Homelessness growing 2017

I work in Anaheim, CA. My office is down the street from tent city, Anaheim. I can’t touch on the entire subject of being homeless now, but I do know why it’s getting worse. It won’t stop for many reasons. Although being homeless isn’t always a problem, most of the time it is. Some people don’t want societies’ idea of being free. Working at least eight hours a day five days a week just to barely make it does not sound enticing to some.

I believe these tent cities are most prevalent in big cities because that’s where the concentration of wealth and jobs are. I’m sure many homeless believed they would find a job eventually in the cities they are now homeless in. The hopes of finding a new job stays a hope in their head until eventually they can’t even afford to do laundry. With so much competition for work they end up at a disadvantage. Now they are desperate. Begging for food and money from people that they may have been close to being colleagues with.

Before you bash the homeless as lazy or drug and alcohol addicted let me agree with you on something. Many homeless are lazy, addicted, mentally ill even. But many genuinely really tried. Think about how you would make it if you had no family. Nobody to lean on if you lost your job. How much savings do you have? Or, if you stayed at home and take care of the children and your spouse that worked just took off. I’m just trying to explain how it’s hard to discern each situation from one another. I try to think of each person’s situation as unique.

I personally know people who are on the verge of homelessness. My own brother lost his apartment three weeks ago. I offered for him to come live with me. But, he lives two hours away and wants to stay near his children. Luckily he has a friend named Bill that lets him live in his RV. It devastates my brother. He turned to drinking for a while. Fortunately, he’s found a new job. I’ve been laid off and just like my brother, I have no family to lean on in tough times. In certain ways I have caused my own financial stress, so I can’t complain about the struggle. Although the struggle is real for many? I bought my wife a Lexus. Not exactly frugal spending.

Back to societies version of being free. I started working at a young age. Newspaper route in fifth grade, cleaning yards for four dollars an hour, McDonalds 16, etc. I’ve been paying taxes for over thirty years. At times I’m worn out from this living. While I am thankful for being as fortunate as I am. Some Mondays though I don’t want to get up for work. So i can see why some would prefer to live their day actually free. Let’s be real. Unless you are lucky and inherited a large amount of money, or a house you are forced to join society. Sure, there are plenty of people thriving every day doing something they love, or passionate about. But, fact is if you want to pay for your home, car, food, etc? You have no choice but to (one of my favorite Jim Morrison lines) trade your hours for a handful of dimes. Along with that comes taxes and the politics and culture of wherever you work. I love what I do for a living, but I hate the Capitalistic part of it. Love free enterprise but I hate people taking advantage of others. Yet, that’s literally the definition of Capitalize. Instead, it should be win win.

Rent is rising faster than income in this country, especially California. The lowest rent I know of in Orange county is around 1,300. That’s a one to maybe two bedroom. In a not so great area of whatever city you live in. Anaheim, Huntington, Santa Ana, etc. That might even be on the low side. To be in nicer areas or South Orange County it’s more like 1,600-2,000. I pay 2,500 currently. A couple of months without a job and that can be hard to keep up with. For someone that has no family, a few months without work and you could be living on the streets.

But, why aren’t we free? Why is there so few places that you can stay for free? If this is a free country, then why aren’t there any free places to stay? You can go to the beach for free, if you don’t bring a car. But don’t try to sleep on the beach, you’ll get arrested. You hve to pay for camp spots. Can’t sleep in a park most of the time. Especially in California. So your telling me the state where it is actually warm enough to sleep outside, there are virtually no free places to stay? Why are we not actually free?

While I may have digressed from my main point about homelessness. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s not going away. The economy may be