With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

bob(from black rock) said:

With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

curious mob gathers……. “who’s got pitchforks?”

bob(from black rock) said:

With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

I bet there is a reality tv concept that could handle it……….

Do you mean how to solve the problem in theory, or how to solve the problem as it involves realpolitik?

There’s any number of cheap housing units/apartments could be built with state funds to accommodate the homeless in some sort of frugal but adequate degree of comfort, without bankrupting the state finances. The problem could be easily resolved from a physical point of view.

The real stumbling block is political. It would tend to create ghettos/slum areas which would breed it’s own new set of social problems. The other thing is that is would take demand away from the private housing sector, both rentals and owner-occupiers. A fall in demand would lead to an easing of housing prices. Lots of people invest in housing as a means to easy wealth creation. A long term stagnation of housing prices would not be politically popular with those who have already committed to those investments. In short, there is a section of Australian society who prefer housing scarcity.

The resident homeless guy around here, Gunther, is happy not to have a fixed address.

Postpocelipse said:

bob(from black rock) said:

With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

I bet there is a reality tv concept that could handle it……….

Well it would at least get lots of publicity, good idea!

party_pants said:

Do you mean how to solve the problem in theory, or how to solve the problem as it involves realpolitik?

There’s any number of cheap housing units/apartments could be built with state funds to accommodate the homeless in some sort of frugal but adequate degree of comfort, without bankrupting the state finances. The problem could be easily resolved from a physical point of view.

The real stumbling block is political. It would tend to create ghettos/slum areas which would breed it’s own new set of social problems. The other thing is that is would take demand away from the private housing sector, both rentals and owner-occupiers. A fall in demand would lead to an easing of housing prices. Lots of people invest in housing as a means to easy wealth creation. A long term stagnation of housing prices would not be politically popular with those who have already committed to those investments. In short, there is a section of Australian society who prefer housing scarcity.

Holding out on the political reasons is only leading to a bigger issue as the realities of many peoples lives are being overlooked for the sake of a few making ‘easy money’. This predeliction to there being a right to earn ‘easy money’ is predatory and irresponsible. There will be consequences….

bob(from black rock) said:

With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

More details, please. eg. why are about 100,000 Australians currently homeless? Didn’t Hawke say “By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty.”?

mrs m regularly contributes foods to a church charity that provides free food and supplies for poor Australians. I know of three churches that do this, two not far from Black Rock. In addition, mrs m’s church allows homeless people to come in and have a free shower and charge up their mobile phones.

One of my sisters regularly takes into her house people who are homeless, due to such causes as marriage break-up and loss of job. At any one time there may be three or so such people staying there. In addition, she and her husband have been helping convert other people’s places so they can let parts out as low-rent (eg. less than half the normal rate) accommodation.

mollwollfumble said:

bob(from black rock) said:

With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

More details, please. eg. why are about 100,000 Australians currently homeless? Didn’t Hawke say “By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty.”?

mrs m regularly contributes foods to a church charity that provides free food and supplies for poor Australians. I know of three churches that do this, two not far from Black Rock. In addition, mrs m’s church allows homeless people to come in and have a free shower and charge up their mobile phones.

One of my sisters regularly takes into her house people who are homeless, due to such causes as marriage break-up and loss of job. At any one time there may be three or so such people staying there. In addition, she and her husband have been helping convert other people’s places so they can let parts out as low-rent (eg. less than half the normal rate) accommodation.

Without knocking the charitable in any way, many of the charity systems in place do little to improve things and tend to contribute to the status quo.

party_pants said:

The real stumbling block is political. It would tend to create ghettos/slum areas which would breed it’s own new set of social problems. The other thing is that is would take demand away from the private housing sector, both rentals and owner-occupiers. A fall in demand would lead to an easing of housing prices. Lots of people invest in housing as a means to easy wealth creation. A long term stagnation of housing prices would not be politically popular with those who have already committed to those investments. In short, there is a section of Australian society who prefer housing scarcity.

My ex-workmate has bought 7 so far this year, totalling somewhere in the mid 30s.
He rents them out covering his costs and very little profit

stumpy_seahorse said:

party_pants said:

The real stumbling block is political. It would tend to create ghettos/slum areas which would breed it’s own new set of social problems. The other thing is that is would take demand away from the private housing sector, both rentals and owner-occupiers. A fall in demand would lead to an easing of housing prices. Lots of people invest in housing as a means to easy wealth creation. A long term stagnation of housing prices would not be politically popular with those who have already committed to those investments. In short, there is a section of Australian society who prefer housing scarcity.

