Homeless With $25

[CatherineM]

Here in winter the shelters are overflowing. I would be concerned that my experiment would take a space that someone else truly needed. One who didn't have a credit card in their pocket.

[fides quarens intellectum]

i don't like how we are portraying the homeless on the whole as incompetent. Yes, many have physical/mental/drug issues, but there is a substantial segment of the homeless population who came upon some bad times and are now on the streets as a result. By the grace of God, there is hope for them to do the same thing that this guy did.

Admittedly, he may be a little overly optimistic for saying anyone can do what he did, but let's not rush to say the whole project was unfair - the fact is, he didn't use the credit card or go home - he never had to.

[corban711]

[quote name='fides quarens intellectum' post='1465143' date='Feb 18 2008, 01:46 PM']i don't like how we are portraying the homeless on the whole as incompetent. Yes, many have physical/mental/drug issues, but there is a substantial segment of the homeless population who came upon some bad times and are now on the streets as a result. By the grace of God, there is hope for them to do the same thing that this guy did.

Admittedly, he may be a little overly optimistic for saying anyone can do what he did, but let's not rush to say the whole project was unfair - the fact is, he didn't use the credit card or go home - he never had to.[/quote]


i totally agree. many homeless do have really messed up lives but there are some that hit upon hard times that really could do what this guy did in my opinion. it would be tough. i think its awesome that he tried this. at the very least, he will have a much deeper appreciation for life and the gifts he has been given. and he probably sees the humanity of the homeless much more clearly than the average person through this having spent so much time with them in shelters. plus, he probably took a lot of bad mouthing from his family and friends for trying this. i think its pretty cool that he even dared try it in the first place.

[prose]

[quote name='fides quarens intellectum' post='1465143' date='Feb 18 2008, 11:46 AM']i don't like how we are portraying the homeless on the whole as incompetent. Yes, many have physical/mental/drug issues, but there is a substantial segment of the homeless population who came upon some bad times and are now on the streets as a result. By the grace of God, there is hope for them to do the same thing that this guy did.

Admittedly, he may be a little overly optimistic for saying anyone can do what he did, but let's not rush to say the whole project was unfair - the fact is, he didn't use the credit card or go home - he never had to.[/quote]

I think it is funny that so many people look at homeless people and just ASSUME that they have addictions and/or mental illness. There are many homeless that do not have this problem.

For instance, in Vancouver (major urban center):

[quote]Health conditions were very common among the
homeless, with 74% of those counted having one
or more health conditions (i.e., addiction, medical
condition, mental illness, and/or physical disability).
§ Addiction was the most common health condition.
Almost half of the homeless who responded to this
question reported problems with addiction. The
share of street homeless reporting addiction (53%)
was higher than the share of the sheltered homeless
(43%).[/quote]

Now, if you say 74% have a severe enough problem to never get gainful employment, then there are 26% that are perfectly healthy and capable of it, like the person in the experiment.

I would guess that of that 74%, several are not severe enough that they are unable to form some sort of decent life for themselves. This is where we, as stewards, come in. We should be helping the ones that just need a little support to get to a place where they are self sufficient.

I don't think it was an unfair experiment. I think this guy had more advantages than the average homeless person, no doubt. But he was showing that it is not entirely impossible to succeed. He had saved more in that time than I have!

I guess I think what he did made for an interesting book, and a good thread topic, but his "experiment" is not proof of reality.

[ardillacid]

I can't believe people are raging on this guy for this. Wow, he proved that in America there truly is opportunity, and people are offended. You just can't win.