Free homes for the homeless....

[bjsilent]

I hope they give these homes to people who truly need it ( working poor,homeless seniors ) and not the young criminal junkies running all over the downtown core using and abusing the local shelters and other agencies.

[Jflem1983]

As bad as it sounds. Getting people off the street. Is likely a good investment. Far better than heroin bus.

Im not really for just giving free homes.

I am for having places for people to go that are homes.
I think the difference between a shelter and having your own little bit of space is huge. Makes it easier to get a job when u have a real address .

Kindersley Sask had a homeless guy. His name was Henry. He used to get tossed in jail for sleeping in the rail yard . The town gave him an old run down house. He never really got arrested much after that. One night he was drunk sleeping on the road tho. One of the locals ran him over. Suspected to be on purpose...


Anyways Medicine Hat and Kindersley. Two prairie towns who pulled together to get people off the streets. To varrying degrees of success .
It has worked other places as well.


I will be first to say . Kelowna we have a special kind of worthless person . Thiefs and low lifes multiply like rats here . Obviously we are gonna have way more half baked too lazy to try idiots here. This has always been handout country for some .

[the truth]

I hope they give these homes to people who truly need it ( working poor,homeless seniors ) and not the young criminal junkies running all over the downtown core using and abusing the local shelters and other agencies.

safe bet the people in charge will f even this up

[lb98]

I'm always amazed at the level of ignorance that people on this forum have when it comes to social issues in our community. The people that end up on our streets are often dealt with by the police, emergency rooms, end up in jails, and use other public services. Who pays for all of those? Oh, that's right, the same people that *bleep* and moan about free handouts. Do you realize that it actually costs the taxpayer more to keep people homeless then it is to provide 'free' housing. Obviously not, because if you did, you wouldn't make your asinine, ignorant, and completely misinformed suggestions.

There are plenty of people in Kelowna who live in poverty, yet they have a roof over their head. There are plenty of people that have alcohol and drug addictions that have a home. Some of them are probably on this forum and spew their vitriol about 'those' people and how they are undeserving of help. To say 'all' homeless people have this or that going on is to truly not understand the issue.

The suggestion to 'just get a job' is great, but did you realize that some of the people that 'live' in our shelters are the working poor, and because our rental market is so messed up right now, finding s place to rent is next to impossible. And the idea of people doing clean up work would never fly. Why? Because this would provide competition for the unionized employees of the city who make a comfortable living doing what 'those people' are capable of.

People, if there is one thing you can do, please educate yourself on what this issue is really all about. As with all segments of society, there are well meaning and kind-hearted people, and there are miserable *bleep* out there. This applies to all strata of the community, including our most affluent, and those that are experiencing homelessness. The mindset that lazy people are welching off the system and just want a handout is misguided, and quite frankly, shows your lack of intelligence. I've never met anyone who said that when I grow u, I want to be homeless, addicted, and exploited. But reading the words on here, you'd think that it's simply a choice. It's far beyond this. Please, think about what this really is, and stop with the ignorance. Unless you are comfortable with a continued waste of your money as a taxpayer, because that's exactly what your ignorance does. It costs money, and it costs lives.

Kelowna, you're better than this.

[alanjh595]

UUuuuMMmmmm........what do you personally do to support your diatribe? What can you do to provide evidence of your support?
I am more than willing to show-up and meet with you at any location of your choice and prove that you are well known for your humanitarian efforts. Maybe get 5 random homeless persons to acknowledge your presence and call you by name? Maybe we could meet at Mission when you are dishing up breakfast? I will leave it up to you, give me a call. You know where to reach me.

[the truth]

ib98 how many homeless have you taken off the streets and into your home

[dirtybiker]

ib98 how many homeless have you taken off the streets and into your home

Tried that once, not into my home, but, into my old camper, on my property....

My thanks was a grand mess, damages and theft of my property.....

To top it all was the outright vandalism and destruction of things that could
not be stolen....

Never again !!!!

[lb98]

Okay People,

Did I encourage any of you to take someone into their own home? Have I done so myself? Yes, I have, on occasion. For individuals that had supports in place from a local organization. Meet you downtown and see how much I have given and done for the homeless? I'm certainly willing to share plenty with those that private message me and who decide to meet up and challenge me in that area. You will be humbled when you find out just how much. But I highly doubt any of the keyboard warriors on here would ever take me up on this. I've seen many people who were down and out on the streets make a recovery and re-enter the world, the workforce, and recover from the life and trauma they were experiencing. And guess what happens when they do? They end up paying taxes like the rest of us.

When you moved people into your camper, it became a disaster. Of course it did. A Housing First approach is just that, people are housed 'first', and then once housed, are provided with the necessary supports to keep them housed. This can be treatment for substance use, home health care, training, re-connecting with community, etc..Many people who have lived on the streets and in shelter are used to living in chaos. When they move in somewhere that we take for granted, we expect a miracle to happen. When you have lived with 85 other people in close proximity for what can be years, you learn how to adapt to your environment. When you sleep outside for years, the same thing happens. Having a roof, while oftentimes welcome, means a new and different way of living. Imagine if you lost your home and had to stay at a shelter. How hard would that be. If you had to sleep outside, how would you do that. After awhile, that becomes home, and that becomes how you live.

