense sadness when i walk away from a homeless person, I feel sad they can't have a better life, and it hurts me more to think that it probably will never get better for them.

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    Nefarious_Miseryposted 11 years ago

    At one of my old jobs, my boss used to hire a local homeless man to do menial work around the restaurant. Got to know him pretty well over the years, and came to find out that he graduated from Stanford, went to work for a year or two, and hated it so much that he CHOSE to be homeless. He had been on the streets for nearly 30 years, and said that he wouldn’t change a thing about his life.

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    smzclarkposted 11 years ago

    i work with ten homeless young people on a regular basis. if they are not sober, and don't know their butt from their elbow, they are not given the time of day, otherwise; why wouldn't you?!

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    mrmorgposted 11 years ago

    This is a silly question... I am sure you have sat next to them in a class, stood next to them in the grocery line..... but just did not know it.... being homeless does not bring with it a complete profile... as a college administrator I know which of my students are homeless, but it is not usually the first thing they want to discuss... I usually spend time behind closed doors with them to hear their story... David: who finally graduated after living in a tent behind a garbage dump in the summer and in a boat without electricity in the winter. 
    Cathy who has a family but cannot get along with them.. has her own baby at the homeless center... and her boyfriends family will not shelter her and the baby either...does her unattractive appearance deter them? 
    
    When a homeless person becomes successful then it is generally okay to ask them to share their story to the public.  As a matter of pride they might have hesitated previously....
    
    Do I bring classes on field trips to the homeless center?  Absolutely... If you have not visited one close to you then you need to.... Count your blessings...
    
    Mary
    Associate Dean

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    onegoodwomanposted 11 years ago

    As a matter of fact and record,
    
    I married such a man. Well over 30 years ago.
    
    Through the years, though we have gone toe to toe...........
    
    He has proved himself, time and time again, to be my most valuable asset.
    
    I suppose, that you would have to say, I did not walk away..........I embraced the talent that stood before me.
    
    All he needed, was a reason to believe that life could be good.................I needed everything else.

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