Rebecca Twigg is homeless

[sitzmark]

Originally Posted by raygunner

Thanks for the link.

I'm about 1/3 through it, about where they're speaking of the problem not as a homeless problem but a drug problem.

Affordable housing will not address what is depicted in the documentary.

The video is heavily skewed to crime as a result of addiction which is a driving force in the backlash against homelessness in King County. To the extent that homeless individuals have no support system and must eat to survive, the challenge is how to do that without falling into the crime/drug pressures of homelessness. For many (not all) it's a spiral -panhandling, crime , drugs, and other options. No denying that crime and drugs are a very big part of homelessness.

Shelters and soup kitchens are a source of food. I have had conversations with people who are homeless and the ways for coping with food/shelter/living are a varied as the individuals involved. My in-laws have volunteered and co-managed a food bank for years. I've assisted when visiting. The personalities and attitudes that people bring through the door are complex and from one extreme to the other - from heartfelt gratitude for a place to feed themsleves/family to resentment/anger for having to come in the door.

The "Providence solution" presented in the last part of the video is again a solution for those who get tangled in the addiction/crime tract of homelessness, but it is testament to the idea that there is a better option than "giving up" on individuals if/when they reach that point.

Regardless of how someone ends up destitute, anger, resentment, and apathy will not better the community - for anyone.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by livingminimal

Stick to whatever it is you actually know and understand about the world and leave this conversation to the big kids.

wow........doesn't take much for you to get all worked up now does it. Good grief.

[Big Dan]

The predictable "tough" guys showed up.

[91Bear]

Originally Posted by fiamme red

Here she is winning the gold medal in the 1993 Worlds pursuit, and setting the world record: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzTnU2HvbEc.

Marion Clignet was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 22 and was shunned by the United States Cycling Federation. She was born in Chicago. She broke this world record in 1995. Twigg reclaimed it the next day. Clignet broke it again the next year.

[cnighbor1]

Help those who help others in a positive manner
Rebecca stays here on occasion
Charles

From: Mary's Place <giving@marysplaceseattle.org>
To: Charles F. Nighbor >
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2019 12:11 PM
Subject: Charles F., thank you for standing by us!


Mary's Place

Dear Charles F.,

We are so grateful for your gift! Thanks to you, hope is in the air at Mary's Place! Thank You photo.jpg

So many families who were struggling to stay warm in cars and tents found their way to Mary's Place during this long, cold winter. Thanks to our community, we were able to open a severe weather emergency family shelter during the coldest days of the winter storms, and increase our capacity at other sites, to bring more families inside to a warm bed and a hot meal.

Maria and her special needs daughter Simi were refered to our emergency winter shelter on the first day of the snow. When a family member they were staying with became abusive, Maria knew she had to leave to keep her family safe – regardless of the weather.

Thanks ttto you, families like Maria and Simi’s had a safe, warm place to go in a crisis, and access to housing resources and employment opportunities. More importantly, you gave them hope that a better future is just around the corner. Your gift is saving lives – we hope you know how much we appreciate you!

Warmly,



Marty Hartman
Executive Director

Please print or save this message for your personal records.

Mary's Place Seattle is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation (tax ID #27-2087950). This note verifies that you received no goods or services in return for your donation.

Transaction Summary





Transaction Date:

4/15/19








Level:

Enter Amount


Amount:

$25.00


Honor or Memorial Gift:

Yes


Honor Gift Type:

In Honor of


Honoree Name:

Rebecca Twigg


Notification Recipient Name:

Rebecca Twigg


Notification Recipient Street 1:

ON the street


Notification Recipient City:

seattle


Notification Recipient State/Province:

WA


Notification Recipient ZIP/Postal Code:

44987


Message Body:

Give Rebecca a hug from me

[sitzmark]

Originally Posted by raygunner

Thanks for the link.

I'm about 1/3 through it, about where they're speaking of the problem not as a homeless problem but a drug problem.

Affordable housing will not address what is depicted in the documentary.

