Showing posts with label Salvation Army. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salvation Army. Show all posts

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Homeless Or Emergency Shelter, Possible Solutions




When it comes to the homeless, there are no easy solutions.  Various local entities to include non profit foundations and churches have already started working together this year to create homeless shelters for those whom are homeless for this winter.  Though it is a step in the right direction, it still falls way short of creating solutions to fix the problems.  Not all homeless people are drug addicts or have mental problems.  In this economy, many people have found themselves homeless due to economic conditions beyond their control.

Entire families who have lost their jobs and then their homes with no place to turn, are in very serious trouble.  Now you can say what these folks need to do is go out and get jobs.  Let's look at that shall we?  When you are homeless, you do not have access to running water, bathrooms other than public restrooms, which are not all that accessible are taken for granted by everyone except the homeless.  So bathing becomes a major issue.  Washing cloths becomes a major issue.

  Basic everyday functions that most people take for granted are major issues for the homeless.  You assume they have access to travel.  Most travel by foot, even if they have a vehicle, you assume they have money for gas.  Electricity does not exist for most homeless people.  So heating or air conditioning only comes with the weather changes that are usually not welcomed.

  So after only about a week of having no where to go and or no where to turn, homeless people start to get very ripe in their body odor.  Going to a job interview in this condition pretty much insures you have no chance of getting the offer.  Where to keep and or store what possessions you have left is also a major challenge.  You risk having someone else finding your stash and stealing it or throwing it out on you.  Cooking, safe places to sleep, trying to keep warm or cool are issues that most people never realize and take for granted.

  Once you have gone down this low, it's nearly impossible to get your life back.  Most never do.  What do you do each and every day?  Where do you go?  I know, I have lived it first hand along with my family.  We have managed to recover most of our life back with the help of some very dear friends who did not judge us.  We were lucky however, I managed to work the entire time and managed to create a fairly decent shelter with electricity, heat and air.  We had some other dear friends help us with places to shower and wash cloths.  We were able to stay under most of the radar.  We had a vehicle that allowed us to go places and never remain in one place and look suspicious.

  We still have not fully recovered and with this economy, do not know if we ever will.  Hope is what keeps us going.  We know what it feels like to have nowhere to go and nothing to do as I did not work everyday and the company I worked for kept cutting our hours and pay.  So I get outraged with the politicians who have no clue and continue to ravage this country for personal gain selling out to the monopolistic corporations and calling it capitalism, something it isn't.

  I get outraged with entities like the Salvation Army who do the most harm and kick people out of their offices who actually need and are seeking help.  My heart goes out to those who are needlessly suffering due to unfair conditions of this economy.  Entire families with no place to stay or that have to keep moving from one location to another trying to survive any way they can.  I have seen a number of people who lost their homes becoming homeless themselves.  I was in a small community of homeless where we all kept to ourselves and kept each others secrets as we were legally trespassing.

  There is a large number of homeless people in Gloucester who remain hidden for many reasons.  No one really trust the police when you are homeless.  You may become a very fast target.  Families have no desire to be broken up for any reason.  It's hard to live under such conditions with children as you only want what is best for them.  Giving them up to the state is not what is best for them even in those conditions.  It breaks your heart from both sides.

  I have been working with a non profit foundation for about 7 months now out of Philadelphia trying to come up with ways to help the homeless.  We have not gotten very far.  Day shelters has been one of my own goals for the past 9 months.  Some place where homeless people can go at least several times a week and wash cloths as well as get showers and other personal care needs is one of the main areas of what I know has to be addressed.  Also, some place where the homeless can safely store some of their personal belongings.  Lockers.  They must be accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

  


I have no idea how much one of these would cost.  It's just something to consider.  The other question becomes, where do you put people with these?  What location?  What do you provide them with if you do?  Do you give them access to some form of public restrooms?  Some form of electricity?  Water supplies?  Do you allow outdoor cooking?   What about food storage?  Mailing  Addresses?