My ex-workmate has bought 7 so far this year, totalling somewhere in the mid 30s.
He rents them out covering his costs and very little profit

Most people rent them out at a loss and claim back the tax benefits.

stumpy_seahorse said:

party_pants said:

The real stumbling block is political. It would tend to create ghettos/slum areas which would breed it’s own new set of social problems. The other thing is that is would take demand away from the private housing sector, both rentals and owner-occupiers. A fall in demand would lead to an easing of housing prices. Lots of people invest in housing as a means to easy wealth creation. A long term stagnation of housing prices would not be politically popular with those who have already committed to those investments. In short, there is a section of Australian society who prefer housing scarcity.

My ex-workmate has bought 7 so far this year, totalling somewhere in the mid 30s.
He rents them out covering his costs and very little profit

Another point. Stimulating housing the way it has been appears to provide a short period of high profits before leading to a more congested market with more issues. Wouldn’t promoting a system that doesn’t displace the low income bracket from affordable housing be more efficient long term?

>>SIGNS OF THE SIXTH MASS EXTINCTION

Problem solved?

party_pants said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

party_pants said:

The real stumbling block is political. It would tend to create ghettos/slum areas which would breed it’s own new set of social problems. The other thing is that is would take demand away from the private housing sector, both rentals and owner-occupiers. A fall in demand would lead to an easing of housing prices. Lots of people invest in housing as a means to easy wealth creation. A long term stagnation of housing prices would not be politically popular with those who have already committed to those investments. In short, there is a section of Australian society who prefer housing scarcity.

My ex-workmate has bought 7 so far this year, totalling somewhere in the mid 30s.
He rents them out covering his costs and very little profit

Most people rent them out at a loss and claim back the tax benefits.

when you owe the bank about $3mill, (and a wage in the mid $40Kpa) it’s no good running at a loss

mollwollfumble said:

bob(from black rock) said:

With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

More details, please. eg. why are about 100,000 Australians currently homeless? Didn’t Hawke say “By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty.”?

I used to believe that with the social security services available in this country, it was a choice to be homeless. However, I have since realised that long-term homelessness is usually the result of mental illness. With mental health service availability being stripped away from those who need it most, together with proposed changes to the eligibility for the dole, will see more homeless Australians than ever before.

bob(from black rock) said:

Postpocelipse said:

bob(from black rock) said:

With about 100,000 Australians currently home less, what can we do to help?

I bet there is a reality tv concept that could handle it……….

Well it would at least get lots of publicity, good idea!

bit of a ‘teach a man to fish’ problem. Some peoples homelessness might be addressed by supplying them with work but there is a growing demographic that require better management skills before they can maintain a property. Basic skills haven’t matched global development and the individual is sacrificed to a sense of progress.

“A phenomenological study offers detailed insights into homeless, alcohol-dependent patients often stigmatized by the public and policymakers as drains on the health care system, showing the constellation of reasons they are incapable of escaping social circumstances that perpetuate and exacerbate their problems The study, published online in Annals of Emergency Medicine, was conducted at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, which has a long history of service to the city’s indigent population.

…One hundred percent of patients enrolled in the study began drinking alcohol as children, becoming alcohol-dependent shortly thereafter…

Alcoholism was cited as the primary reason for living on the street.”

Well, OK, it was a small sample size… link

Postpocelipse said:

bob(from black rock) said:

Postpocelipse said:

I bet there is a reality tv concept that could handle it……….

Well it would at least get lots of publicity, good idea!

bit of a ‘teach a man to fish’ problem. Some peoples homelessness might be addressed by supplying them with work but there is a growing demographic that require better management skills before they can maintain a property. Basic skills haven’t matched global development and the individual is sacrificed to a sense of progress.

Indeed, I imagine without state housing we’d see a lot more homelessness as those people living in them are probably not capable of maintaining a property and associated rental costs

Cymek said:

Postpocelipse said:

bob(from black rock) said:

Well it would at least get lots of publicity, good idea!

bit of a ‘teach a man to fish’ problem. Some peoples homelessness might be addressed by supplying them with work but there is a growing demographic that require better management skills before they can maintain a property. Basic skills haven’t matched global development and the individual is sacrificed to a sense of progress.

Indeed, I imagine without state housing we’d see a lot more homelessness as those people living in them are probably not capable of maintaining a property and associated rental costs

Respect needs to be taught as well. In Tas, housing trust houses are quite often trashed/damaged beyond repair.

stumpy_seahorse said:

Cymek said:

Postpocelipse said:

bit of a ‘teach a man to fish’ problem. Some peoples homelessness might be addressed by supplying them with work but there is a growing demographic that require better management skills before they can maintain a property. Basic skills haven’t matched global development and the individual is sacrificed to a sense of progress.

Indeed, I imagine without state housing we’d see a lot more homelessness as those people living in them are probably not capable of maintaining a property and associated rental costs

Respect needs to be taught as well. In Tas, housing trust houses are quite often trashed/damaged beyond repair.