Was in a rush before and didn't comment on the bolded statement. Affordable housing can address some of what is depicted in the documentary .. or at least has a potential to do so and therefore shouldn't be discounted. If affordable shelter/housing can keep more people/families from slipping into the vortex of homelessness and poverty, then at least it helps keep the problem from growing. As a few here have recounted about their own entrapment in homelessness due to financial constraint - it's exceedingly difficult to climb out. Without a permanent address and those things that go along with it - personal hygiene, regular scheduling, communication, etc - finding employment is next to impossible. Without a job....

No single or easy answers unfortunately.

[Hellgate]

Her situation is sad indeed.

I distinctly recall being an 19YO CAT4 at an early season road race in Colorado in 1984 or so. I saw her in the Stars and Bars jersey, IIRC, and I was smitten.

Somewhere in a box of stuff I have a photo I took of her at the Coors Classic in the Wash Park crit. She was at the front. I'll see if I can find it.

As a 20 veteran of the Army, and having lost more Soldiers to suicide than combat, I can ensure you that mental wellness is a complex issue at best. All my deployments were with combat arms line units.

[Vientomas]

Originally Posted by cnighbor1

Help those who help others in a positive manner
Rebecca stays here on occasion
Charles

From: Mary's Place <giving@marysplaceseattle.org>
To: Charles F. Nighbor >
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2019 12:11 PM
Subject: Charles F., thank you for standing by us!


Mary's Place

Dear Charles F.,

We are so grateful for your gift! Thanks to you, hope is in the air at Mary's Place! Thank You photo.jpg

So many families who were struggling to stay warm in cars and tents found their way to Mary's Place during this long, cold winter. Thanks to our community, we were able to open a severe weather emergency family shelter during the coldest days of the winter storms, and increase our capacity at other sites, to bring more families inside to a warm bed and a hot meal.

Maria and her special needs daughter Simi were refered to our emergency winter shelter on the first day of the snow. When a family member they were staying with became abusive, Maria knew she had to leave to keep her family safe – regardless of the weather.

Thanks ttto you, families like Maria and Simi’s had a safe, warm place to go in a crisis, and access to housing resources and employment opportunities. More importantly, you gave them hope that a better future is just around the corner. Your gift is saving lives – we hope you know how much we appreciate you!

Warmly,



Marty Hartman
Executive Director

Please print or save this message for your personal records.

Mary's Place Seattle is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation (tax ID #27-2087950). This note verifies that you received no goods or services in return for your donation.

Transaction Summary





Transaction Date:

4/15/19








Level:

Enter Amount


Amount:

$25.00


Honor or Memorial Gift:

Yes


Honor Gift Type:

In Honor of


Honoree Name:

Rebecca Twigg


Notification Recipient Name:

Rebecca Twigg


Notification Recipient Street 1:

ON the street


Notification Recipient City:

seattle


Notification Recipient State/Province:

WA


Notification Recipient ZIP/Postal Code:

44987


Message Body:

Give Rebecca a hug from me

Really awesome. Good on ya.

[pbarry]

Thanks for the perspective from both sides of disparate worlds. Said earlier, but they, (those in elite competition and military combat), might be more connected than some think.

Originally Posted by Hellgate

Her situation is sad indeed.

I distinctly recall being an 19YO CAT4 at an early season road race in Colorado in 1984 or so. I saw her in the Stars and Bars jersey, IIRC, and I was smitten.

Somewhere in a box of stuff I have a photo I took of her at the Coors Classic in the Wash Park crit. She was at the front. I'll see if I can find it.

As a 20 veteran of the Army, and having lost more Soldiers to suicide than combat, I can ensure you that mental wellness is a complex issue at best. All my deployments were with combat arms line units.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

the oversimplification of such a complex, widespread issue is really pretty sad. .

You are being very diplomatic. Some one else said it, but the adage “there but for the grace of God go I” comes to mind. And I’m not a religious sort.

