How exactly do people end up homeless.

mariaalice

Possibley a silly thread.

I purchased a cup of coffee for a beggar the other day, I don't give them money but i will buy them a coffer or a tea. Chatted to him and realised he was an intelligent articulate person he was doing the Irish times crossword as he sat begging did not appear to be a junkie.

How does an articulate intelligent person who does not have a drug issue end up homeless particularly one who would be intelligent enough to have a decent job perhaps its mental illness? I don't believe its all just down to high rents.

Harry Palmr

By losing a place to live. Could be a relationship break up, the foreclosing of a mortgaged property, loss of a low paid job with no savings and no way to pay rent. No family to bail them out, or a family but not the sort who would help you. Friends can get bored with sofa surfers quickly enough, understandably. Some people are just not well versed in how to communicate with the DSP so stay away or are too "proud" to do so.

pjohnson

Cant afford house/rent.

mariaalice

pjohnson wrote: »

Cant afford house/rent.

There is more too it than that though a person needs to give up a huge amount of their dignity to sit down and beg for money on the streets.

Del2005

Not all beggars are homeless. It's easy money just sitting and waiting for money to be dropped in your lap.

I had the pleasure of listening to a person having a conversation from the top of a bus to their friend outside the Central Bank discussing how much they'd made that morning and were now going out for the night.

Wheeliebin30

It's not just can't afford rent with men.

A minimum wage job will pull you 350-400 a week.

You can rent rooms all over Dublin for 500 a month in some places.

It is other factors.

_Roz_

Lots of reasons. When I was growing up, the potential loss of my family home wasn't an uncommon theme. That was largely due to poor financial decisions by my father on top of him being out of work for two years after an accident. In order to pay debt, the house has been remortgaged twice, I think. It would have cost £12,000 to buy twenty years ago, and the mortgage on it now is over a grand a month. My mum is once again facing into the possibility of losing it, at the age of 56. My dad can't afford to pay it, because he doesn't work and won't get a real job. My mum's working hours have been halved, and even at full hours she couldn't pay half the mortgage monthly herself because it's a low paying job. At 56 with only that one job to her name in a tiny town, she'd be hard pushed to find another job that pays any better.

I myself have always struggled with money, due to anxiety and depression making jobseeking difficult and resulting in long stints on the dole. At least twice, I've faced the idea that I would end up homeless, particularly in the last year or two as rent prices have skyrocketed with increasingly insane demands from landlords (like two months rent and a deposit upfront).

Fortunately, I'm now in a stable financial living situation with my partner, but it really can happen to anyone.

mariaalice

Del2005 wrote: »

Not all beggars are homeless. It's easy money just sitting and waiting for money to be dropped in your lap.

I had the pleasure of listening to a person having a conversation from the top of a bus to their friend outside the Central Bank discussing how much they'd made that morning and were now going out for the night.

They still had to sit on the pavement and beg passers by for money.

begbysback

Intelligent people can still have mental or emotional issues, in fact it could be argued that the higher the intelligence then the higher the risk to mental issues.,.

whiskeygirl

Mental health issues, abusive upbringing, no family left, or a childhood in chaotic foster system then spat out onto the street at 18. Addiction problems, breakdown of relationship. So many variables, it's hard to list.

amcalester

gizmo81 wrote: »

Read what posters on A&P advise each other to do to tenants then you'll realise how people end up homeless.

Stupid post is stupid.

737max

(based on conversations with someone working with the homeless) If the homeless person is a woman(with or without kids) it is usually because they have tied their fortunes to a useless occassionally present troublemaking waster who is so toxic that they can't get accomodated.

rekluse

mariaalice wrote: »

Possibley a silly thread.

I purchased a cup of coffee for a beggar the other day, I don't give them money but i will buy them a coffer or a tea. Chatted to him and realised he was an intelligent articulate person he was doing the Irish times crossword as he sat begging did not appear to be a junkie.

How does an articulate intelligent person who does not have a drug issue end up homeless particularly one who would be intelligent enough to have a decent job perhaps its mental illness? I don't believe its all just down to high rents.

Big difference between begging and rough sleeping.

NIMAN

Maybe some are pretending they are homeless to get up the housing list?

Admittedly, the guy the OP met probably isn't pulling a stroke.

keeponhurling

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

It's not just can't afford rent with men.

A minimum wage job will pull you 350-400 a week.

You can rent rooms all over Dublin for 500 a month in some places.

It is other factors.

HairyCabbage

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

It's not just can't afford rent with men.

A minimum wage job will pull you 350-400 a week.

You can rent rooms all over Dublin for 500 a month in some places.

It is other factors.

I don't understand, what are you referring to?

Porklife

Del2005 wrote: »

Not all beggars are homeless. It's easy money just sitting and waiting for money to be dropped in your lap.

I had the pleasure of listening to a person having a conversation from the top of a bus to their friend outside the Central Bank discussing how much they'd made that morning and were now going out for the night.

If your definition of easy is sitting on a street in a multitude of adverse weather conditions, having passers by ignore you, your dignity dwindling away and feelings of desperation and isolation gripping your soul, not to mention the fear of being beaten, stabbed or even murdered then yeah, by all accounts it's 'easy' money.:rolleyes:

Mrs OBumble

There are two distinctly different types of homeless.

The traditional sort is just a euphemism for mental health issues (including abusing alcohol or other substances). People with these problems sometimes just cannot get their sh*t together enough to maintain a home. A few have issues which mean they cannot sleep inside a building. F*cked up parenting is the cause of some of this type. Unlucky genetics some. And poor life choices which cascade onto each other.

The more recent type is unable to afford to rent a place (mainly affects parents who need space for kids, and older people who are past house-sharing, or people who get sick or have accidents), or unable to find a place to rent (due to empty houses being in the wrong location for jobs, and government policies that discourage land-lording).

People who beg on the street may or may not be homeless. Some are housed, but have nothing better to do with their days. Some don't want to be housed, because they make a lot from begging. And while you have to give up a lot of dignity to do that in some people's eyes - others see it as more dignified than working in a low paid job for a bully of a manager.

Are Am Eye

Porklife wrote: »

If your definition of easy is sitting on a street in a multitude of adverse weather conditions, having passers by ignore you, your dignity dwindling away and feelings of desperation and isolation gripping your soul, not to mention the fear of being beaten, stabbed or even murdered then yeah, by all accounts it's 'easy' money.:rolleyes:

Yeah but a thousand euro a week tax free?

Riskymove

mariaalice wrote: »

How does an articulate intelligent person who does not have a drug issue end up homeless particularly one who would be intelligent enough to have a decent job perhaps its mental illness? I don't believe its all just down to high rents.

could have a gambling habit for example rather than drink or drugs

KungPao

How many people have lost their job, for whatever reason, and moved back in the folks til they get themselves sorted?

Imagine the same, but you don't get on well them, or they are dead. Where do you go? Your friends will help, but they may not have room or whatever. And that's not a long term solution anyway.

Many people are only a month or two away from having nowhere to live if they lose their jobs.

The Backwards Man

Some people would rather sleep rough than with family.

Some people would rather their family slept rough than give them a roof.

Plus a million other reasons.

They're shouldn't be one homeless person in a country such as Ireland, but there always will be.

Porklife

Are Am Eye wrote: »

Yeah but a thousand euro a week tax free?

... when you put it that way!! Where do I sign?!

corner of hells

I know the local authorities use a definition of what constitutes being homeless , it includes people living rough , living in hostels, living in relatives housing because there's no alternative accomodation and people living institutions.

Are Am Eye

Porklife wrote: »

... when you put it that way!! Where do I sign?!

Stay off my patch!

mariaalice

I would say the guy I met does very well for himself, he was set up near but not outside a coffee shop knowing full well that those who buy take away coffee will often have a bit of small change left from buying the coffee all those 40 cents add up.

Amirani

I think there's 2 distinct types of "homeless" that tend to get blurred a bit when talking about the topic.

First is the type that don't have a permanent/semi-permanent home. This will include people living in hotels, hostels and various sorts of temporary accommodation. The primary reason for this type of homelessness will tend to be financial - i.e. can't afford to buy or rent a place and as such are being provided for by a local authority with a view to getting more long-term social housing provided to them in future.

Second is the sleeping-rough type of homeless whereby people literally live on the street. This tends to be about much more than financial reasons and is much more likely to be as a result of addiction and/or illness.

Both are quite tragic, but the first type has much more solutions available and is much less dire a situation generally.

corner of hells

Amirani wrote: »

I think there's 2 distinct types of "homeless" that tend to get blurred a bit when talking about the topic.

First is the type that don't have a permanent/semi-permanent home. This will include people living in hotels, hostels and various sorts of temporary accommodation. The primary reason for this type of homelessness will tend to be financial - i.e. can't afford to buy or rent a place and as such are being provided for by a local authority with a view to getting more long-term social housing provided to them in future.

Second is the sleeping-rough type of homeless whereby people literally live on the street. This tends to be about much more than financial reasons and is much more likely to be as a result of addiction and/or illness.

Both are quite tragic, but the first type has much more solutions available and is much less dire a situation generally.

I work in homeless services , you're more or less spot on.