I agree, WA has a problem with this as well

>100,000 homeless

How many of these are long-term homeless and how many are just temporarily “sleeping rough”?

B-And-Bee shelter looks to comfort festival goers

Each year, millions of people head to their festival of choice with tent and sleeping bag in hand. Belgian company Achilles Design aims to bring those festival goers a little extra comfort – and save space too – with its honeycomb-shaped B-And-Bee shelter.

more….

these designs could provide some inspiration

portable as in the above link or fixed as in the below link

How to use a Japanese Capsule Hotel

We’ve looked at some radical ideas for hotels in the past, including Russia’s Ark Hotel, Mexico’s Tubohotel and Sweden’s Treehotel. Perhaps it is the Japanese “capsule hotels,” however, that most stretch the imagination. A capsule hotel is Japan’s solution for cheap accommodation for guests primarily wanting to sleep and nothing else.

more….

Bubblecar said:

>100,000 homeless

How many of these are long-term homeless and how many are just temporarily “sleeping rough”?

I don’t know, but either way it must be fuckin orrible sleeping outside in Melbourne in winter

bob(from black rock) said:

Bubblecar said:

>100,000 homeless

How many of these are long-term homeless and how many are just temporarily “sleeping rough”?

I don’t know, but either way it must be fuckin orrible sleeping outside in Melbourne in winter

Homeless man and woman ‘using butane heater for warmth’ found dead with dog in car near Ballarat

from the link

Two homeless people believed to have been using a butane heater to keep warm in their car have been found dead on the outskirts of Ballarat in central Victoria.

Police found the bodies of the 27-year-old man and 24-year-old woman inside the car, which was parked on Smarts Hill Road in Cardigan.

It is believed the pair had been living in the car and were using a butane heater to keep warm.

Their dog was also found dead in the vehicle.

Police made the discovery while checking on the car around 9:30pm on Friday and were not treating the deaths as suspicious.

The coroner will investigate whether fumes from the heater contributed to the deaths.

Dr Bruce Redmond from the Salvation Army said it was a sad reminder of the difficulties facing homeless people in winter.

“I think a lot of us have been complaining about the cold and really been feeling it this year,” he said.

“But there are many people who are doing it tough who don’t have a roof over their heads and having to live in cars or live on people’s floors or on their couches.

“That’s one of the real faces of homelessness that we’re seeing more and more of.”

Dr Redmond said keeping people warm during winter was one of the Salvation Army’s biggest challenge in Victoria.

“ are certainly stretched to the edges in terms of helping people with blankets and with assistance to heat their houses and that type of thing,” he said.

“It’s a pretty tough time of the year and I think it reminds us of just how tough people will do it.”

So perhaps charity organizations should consider these honeycomb shelters.

a company to build them

somewhere to put them

CrazyNeutrino said:

So perhaps charity organizations should consider these honeycomb shelters.

a company to build them

somewhere to put them

+ Government funding

party_pants said:

Do you mean how to solve the problem in theory, or how to solve the problem as it involves realpolitik?

There’s any number of cheap housing units/apartments could be built with state funds to accommodate the homeless in some sort of frugal but adequate degree of comfort, without bankrupting the state finances. The problem could be easily resolved from a physical point of view.

The real stumbling block is political. It would tend to create ghettos/slum areas which would breed it’s own new set of social problems. The other thing is that is would take demand away from the private housing sector, both rentals and owner-occupiers. A fall in demand would lead to an easing of housing prices. Lots of people invest in housing as a means to easy wealth creation. A long term stagnation of housing prices would not be politically popular with those who have already committed to those investments. In short, there is a section of Australian society who prefer housing scarcity.

Yes

CrazyNeutrino said:

So perhaps charity organizations should consider these honeycomb shelters.

a company to build them

somewhere to put them

Aka

The Matrix

wookiemeister said:

CrazyNeutrino said:

So perhaps charity organizations should consider these honeycomb shelters.

a company to build them

somewhere to put them

Aka

The Matrix

We can thank the bees for that hex design

CrazyNeutrino said:

wookiemeister said:

CrazyNeutrino said:

So perhaps charity organizations should consider these honeycomb shelters.

a company to build them

somewhere to put them
Our local homeless bloke has a fixed address. Under the bridge on the Eastern side of town. It gets a thorough cleaning every flood.

Aka

The Matrix

We can thank the bees for that hex design

There has been some controversy about new high-rise apartments in Melbourne. The Lord Mayor dismissed window-less rooms as no better than cupboards.

I agree that there has to be some minimum standard for living spaces.

Witty Rejoinder said:

There has been some controversy about new high-rise apartments in Melbourne. The Lord Mayor dismissed window-less rooms as no better than cupboards.