[Hellgate]

I don't understand it, as what I call "the darkness" will set in unannounced. It will pull at one unrelentingly. For some, they tire and give in, others will fight on as it ebbs and flows.

Each person's battle is unique and while the struggles appear the same to the outside, the pain and confusion is the same within.

The key is to not give up, ask for help and forgiveness, and to do positive, rewards things. The problem can lay with one mistaking short term negative things for positive ones, and the slippery slope begins.

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by josephr

good point....not planning for the future...riding out the moment. There's some similarities here with all the former NFL players who lived the high-life for a few years and then came out broke on the back side. I hope this doesn't sound to being overcritical, but my thoughts are that she can't/won't hold down a job, her friends have stopped letting her couch-surf, and her mom even gave her the boot are red flags she's refusing to take on responsibility for the adjustment....still in that "I'm a gold medalist" state of mind. I dunno, maybe that's unfair speculation on my part and there's clearly more to this story than we'll ever know. Kudos to her family and friends for declining to participate in the interviews. There's resources out there if she wants to make the change, but its not going to be easy. Hope she finds a way out of her hole.

Her mother threw her out when she was 15. And I don't see anything about her friends no longer letting her couch-surf.

From the article:

A prodigy in academics and athletics, she started at UW at the age of 14, competing in cycling that same year and medaling in national races almost right away. At this time, she was living in Seattle in a basement with her mother and sister.

Twigg’s sister says their mom kicked Twigg out; Twigg remembers being offered the option to leave and taking it. She was a few months from turning 16.

[sitzmark]

Originally Posted by josephr

good point....not planning for the future...riding out the moment. There's some similarities here with all the former NFL players who lived the high-life for a few years and then came out broke on the back side. I hope this doesn't sound to being overcritical, but my thoughts are that she can't/won't hold down a job, her friends have stopped letting her couch-surf, and her mom even gave her the boot are red flags she's refusing to take on responsibility for the adjustment....still in that "I'm a gold medalist" state of mind. I dunno, maybe that's unfair speculation on my part and there's clearly more to this story than we'll ever know. Kudos to her family and friends for declining to participate in the interviews. There's resources out there if she wants to make the change, but its not going to be easy. Hope she finds a way out of her hole.

From Rebecca's comments in the article, I get a different read:

There’s an odd “concert mentality” when you’re homeless, Twigg said, where it can be hard to separate yourself from the crowd. Her guilt and a sense that she had “unfair advantages” in life haven’t gone away.

Those words do not ring as entitlement that she should be catered to because of her past success, but instead that she does not deserve more success in her life when compared with others who've been estranged from family/society and aren't lucky enough to have the athletic and cognitive gifts that she has. ... "fear of success" basically.

Maybe, maybe not, but I think there's context in that statement. It's not necessarily bad that she choses not to monetize/maximize her talent(s) - only so to the extent that she is unhappy with her life. She seems to be searching for purpose. If so, hopefully she finds it because that is the true measure of success.

[tsarpepe]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

My toleration for coddling the homeless ended when I had to worry about stepping in human turds and my dog stepping on needles.

My toleration for you ended with this post.

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by tsarpepe

My toleration for you ended with this post.

I think you may have misunderstood his post. He said his tolerance for coddling the homeless...as in a misguided way of dealing with a problem.

I agree. I don’t think there is anything compassionate in allowing a human being to sit in their own feces and urine and allow them to shoot up. No one would allow or condone a baby to sit in a dirty diaper and leave drugs lying around for them to access. You would be thrown in jail for child endangerment. And yet out here in SF that’s basically the city’s approach to homelessness. I have personally witnessed the cops just stand there and do nothing and even walk away when homeless have masturbated in public, dropped their pants and crapped, yes crapped, right on the sidewalk, piss and do drugs, be completely intoxicated, etc.

If you allow criminal, aberrant and self destructive behavior it’s just begets more of the same. If you don’t believe come walk around San Francisco or Oakland. It just keeps getting worse.