Dear Akron Beacon Journal Readers…

If you’ve found us because of the coverage from the Akron Beacon Journal, thank you SO much for taking the time to learn about us further.
We are a quickly evolving and growing organization. So there are many things I want you to know about us.
But if I only had a few sentences to explain to you what I feel makes us so special and unique in America, this is what I would say to you…
First, the reason I am so unabashedly proud and impressed with our organization is because I have so little to do with it. We are 100% run by the homeless. Our director, Paul Hays, comes to us after spending years in the woods. Our security, operations, maintenance and Democratically elected tri-council are all homeless.
I’m the executive director. But when it comes to the operations of the facility my voice has no special weight. I just share my opinion like everyone else.
Second, we are secular. Many of us have a spiritual relationship. But it is for each of us to pursue on our own. Many people have talked to me about the time they spent alone in their tent talking to God. I truly feel like our center is one of the most sacred and spiritual places I’ve ever been. While we love and greatly appreciate our religious partners we are not founded in religion. We are founded in loving fellow humans. I personally believe it’s as close to Jesus as I’ve ever been.
Finally, our mission is two fold. The obvious mission is to help the homeless take the next step in their lives. But the less obvious mission, yet equally as important, is to begin to build a connection to the homeless and the homed. We love having visitors. You are always welcome to come visit us.
If you’d like a tour message me at sage@thehomelesscharity.org or call me at 330-416-7519. Otherwise, you are welcome to come visit us between 9-5 Monday through Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday.
We have the Second Chance Store that is totally run and operated by the homeless.
We are just now getting connected to the Food Bank. So our homeless residents will begin distributing food to the needy in our community.
We are growing some beautiful tomatoes and peppers in our raised bed gardens.
And we’re furiously working on our emergency shelter for the winter.
We’d also love to show you around Second Chance Village. The people that live there are incredibly proud of what they have created and the community they are developing.
If you’ve never spent much time with the homeless you might find it exciting, interesting and even fun. I can assure you that you’ll be safe and you’ll definitely be welcome. Your whole family is welcome. We love to have kids visit us.
If you aren’t quite ready to come visit us then we’d like to invite you to our private members-only portal. You get the inside scoop of what it happening with us. The good and the bad. It only costs $1. CLICK HERE TO CHECK THAT OUT.
Thank you once again. You believing in the idea that the homeless deserve attention and help makes a much bigger difference than you might think. Public support of our cause is going to be a major part of whether or not we will continue to exist for the long term.
That’s why we ask for just $1. It doesn’t hurt to give us $1. But as the numbers grow we can show the city of Akron that people care about the homeless and want something to be done about the homeless cause. CLICK HERE TO CHECK THAT OUT.
Doing nothing for the homeless is dragging our entire community down. You just believing in our cause will help us allow the homeless to help themselves to figure out the next step in their lives.

Calling All Akron-area Architects – Building Evaluation Needed

We are working on going through our fire inspection.
One of the items we need is a Certificate of Occupancy.
We have the previous owner’s certificates.
You can see them here:
15 Broad St Suite 103 042605.doc
15 Broad St 042505.doc
I was referred by the city of Akron to Summit County Building Standards.
They told me to talk with:
Gina Oakes
Examiner
E-mail: goakes@summitoh.net
Telephone: (330) 630-7077
Fax: (330) 630-7296
She then referred me to
Mark Shenot
Chief Building Official
E-mail: mshenot@summitoh.net
Telephone: (330) 630-7287
Fax: (330) 630-7296
Mobile Phone Number: (330) 631-3411
He said that I would need to get an architect to do a building evaluation.
This is where things get a little tricky.
The words: “architect, building, evaluation” sound expensive.
I’m not certain how much that might be. But perhaps we could make some sort of arrangement.
Some things we could offer you include:

  • Our adoring love and appreciation. (Seriously, helping the homeless is SUPER sexy right now. Your cool points would go WAY up in the community.)
  • The knowledge that you are saving the homeless from an impending winter without any place to go.
  • A trade for digital marketing and Web development work (I happen to be pretty handy in those areas.)
  • Online advertising on the world’s most popular search engine. (I’m not allowed to mention their name. But they give us advertising money to spend as a 501(c)3 that helps the homeless. Like A LOT of money.)
  • Or something else of your choosing.

