KezarLake t1_j4ctp67 wrote on January 14, 2023 at 8:27 PM

It’s disheartening to read an article about homelessness that opens by describing someone smoking a cigarette. That alone is such a waste of money. Then, the article talks about common roadblocks to homeless people getting jobs, specifically, the need for a phone and a physical address. If a homeless person needs a phone and a physical address, there are affordable ways to do this. Most carriers have prepaid phone plans for $15 a month and UPS offers a mail box with a physical address for as low as $10 a month. I guess it’s a vicious cycle, if you’re addicted to nicotine, you aren’t going to allocate that money to resources that can actually help you. This holds true for alcohol and illegal drugs addictions too.

Money-Topic-725 t1_j4edc8t wrote on January 15, 2023 at 2:52 AM

Hi 👋🏼 I work with the homeless population in Maine. You’re forgetting a number of barriers: transportation to and from the mail box you mentioned, being allowed to open and possess a bank account if you have poor credit (ran into this recently with a client), and I have NEVER seen a client who’s phone bill is only $15/month, typically it’s more like $45. Just quit cigarettes? If it was that easy, no one would smoke. I could go on and on but I would just gently and humbly remind you that things are not as easy as you’re making it seem.

[deleted] t1_j4fi6lu wrote on January 15, 2023 at 9:52 AM

My phone bill is currently $15 a month (there was a 10 dollar plan, but I wanted the 3gb of data instead of 1gb)

KezarLake t1_j4ei468 wrote on January 15, 2023 at 3:30 AM

Look, I’m simply saying, in response to the two specific barriers that the article speaks of, that there are possible solutions. The article itself totally glosses over the very struggles that you pointed out. No where in my response did I say/infer that these solutions were simple or easy. Homelessness is a very complex situation and full of Catch-22s. If the solutions were easy and simple, there’d, obviously, be much fewer homeless people. If you want to gently and humbly chide anyone, start with the organizations who put fluffy incomplete information out there, the legislators, policymakers, and the others who are in decision-making positions be it private or public.