Now let's look at this potential option.  The Yurt.




A lot of the video does not apply to the topic.  But the concept of yurts does have some degree of appeal as a potential low cost housing option.  I would not recommend going as elaborate as the one in this video, but something fairly close can be achieved.

  How we got out of our situation?  I tested the words of the Bible and did NOT find them empty by any stretch of the imagination and still do not find those words and promises empty.  Instead I have found them to be very real.  That's right.  I tested the words of the Bible and found them to be TRUE!  The experience changed our family forever.  It's the reason why I fight for freedom and liberty.  I have lived first hand the results of socialism and monopolistic corporatism.  Individualism and true capitalism are the only ways that work.  We do NOT live in a capitalist society as the politicians and main stream media proclaim.  We do not have freedoms as the pundits claim.  These are what we need restored.

  I can write a book about our experiences, but who would buy it?  Who cares?  So yes, I and my family were homeless for nearly 2 years and it was humiliating, degrading and fraught with dangers most would never understand.  The system is broken and unless we do something about it, there will be a great number of stories all with bad endings.


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Sunday, March 2, 2014

Gloucester, VA Storage Container Use Ordinances



Gloucester, VA Zoning Codes For Containers, 2014 from Chuck Thompson

Above are the present ordinances for the use of storage containers in Gloucester County and the proposed new ordinances for the use of storage containers.  Below is a series of pictures that show a complete lack of anyone following present use ordinances or proposed new ordinance guidelines.  So what is the sense of even bringing it up?


As seen right on route 17 south, Gloucester.  Hayes area.  Not one, but two.


Two storage containers right there in plain view on route 17 South in front of a vacant business.  Vacant.  Where is the compliance?  Where are the required permits?  These have been here for over one month.

Wait, there is more.


Two more storage containers in plain view from two roads, one of which is route 17.  These are located on the grounds of the Salvation Army.  We are not picking on any business for this report.  We are showing that there is no enforcement of present ordinances, and that these containers would still be in violation of any changes to the present ordinances.




The above two pictures are showing yet another container located on the property of Franktronics.  Visible from two roads including route 17.  Again, this is not to pick on any business.  But it becomes a fair point to ask, are a few exempt from the laws of the many?  Is this sound business?  What messages are you giving to potential new businesses that are looking at Gloucester as a potential area to expand into?  They can but you can't?  Laws only apply to those we choose to make them apply to?  The land of the chosen few?

  And what messages are you delivering to present business owners in the area?  Again it becomes the same mantra.  The land of the chosen few?  Ask not what Gloucester can do for you.  Ask what Gloucester may do to you?
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Monday, December 20, 2010

Congressman Wittman's Office Responds, Salvation Army, Doing The Most Harm"

So far we have heard from Congressman Wittman's Office and they had some very helpful information which we are going to follow through with. We want to take a moment and thank Congressman Wittman and his staff for responding to our request for help for this family.

Salvation Army, "Doing The Most Harm", Part 3. It Get's Worse

Since we broke the story on the one homeless family another one has surfaced and there seems that there is a pattern of the Salvation Army promising that what you tell them will remain in that office and not be reported to any outside agencies whatsoever. Well the new family that has come forward was also turned into Social Services after the family did NOT receive help from Sallie. So there is a clear pattern that whatever you tell the Salvation Army under promises of anonymous information, it just isn't so. They will report you making a bad situation worse. How do you trust an organization like this?