We complain about 'those' people and what they do to our community. Then government responds (as is part of their civil responsibility) with a solution (modular housing), and the community complains. Some people say 'those' people don't deserve 'free' housing, some people complain 'Not In My Backyard', yet *bleep* and moan because downtown Kelowna is having such major problems and Leon avenue has become a mini Downtown Eastside. It doesn't matter what is done, it will ruffle people's feathers. So what is the ideal solution, and where should it go? Based not on your own preconceived biases, but based on what makes the best sense economically, and what we know about what effectively addresses homelessness.

If free housing is the wrong answer, there is no suitable location for these developments to go (and no, out by the garbage dump isn't going to work, for multiple reasons), and shipping people up to a remote location is both inhumane and violates all of the human right's people have (sounds a little too much like what happened when the idea of residential schools was conjured up and created), what do the scholars of the Castanet board suggest.

I sip my morning coffee with bated breath. Please, somebody, anybody, propose a solution that shows some level of thought and not ignorant rhetoric based on misperceptions, bias, and stupidity.

[techrtr]

So, who would qualify for free housing? Would it include drug addicts or would a condition be that they go into a treatment program? If they relapse, would they be kicked out? I could see free housing turning into a huge money pit and it'll just end up turning into ghettos that are little better than the tent cities that it's supposed to replace.

Actually, when you think about it, almost a cultural approach needs to be taken. In the past, the government tried to build housing on a lot of First Nations reserves. In a lot of cases it was a dismal failure because they didn't take into account culture, history, and values. I could see the same thing happening with homeless people. You put them in these places and then they destroy them because it's not what they want or need, or they're simply not equipped to take care of them or use them in the way there were intended.

[fz6adventure]

if we are going to give them mobile homes then we should stick them up near nunavut where they wont bother anyone and have no access to drugs and alcohol

I don't know but when you think of what they do get, is it anything more than our families who are third generation WELFARE or more politically correct Social Assistance?

I agree there should be a culling of both and really if you can contribute to society, maybe it is time they say we have work for you. For all of you who think rehabilitation is possible, think of the need to be someone. IF all you do is eat sleep and get high I really think your self esteem is ZERO. That may be why when they actually come off the high they say, wow what am I? Then the need to get high is back!

If you know anything about Maslow and the psychology of the human being these people some of them are missing it and maybe why they are where they are.

Ken7 is a heck of a caring and compassionate human being?

When you talk about "culling" I'm reminded of a couple of individuals in history that had just that same thought to cull the "undesirables". One was in Germany and another was in Cambodia.

[WalterWhite]

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/214197 ... eless-camp

Homeless camped out in Vancouver and refusing to move from city owned property slated for development as - social housing. Oh the irony. Homeless are complaining because they say "the housing is inadequate and comes with too many rules." I'm sorry, but where does it say the homeless get to dictate the quality or requirements to access handouts provided to them? Kind of like saying you don't like the soup of the day at the soup kitchen.

[fz6adventure]

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/214197/Violence-at-homeless-camp

Homeless camped out in Vancouver and refusing to move from city owned property slated for development as - social housing. Oh the irony. Homeless are complaining because they say "the housing is inadequate and comes with too many rules." I'm sorry, but where does it say the homeless get to dictate the quality or requirements to access handouts provided to them? Kind of like saying you don't like the soup of the day at the soup kitchen.

I think there is a bigger story to this ...... as informed by the Pivot Legal team.

It appears that the City of Vancouver tried to have the people evicted but were unsuccessful in their attempts because the land was public. Then, behind the scenes the City executed a lease of the property to a third party effectively removing from the designation as public property. I don't believe there is even a building permit issued let alone a development permit so it will be a long time coming before anything is done with the site. The City just wants to evict them for Christmas to show them they will make their lives as difficult and miserable as possible - Merry Christmas, peace and love to all!

Just a wee bit slippery by the City of Vancouver ...... only a tricky manuever one would expect from the City of Kelowna?

[the truth]

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/214197/Violence-at-homeless-camp

Homeless camped out in Vancouver and refusing to move from city owned property slated for development as - social housing. Oh the irony. Homeless are complaining because they say "the housing is inadequate and comes with too many rules." I'm sorry, but where does it say the homeless get to dictate the quality or requirements to access handouts provided to them? Kind of like saying you don't like the soup of the day at the soup kitchen.

free housing and they still f complain, honestly f em ,we all have to live by rules , but not them i guess, its all about give me everything free

[alanjh595]

free housing and they still f complain, honestly r em ,we all have to live by rules , but noth them i guess, its all about give me everything free

Does this group remind anyone else of another group in BC/Canada? The characteristics are very similar.

[dogspoiler]

The more worthless someone is the more they bellyache that no one is doing enough for them. They are their own worst enemy.