Rebecca Twigg is homeless

[berserk87]

This has been an interesting thread.

This thread, and Twigg's own plight have re-opened some pretty awful memories for me. I was homeless myself in 1991 for several months. I've been reluctant to comment about it but I'm hoping it might help some of our community see homelessness from maybe another perspective. I'm going to simplify things for the sake of brevity.

I am not nor have I ever been a substance abuser. I was 22 years old, just out of college, with no job and no "Plan B", after my "Plan A" for a career was ruined by a severe injury I had sustained. I had earned a degree that was worth nothing in an of itself, toward having any employable skill. I had no direction, no purpose, and no money. I was frightened of the future and depressed about my lack of a plan for it. I was ignorant about a great many things.

Staying with family was not an option. My family was (and still is) highly dysfunctional, and being on my own was safer that being at home, emotionally speaking. Home was a frightening and dangerous place. It was made clear that I was not welcome at home, and my leaving was a violent and regrettable event.

I stayed with friends, and their families, as long as they could tolerate. I lived out of my car. I stayed in a vacant house under auspicious circumstances (I wasn't supposed to be there). I only had $37 in my pocket when I left home, and I picked up a part time job waiting tables.

Eventually I got a one-bedroom apartment for $195/month in a neighborhood infested with heroin addicts and prostitutes. I barely scraped by for the next year, hopping from low-paying job to low-paying job, mostly part-time, and often 2 to 3 at a time.

I was only homeless for 3 or 4 months. That doesn't seem like a long time, but when you are going through it, and don't see the end of the story, it feels desperate and endless. I had a very hard time during that span imagining how things were going to work out for the good.

I can't speak to anyone else's story. I can't claim to understand homelessness in general, as each story is unique. Mine ended up being the perfect storm of circumstances versus my own vulnerabilities. It was the hardest period I've lived through. It took years to recover from, and in some ways, healthy or not, I'm not sure I fully have.

[paredown]

Originally Posted by mjb266

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/o...ty-record.html

For the folks wondering how "we" would ever be able to help out an "individual" who is homeless, the linked NY Times article is telling. The author notes, "between 2015 and 2017, Canada reduced its official poverty rate by at least 20 percent. Roughly 825,000 Canadians were lifted out of poverty in those years"

This is evidence (not anecdote) that a community of people make decisions that can alleviate, or perpetuate, things like homelessness. The abstract liberalism that folks lean on when they talk about "bootstraps" and free choice simplify complex issues and disregard complex histories that got us to where we are today.

Yes--that was a good--though incomplete--article about the recent program in Canada, and I think it is worth stressing that it began as a community-driven, information gathering program--trying to figure out the "poverty problem" as it manifested itself in each community, rather than prejudging and trying a one-size-fits-all solution.

I commented at the time though that I thought the article side-stepped an important set of other institutions in Canadian society that were already functioning/funded/available so that once the problems of individuals were identified, there were these other things available--like universal health care--that made the climb out of poverty easier, and Americans have not agreed that those programs are necessary, which made the whole thing harder to implement in the US.

The telling response to my comment by another reader was the things I was talking about--universal health care, public funded quality university education etc--were "SOCIALISM" pure and simple, that the US should not go down that road, and maybe we should use Canada rather than Venezuela as the exemplar of how wrong things get under said socialism...

The comment both made me laugh (because it was so predictable) and sad at the same time. The missing empathy is at the root of these failures to admit that the highest virtue is 'caritas'--charity or love depending on how you translate it--and it is sadly lacking in the US today.

[Vientomas]

Originally Posted by paredown

Yes--that was a good--though incomplete--article about the recent program in Canada, and I think it is worth stressing that it began as a community-driven, information gathering program--trying to figure out the "poverty problem" as it manifested itself in each community, rather than prejudging and trying a one-size-fits-all solution.

I commented at the time though that I thought the article side-stepped an important set of other institutions in Canadian society that were already functioning/funded/available so that once the problems of individuals were identified, there were these other things available--like universal health care--that made the climb out of poverty easier, and Americans have not agreed that those programs are necessary, which made the whole thing harder to implement in the US.

The telling response to my comment by another reader was the things I was talking about--universal health care, public funded quality university education etc--were "SOCIALISM" pure and simple, that the US should not go down that road, and maybe we should use Canada rather than Venezuela as the exemplar of how wrong things get under said socialism...

The comment both made me laugh (because it was so predictable) and sad at the same time. The missing empathy is at the root of these failures to admit that the highest virtue is 'caritas'--charity or love depending on how you translate it--and it is sadly lacking in the US today.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/11/71227...end-of-empathy

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by berserk87

This has been an interesting thread.

This thread, and Twigg's own plight have re-opened some pretty awful memories for me. I was homeless myself in 1991 for several months. I've been reluctant to comment about it but I'm hoping it might help some of our community see homelessness from maybe another perspective. I'm going to simplify things for the sake of brevity.

