Homeless Drug Addicts?
Question by mandy: homeless drug addicts?
Im doing a speech on the homeless and I was wondering if there are any free rehabs or places these homeless drug addicts can go to to get help. and if there isnt, does anyone have any good suggestions on how to help these people
thanks so much
ps please put your sources i dont want to make anyone else do the work 🙂
Best answer:
Answer by J B
Facts are that a lot of addicts are homeless and spend their time in homeless shelters at night so they have a warm place to sleep. Getting resources into these shelters would be the best way to reach these people but often, most of them do not want treatment. Supporting your local homeless shelters either financially or with donations of coats, hats, mittens/gloves, boots and blankets and sheets is how you can help. Or, donate your time to help serve meals at a shelter.
Answer by raysny
Mental health issues are the number one reason people are persistently homeless, a high percentage also abuse drugs and alcohol.
While there are places to go, there are far too many vying for too few resources. If 150 people are trying for 50 beds and you don’t get in, you have to find a relatively safe place to sleep, problem is, so is everyone else. And some of those people take advantage of the weaker and the sleeping.
There are also too many rules that people don’t want to deal with, like forced religion or not being able to get a bed or food if it appears you’ve been drinking or getting high.
Check this out:
http://www.camillus.org/camillus_resources/homelessness.php#causes
The 22% figure they give for mental illness is far too low, that may be for those seeking services, but not for the homeless in general.
I was homeless in Miami for several years in the 90s. I was diagnosed with depression before I started drinking. My landlord died, I had been taking care of him, his pets, and the house besides working. When he died, I took time off, settling things and looking for a new place. Couldn’t find anything as cheap. All the time I took off gave the place I worked a reason to fire me, I ended up losing the job I had for 5 years. My depression and the drinking cost me several jobs after that, I couldn’t keep it together long enough to keep up with rent.
Camillus House and the others were downtown, where there were more homeless people, more people mean less resources. Some of the homeless can get violent if they think you’re taking something away from them: their spot for a bed, day jobs, etc. Being on the street is dangerous.
Rather than take my chances downtown where there were more police and more homeless, I stayed in the area of town where I once lived. Some people knew me, where I hung out and would seek me out for day work. Most of the homeless in that area had mental health issues and abused substances. Why bother trying to get into a place if you know you’ll be turned down? Our dealings with the police left us leery to be involved with any type of government agencies. When you’re homeless, it’s difficult to jump through all the hoops required to get help. Some days you can’t scrape together a dollar to get on the bus to make an appointment, and if it gets rescheduled, they don’t have a number to reach you at to let you know, and you’ve wasted a day that you might have gotten some work.
One great way to stop homelessness before it happens is to have affordable mental health. My problem for a long time was that as long as I was working, I wasn’t eligible for help. I’d see someone for a short time, run out of money and start over. Alcohol took just enough of the edge off the depression that I didn’t kill myself, but it was the cause of another whole set of problems.
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