So now we are going straight to the source and seeing what their official policy is here. We will be contacting the Salvation Army headquarters to get the answers. In the mean time, we have contacted the offices of Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell, Congressman Rob Wittman and Senator Mark Warner to ask what they can do regarding this matter. We have also sent this story to the Associated Press and we will be contacting the CBN Network to see if Pat Robertson can shed any light on this subject. This is just reprehensible folks.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Salvation Army, “Doing The Most Harm”, Torturing The Homeless During This Christmas Season For Fun





The story we are about to tell you is a Christmas nightmare. We came across a family with a horrific story. To start with are the pictures added here. These are pictures of two of the children of a homeless family. They were put up in a motel for a few weeks by several organizations. They were surrounded by drug dealers and the children were eaten from head to toe by bed bugs. The family were also subjected to very personal questions by unknown individuals whom never identified themselves and never got back to the family. The family consists of a husband, wife and two daughters. The wife works across the river and the husband is out of work. He can't even get McDonald's to call him. When we asked about his background to see where the trouble was, there isn't any, he just can't even manage to get an interview anywhere.

The story begins with this family being sent to numerous places to fill out forms with different organizations after being put into a motel. The Salvation Army was amongst them. At first the Salvation Army treated them with disrespect but then gave them a shopping cart of food. Okay, seems like a start if less than ideal. They are off the street and have food. The Salvation Army promises the family help and to find a place for the family to live, and to pay for the first months rent and security deposit. Sounds like a nice deal. Another organization is ready to help them with their upcoming bills for electric and other utilities. Things are looking up for this family. The Salvation Army calls them and has an appointment for them to go see a place to live and sets everything up. Well great this is looking wonderful. The family keeps the appointment and they agree to take the place from the landlord. The landlord is aware of the deal and is willing to accept the offer from the Salvation Army, for the first months rent and security deposit. However the place is up for sale and can be sold at any time. Hold on, not looking so hot, but let it go for now. So it's finally coming together for this family.

Two days later the family gets a call from one of the other organizations that has been working with them and lets them know that they have a number of people on standby ready to help them move in that day. The family is rather excited. They are finally getting off the streets. Their next move is to go back to the Salvation Army and see what has to happen next. When they get to the Salvation Army, they are put off and told to just wait for their call. Well the Salvation Army never calls. This family is back out on the streets where they were. They notify the other organization who tries to help but the other organization can not do a thing without the Salvation Army. The family calls the Salvation Army numerous times over several days and no one there will return their calls. The other organization can not seem to get an answer either. We stepped in and tried to contact the Salvation Army and they will not talk to us either. We had some other people try to contact them and again, they will not speak to anyone on this.

So let's sum this up, a homeless family gets temporarily taken off the streets, paid for by outside organizations who work with the Salvation Army, puts this family into a motel where the family is surrounded by drug dealers and the children get eaten by bed bugs. The family is probed and probed by people whom they have no idea who these people are and never hear anything from these people again. This family is told they will have a place to call home and that the Salvation Army will help them with the first months rent and security deposit then backs out for no known reason and puts the family back on the streets, wasting the time and money of the other organizations trying to help this family. Oh how nice. To us this looks like cruel mental torture. We verified the story with the landlord that had made the deal with the Salvation Army. He has not heard anything from the Salvation Army since and has been put off as well.


We verified that the motel where they stayed has a known drug dealer element. We took the above pictures showing the bites from the bed bugs of the young girls. We also spoke with several people from the other organizations that were trying to help this family and the offer still stands but their hands are locked until the family is in a place. We can not get any information from the Salvation Army at all. Our hearts go out to this family. They were already going through enough, but then to have to go through this on top of it? We asked if there was anything they might have said or done that would have caused this silence. The only thing they could come up with was that they addressed the issue of the place they were taking was up for sale and could be sold at any time. Gee, that's more than a fair question don't ya think?


How this family must feel is beyond belief. Makes you want to go kick one of those people ringing the bells out in front of the stores with the Salvation Army sign that reads, “Doing The Most Good”. Good for whom? We applaud the other organizations that have tried to help this family, but are mortified by the folks at the Salvation Army. I for one will no longer support this organization for any reason. Years ago I read a book written by a Senator that exposes the corruption inside of charities and can't help but wonder what this one is up to. (By the way, don't go kicking those bell ringers, they are just volunteers trying to help and have no idea). We are going to try and keep a following with this family to see how things turn out for them.