I agree that there has to be some minimum standard for living spaces.

I think it’s great, it’s a measure of mental illness that you’d have people living in these places

I bet they don’t have a kitchen either

You could do away with expensive plumbing and just have a drop off service at your front door

wookiemeister said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

There has been some controversy about new high-rise apartments in Melbourne. The Lord Mayor dismissed window-less rooms as no better than cupboards.

I agree that there has to be some minimum standard for living spaces.

I think it’s great, it’s a measure of mental illness that you’d have people living in these places

I bet they don’t have a kitchen either

You could do away with expensive plumbing and just have a drop off service at your front door

No windows would mandate year round air conditioning. Not such a good idea.

Anecdataly, all my homeless patients this year have had mental illnesses of varying severity.

Maybe in the future people will sleep in pneumatic tubes that whisk them around the city

A deluxe sleeper would have barely enough room for two people to sleep and argue with each other in

You climb into your pod and it whisks you away to be stacked somewhere

If you die in the night the pod just takes you straight to the cemetery where you’ll be assessed and then incinerated

Maybe in the future people will sleep in pneumatic tubes that whisk them around the city

A deluxe sleeper would have barely enough room for two people to sleep and argue with each other in

You climb into your pod and it whisks you away to be stacked somewhere

If you die in the night the pod just takes you straight to the cemetery where you’ll be assessed and then incinerated

OCDC said:

Anecdataly, all my homeless patients this year have had mental illnesses of varying severity.

Large numbers end up in the criminal justice system and prison as well

Cymek said:

OCDC said:

Anecdataly, all my homeless patients this year have had mental illnesses of varying severity.

Large numbers end up in the criminal justice system and prison as well

Yes, at least two of this year’s, that we’re aware of.

OCDC said:

Anecdataly, all my homeless patients this year have had mental illnesses of varying severity.

pterodactylally most of my meetings with the homeless seem to suggest alcohol plays a big part

Cymek said:

OCDC said:

Anecdataly, all my homeless patients this year have had mental illnesses of varying severity.

prison

That seems to solve the problem.

Keeps Cymek in employment anyway

Are there different types of homeless people?

wookiemeister said:

OCDC said:

Anecdataly, all my homeless patients this year have had mental illnesses of varying severity.

pterodactylally most of my meetings with the homeless seem to suggest alcohol plays a big part

I think with the unemployed the new 6 months without money will put many more there who won’t be able to afford grog, unless they break into your house.

There’s a well-known homeless character in Hobart called Stinky Wilson who usually sleeps in doorways and church porches etc and is often drunk, but he’s also prone to shouting at passing cars and loudly bickering with himself.

Bubblecar said:

There’s a well-known homeless character in Hobart called Stinky Wilson who usually sleeps in doorways and church porches etc and is often drunk, but he’s also prone to shouting at passing cars and loudly bickering with himself.

Sounds like something PWM would do.

Years ago I nearly died of an injury , not that the hospital could give a fuck at the time. When I got myself together I arranged a meet and a scan and they promptly told me that they wouldn’t/ couldn’t tell me anything, actually the GP (that useless cunt – he was the one that killed my step father) refused to tell me anything anything sat in the file infront of him – I had to wait till I came over here.

nowadays I roam the streets homeless with a pronounced limp waving a walking stick raving about the battle of mucho grande. save for well heeled strangers in their jet black business suits and pony tails draped over their shoulders, I’m broke, managing to make some small change before I clamp my pale frigid palms over their warm soft hand, fixing them with a terrifying stare (terry is actually a good bloke once you’ve got to know him) – and glimpse into the horror that is their future.

the look on their face is priceless , its the only thing that keeps me going on the worst of days and I let out a choking bellow of laughter drawing myself uncomfortably closer as I pull them closer into my space and further , uncomfortably into their “personal space”. my rank breath being sucked up into their nostrils making them gag, moving all over their body through their lovely hair and across the perfumed skin of their necks. after all they say “laughter is the best medicine”.

e- harmony made me take this off my profile as it garnered too many complaints , no loss the only bites I was getting was from men sending me pornographic pictures.

wookiemeister said:

e- harmony made me take this off my profile as it garnered too many complaints , no loss the only bites I was getting was from men sending me pornographic pictures.

ROFL

CrazyNeutrino said:

So perhaps charity organizations should consider these honeycomb shelters.

a company to build them

somewhere to put them

There’s any number of options. I’ve seen pictures before of capsule hotels, micro apartments made from large diameter steel or concrete tubing. There’s also the option of donga camps or converted shipping containers in a secure compound somewhere. Not flash, but they can be made warm and dry as a place to bed down for the night.

euthanasia

Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense