Bag ladies, old maids and dogs, oh my These days, we do not talk about bag ladies, shopping cart women or Mary Sugar Bums as my mother so impolitely called them. Our worst nightmare. The homeless women on the streets that our mothers warned us that we would become if we did not snag a rich doctor husband, go to college and get a degree or became a starving artist, writer, actress or god forbid, an old maid. The bag ladies in NYC fed the pigeons at the park. And theyd push their shopping carts around the streets. No one noticed or pretended not to notice them. Did anyone ever talk to them or try to help them? Most people look down or away. Like in that song by Phil Collins. https://youtube/watch?v=Qt2mbGP6vFI Another Day In Paradise She calls out to the man on the street Sir, can you help me? Its cold and Ive nowhere to sleep, Is there somewhere you can tell me? He walks on, doesnt look back He pretends he cant hear her Starts to whistle as he crosses the street Seems embarrassed to be there Oh think twice, its another day for You and me in paradise Oh think twice, its just another day for you, You and me in paradise She calls out to the man on the street He can see shes been crying Shes got blisters on the soles of her feet Cant walk but shes trying Oh think twice... Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do Oh lord, there must be something you can say You can tell from the lines on her face You can see that shes been there Probably been moved on from every place Cos she didnt fit in there Oh think twice... The Bowery Bums were scowled at. Dad would say, Close the windows and lock the doors. The Bowery bums would clamor over to clean our car windows with their filthy rags whenever we stopped for a light. These men slept on the streets because they drank too much, according to parental wisdom. Shoo shoo, go away, they were told, as if they were flies. Perhaps if dad was feeling generous, a quarter or two would get thrown out the window. The men scrambled for the loose change. I always wondered why they were treated like yesterdays trash, sleeping on benches, wrapped in newspapers, like day old fish. It seemed unfair, cruel and inhumane. But I was a kid and did not ask questions that would get the parents scowling at me. Nowadays, homeless people (as they are now called) are banned in cities around the country. And Im a grown-up and can talk about their plight. I wonder out loud why dogs get homes but not homeless women over 50 in places like the Monterey Bay area. These Golden Girls are vulnerable and have health problems. They do not deserve to be sleeping on the streets. Yet, their population is increasing in LA, San Francisco and other cities in the USA. Imagine your mother, grandmother, aunt or sister without a dime, without support and without a home living on the streets. Cold shudder. Yet, this is happening now. And we can ignore the problem. Or we can solve it. And there ARE solutions. Studies have been done that show that it costs three times MORE per person per year in taxpayer dollars to leave homeless people out on the streets than to give people homes. And Utah has been doing just that. Giving homeless people apartments to live in with no strings attached. And it is working and saving millions of taxpayer dollars. So why arent more cities doing this? Some humane cities such as Eugene, Oregon, Austin, Texas and others are creating tiny home villages for homeless people. These are creative solutions. Perhaps there are others that fit your local community. Many people are outraged and do not know what to do. Some are afraid. Yet it is very clear that as Baby Boomers age, cost of living increases and high rents and foreclosures are leaving too many people out in the cold. This writer over 60 and her dog (who are in a precarious situation themselves) are raising money for Golden Girls, homeless women over 50 on fixed incomes to receive tiny homes. Some women have dogs. Others have no cars. All deserve homes. Thank you. #tinyhomes 4 Golden Girls, homesweetinyhome.wordpress/2014/08/16/golden-girls-need-a-tiny-home/
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 17:31:29 +0000
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