I am not nor have I ever been a substance abuser. I was 22 years old, just out of college, with no job and no "Plan B", after my "Plan A" for a career was ruined by a severe injury I had sustained. I had earned a degree that was worth nothing in an of itself, toward having any employable skill. I had no direction, no purpose, and no money. I was frightened of the future and depressed about my lack of a plan for it. I was ignorant about a great many things.

Staying with family was not an option. My family was (and still is) highly dysfunctional, and being on my own was safer that being at home, emotionally speaking. Home was a frightening and dangerous place. It was made clear that I was not welcome at home, and my leaving was a violent and regrettable event.

I stayed with friends, and their families, as long as they could tolerate. I lived out of my car. I stayed in a vacant house under auspicious circumstances (I wasn't supposed to be there). I only had $37 in my pocket when I left home, and I picked up a part time job waiting tables.

Eventually I got a one-bedroom apartment for $195/month in a neighborhood infested with heroin addicts and prostitutes. I barely scraped by for the next year, hopping from low-paying job to low-paying job, mostly part-time, and often 2 to 3 at a time.

I was only homeless for 3 or 4 months. That doesn't seem like a long time, but when you are going through it, and don't see the end of the story, it feels desperate and endless. I had a very hard time during that span imagining how things were going to work out for the good.

I can't speak to anyone else's story. I can't claim to understand homelessness in general, as each story is unique. Mine ended up being the perfect storm of circumstances versus my own vulnerabilities. It was the hardest period I've lived through. It took years to recover from, and in some ways, healthy or not, I'm not sure I fully have.

Thank you for your post.

[Mikej]

Originally Posted by David Tollefson

Accomplished is a light way to put it. She was world champion several times.

I see many similarities to returning combat vets who have problems settling into a more normal existence upon returning home.

My personal experience of being a US Marine is going to have to say the similarities are not even close to the same. By a million miles.

[weaponsgrade]

Originally Posted by berserk87

This has been an interesting thread.

This thread, and Twigg's own plight have re-opened some pretty awful memories for me. I was homeless myself in 1991 for several months. I've been reluctant to comment about it but I'm hoping it might help some of our community see homelessness from maybe another perspective. I'm going to simplify things for the sake of brevity.

I am not nor have I ever been a substance abuser. I was 22 years old, just out of college, with no job and no "Plan B", after my "Plan A" for a career was ruined by a severe injury I had sustained. I had earned a degree that was worth nothing in an of itself, toward having any employable skill. I had no direction, no purpose, and no money. I was frightened of the future and depressed about my lack of a plan for it. I was ignorant about a great many things.

Staying with family was not an option. My family was (and still is) highly dysfunctional, and being on my own was safer that being at home, emotionally speaking. Home was a frightening and dangerous place. It was made clear that I was not welcome at home, and my leaving was a violent and regrettable event.

I stayed with friends, and their families, as long as they could tolerate. I lived out of my car. I stayed in a vacant house under auspicious circumstances (I wasn't supposed to be there). I only had $37 in my pocket when I left home, and I picked up a part time job waiting tables.

Eventually I got a one-bedroom apartment for $195/month in a neighborhood infested with heroin addicts and prostitutes. I barely scraped by for the next year, hopping from low-paying job to low-paying job, mostly part-time, and often 2 to 3 at a time.

I was only homeless for 3 or 4 months. That doesn't seem like a long time, but when you are going through it, and don't see the end of the story, it feels desperate and endless. I had a very hard time during that span imagining how things were going to work out for the good.

I can't speak to anyone else's story. I can't claim to understand homelessness in general, as each story is unique. Mine ended up being the perfect storm of circumstances versus my own vulnerabilities. It was the hardest period I've lived through. It took years to recover from, and in some ways, healthy or not, I'm not sure I fully have.

Thanks for posting. It's a sad story all around.

[redir]

Originally Posted by berserk87

This has been an interesting thread.

This thread, and Twigg's own plight have re-opened some pretty awful memories for me. I was homeless myself in 1991 for several months. I've been reluctant to comment about it but I'm hoping it might help some of our community see homelessness from maybe another perspective. I'm going to simplify things for the sake of brevity.

I am not nor have I ever been a substance abuser. I was 22 years old, just out of college, with no job and no "Plan B", after my "Plan A" for a career was ruined by a severe injury I had sustained. I had earned a degree that was worth nothing in an of itself, toward having any employable skill. I had no direction, no purpose, and no money. I was frightened of the future and depressed about my lack of a plan for it. I was ignorant about a great many things.

Staying with family was not an option. My family was (and still is) highly dysfunctional, and being on my own was safer that being at home, emotionally speaking. Home was a frightening and dangerous place. It was made clear that I was not welcome at home, and my leaving was a violent and regrettable event.

