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Who says America isn't a socialist country!!!!
Last time I checked one out of five people receive food stamps, that up from the most recent count of 1 out of 8 people. And from this article it sounds like our government masters are forcing the rest of us to pay for homes which will be given free of charge for homeless people to live in. Every year we become more and more like Russia! Local program provides 35 with homes By Michelle Ye Hee Lee The Republic | azcentral.com Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:14 PM After 25 years of homelessness, David Hartnett got an unforgettable Christmas gift this year: a home. “Sorry about my apartment being a mess,” joked Hartnett, 39, whose neatly arranged studio apartment smelled of air freshener and a candle. Thirty-five chronically homeless people like Hartnett will have moved into homes by the end of January through a local Housing First program being funded for the first time by federal housing vouchers. The Housing First model is a newer approach to helping the chronically homeless — those who have been on the streets for a year or more or have been homeless on and off at least four times in the past three years. The idea is to get the most vulnerable homeless men and women into a home first, then provide them with social services to help them get back on their feet. Longtime homeless people are used to being in survival mode and often have a victim’s mind-set that the system works against them, housing experts say. The Housing First approach removes barriers to housing and offers homeless people a place to live with no strings attached. Then, residential coordinators ease in a less-structured form of case management after they move in. Social-service providers at the downtown Phoenix Human Services Campus and some Phoenix shelters identified potential program participants among local chronically homeless people, then used an assessment tool to gauge their life expectancy on the street based on their mental health, medical needs, substance-abuse history and years of homelessness. Providers created a list of potential participants with the highest scores and offered housing vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to those on the list, starting at the top. The first 19 moved in by Christmas Day, and the rest are expected to move in by the end of January. Social-service organizations at the Human Services Campus and Arizona Housing Inc. collaborated to obtain the HUD funding for the program. Most of the residents already know one another from their years on the street. One of Hartnett’s good friends, John Loftus, moved into a unit above him at a northwest Phoenix apartment complex. Knowing other residents has made efforts to stabilize their lives easier, they said. On Christmas Day, the two friends watched TV and cooked steak fajitas with rice, tortillas, sour cream and pico de gallo. [How nice, and I bet our tax dollars paid for the whole thing!!! “Believe it or not, there are a lot of people down there that are homeless who actually do care. They just need that one break in life,” said Hartnett, who bounced around friends’ homes when he was not sleeping on the streets for the past 25 years. “I’m almost a 40-year-old man, and I was in tears when I moved in. It didn’t take even two minutes for me to break down.” Being off the streets also means they are away from constant temptations that can lead to setbacks in their lives. At the properties where the homeless people are moving in, they can be a part of a stable residential community, [now that's an oxymoron, a stable residential community of homeless folks] participating in activities such as Wii bowling tournaments, farmers markets and movie nights. [And best of all the government is forcing somebody else to pay for it!!!] Food and furniture were donated by social-service providers and food banks. [I don't have any problem with private groups like food banks giving their money to homeless folks. It's when the government practices charity at gun point and takes our money and gives it to the homeless that I have a problem with. ] Residents also use food stamps to buy their food. Rent is free, but residents must pay 30 percent of their income for rent once they are employed. There are residential coordinators, case managers and employment specialists on site to help the residents. They provide case management in an informal way rather than having a strict program, which tends not to work on chronically homeless people. [So in addition to being a welfare program for homeless folks it sounds like a jobs program for government welfare employees that help the homeless] “You’re not in survival mode anymore. ... All the basics are covered, now what do you want to do?” said John Wall, Arizona Housing Inc. supportive-housing director. [And John Wall forgot to say the taxpayers are paying the whole bill, including his salary!!!] Both Hartnett and Loftus, 51, for years have tried on their own to get back on their feet but failed each time. They struggle with mental illness and receive services from the Southwest Behavioral Health Services. [And guess who is pay for his bills at Southwest Behavioral Health Services? You guessed right - the taxpayers!!!] Loftus was homeless on and off for 11 years. He used methamphetamine for 15 years and would spend any extra cash on drugs. When he lost his job and became homeless in 2009, he had no savings. [And of course he is still broke and penniless, but the government is forcing YOU to pay for his housing] He ended up at the Central Arizona Shelter Services shelter and asked for help. He has been sober for three years and will continue mental-health services. “Being here, it’s, I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s the best thing that’s happened in the last 20 years,” Loftus said, leaning against the kitchen counter in Hartnett’s apartment. [Yea, it's great when the government forces the rest of you suckers to pay for my housing] “You have your place before you can go out there (into society). There’s no pressure on you. Everything’s up to you as a person to do what you need to do.” [And best of all the government is forcing some other sucker to pay for it] |