I stayed with friends, and their families, as long as they could tolerate. I lived out of my car. I stayed in a vacant house under auspicious circumstances (I wasn't supposed to be there). I only had $37 in my pocket when I left home, and I picked up a part time job waiting tables.

Eventually I got a one-bedroom apartment for $195/month in a neighborhood infested with heroin addicts and prostitutes. I barely scraped by for the next year, hopping from low-paying job to low-paying job, mostly part-time, and often 2 to 3 at a time.

I was only homeless for 3 or 4 months. That doesn't seem like a long time, but when you are going through it, and don't see the end of the story, it feels desperate and endless. I had a very hard time during that span imagining how things were going to work out for the good.

I can't speak to anyone else's story. I can't claim to understand homelessness in general, as each story is unique. Mine ended up being the perfect storm of circumstances versus my own vulnerabilities. It was the hardest period I've lived through. It took years to recover from, and in some ways, healthy or not, I'm not sure I fully have.

Nice post Bezerk, glad you made it out alive.

---

One of the first jobs I had out of college was inspecting bridges. As you can imagine often times homeless people find a place to live under a bridge. It almost sounds like an old joke but it's true. I never met a homeless person living under a bridge that I didn't like and I met a lot of them. I'm sure some were drug users, doesn't make them bad people, but a lot of them most certainly were not.

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by Mikej

My personal experience of being a US Marine is going to have to say the similarities are not even close to the same. By a million miles.

As a retired Navy guy I have to agree with Mikej. I did 27 years and 20 deployments and while there were adjustments to make, they were on me to adapt and move on. I was never held up as a hero, I just did my job well and moved on to the next phase where I got to pick my own work clothes.

I think something that needs to be touched on is nurturing. It doesn't sound like Ms Twigg had any. A decade ago my ex and I took in a teenage niece who had be expelled from school in SC and basically had no adult supervision. We moved her to the PNW and put her back in school and evaluated her situation. She was a blank sheet of paper. She had no idea how things worked all the way down to a bed normally has two sheets, fitted and flat. She had poor hygiene, no manners, didn't know how to behave in public, etc, but she didn't have an evil bone in her body, she was just never "raised". She had been on her own since she was around 13. She lived with her mom but she was "done parenting". We tough loved her, stayed on her about school, gave her a chores list along with teaching her how, and forced responsibility upon her. She has since graduated from IU and is a kindergarten teacher. But without intervention in her teenage years, I could easily see her homeless. The fact that Ms Twigg was put out at 14 to be on her own is telling.

[livingminimal]

Almost 11,000 start to enter the homeless system every month in Los Angeles County.

Eleven thousand.

https://laist.com/2019/03/21/%20targ...os_angeles.php

Must all be lazy bums that have their hands out. Has to be it. Right?

[livingminimal]

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.

Coddling the homeless, because living outdoors 24 hours a day in all kinds of weather, under the threat of a zillion different dangerous situations (did you know 85% of homeless face sexual abuse, rape, or DV on a regular basis?) and intersected with addiction or mental health issues just sounds like a ****ing vacation you're coddled through, right? We should just arrest and export them all. that will solve it.

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

[raygunner]

Originally Posted by sitzmark

If you haven't viewed it ... Seattle is Dying https://youtu.be/bpAi70WWBlw ...a documentary of the homeless situation that has exploded in Seattle...

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.

[livingminimal]

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.

No, but Permanent Supportive Housing, will.

https://www.nhchc.org/policy-advocac...rtive-housing/

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by livingminimal

We should just arrest and export them all. that will solve it.

That's certainly one way. IIRC LA rounded up all the homeless and sent em somewhere else 'a while ago.' That was in 60s IIRC

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

Now now... No sense being that way. Opinions are like belly buttons: everyone's is different.

bordering on the political: Someone explain how universal healthcare would help the destitute who don't pay for their care anyways You and I do...

M

[Tony]

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.

I was also homeless, 2 years, from 1976-1978. Lots of similarities to berserk. Ended up at a boys ranch for several months.
Spent a week in the summer of 2008 living on the American River building a skin on frame kayak using hand tools and local materials, tent poles... with several homeless who I paid to help with this project.

I'm around and work with the homeless every week as I help my mom who has been feeding the homeless since the early sixties.

https://www.newsreview.com/sacrament...ent?oid=555071

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um7am5YTuxo

What I see is debilitating health issues, heartbreaking loss, laid offs, bad luck, and the most vulnerable and hardest to reach the mentally ill.

A big part of this problem is drug use and refusing to take on responsibility.

[mjb266]

Originally Posted by 19wisconsin64

Many new materials are being developed, many new large-scale printers are being developed to work with these new materials, and lots of large scale investments by both private and public scientists.

Okay, this sounds awesome...do you have video of a huge format 3-D printer at work?