We do have some money. But money isn’t our strong suit right at the moment.
Mark Shenot said that the top floor shouldn’t be too difficult. It is just standard offices.
But the lower level, where we have our homeless drop in center (no one lives in there), laundry, pantry, etc has never had a certificate of occupancy before.
So that’s where you come in. We need a building evaluation by an architect to tell the county if what we are doing is acceptable.
There you have it.
If you are an architect or happen to know an architect and helping the homeless get out of the woods, get off drugs and alcohol and being part of one the most innovative homeless programs in the country interest you PLEASE contact me.
You can call me on my cell: 330-416-7519
Or you can email me: sage@thehomelesscharity.org
Thank you SO SO much!!!

The Homeless Choose To Be Homeless

People don’t admit that statement to me anymore. It’s probably because they don’t want to be insensitive. Or maybe they’re afraid they’ll get an earful of what I believe.
People rarely express their feelings about panhandling to me anymore where it was once a common area of frustration I heard about.
But I see it repeated all the time in comments on articles about homelessness or on Reddit.
“The homeless are homeless because they want to be homeless.”
I think I understand where that is coming from.

  • “They got themselves in this situation.”
  • “They don’t want help.”
  • “It’s their fault they are homeless.”

In some circumstances I can sort of agree with that.
They became addicted to drugs. They became alcoholics. They became criminals and are now felons.
But if we choose to play that game we can start to look at ourselves.
We ate too much bad food and developed heart disease. We didn’t exercise enough and suffered a heart attack. We smoked too much and developed lung disease.
I mean aren’t YOU eating too much gluten? That’s probably why you don’t feel well.
How many of us are totally innocent of creating our own circumstances?
But the truth of homelessness is actually not what we all want to admit.
Most people become homeless because they are poor and there isn’t enough affordable housing.
“Insufficient income and lack of affordable housing are the leading causes of homelessness,” reports The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
But then the plot thickens.
For women, the number 1 reason they are homeless is because of domestic violence.
Woman are getting beat up at home and feel like they need to leave to protect themselves and their kids.
I guess you could say that was their fault for picking the wrong man.
People don’t typically become homeless because of just one reason. It’s usually a variety of circumstances.

According to the most recent annual survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, major cities across the country report that top causes of homelessness among families were:

  1. lack of affordable housing
  2. unemployment
  3. poverty
  4. low wages (In this order)

We, as humans, have a desire to simplify complicated issues. Whether it’s the environment, drugs, wars, poverty or homelessness most of us have quick fix solutions to incredibly complicated issues.
I find it interesting that the quick fix solutions very often never involve changing the behaviors of the person advocating the quick fix.
But with homelessness I’m not actually suggesting you make any changes… except for one.
All I’m asking is that you open your mind to the possibility that a person is homeless for many reasons. 
Please try to stop pushing out messaging that the homeless are just a bunch of drunk, addicted, lazy criminals that don’t want to work and get a home.
Whether you know it or not you are influencing people around you with that message. People trust you and believe your words.
You are helping push a message out that is easy for people to grab onto and believe. In doing so the problem of homelessness becomes all that much more difficult.
When talking about homelessness, if you don’t want to advocate for any of the facts and stats above please just simply say something like: “It’s complicated. People are homeless for a lot of reasons.”
That’s the truth.

Take The Dollar Challenge. See if you can make it all the way to the end of this article without giving us $1.

Take The Dollar Challenge. See if you can make it all the way to the end of this article without giving us $1.

GO HERE TO DONATE YOUR DOLLAR.
As a business owner you learn to stop whining and complaining about what this administration is doing or what that politician is enacting.
All you have are the rules. The rules change all the time. If you want to survive you play by the new rules. You can complain all you want. But that’s not going to do you any good.
As you might imagine, the rules are changing, rather significantly, from a Liberal President to a Conservative President.

Trump FY18 Budget Calls for Massive Cuts to Affordable Housing Programs: National Low Income Housing Coalition
The administration would slash federal investments in affordable housing at HUD by nearly 17%, or $7.7 billion, compared to FY17.  The proposed cuts could mean more than 250,000 people could lose their housing vouchers. It would also impose punitive measures that would jeopardize family stability – increasing the financial burdens they face through higher rents and ending support to help cover the cost of basic utilities, like water and heat.

This is the philosophy of conservatives.
Just recently Paul Ryan was asked by a nun how he squared his Catholic understanding of helping the poor with his Conservatism. He said:
Paul Ryan Faces Off with Catholic Nun at CNN Town Hall About Healthcare

And for me, the preferential option for the poor, which is something that’s a key tenet of Catholic faith, that means upward mobility, that means economic growth, that means equality of opportunity.

I don’t think I’m being too bold to say that the philosophy of the current President, Senate and House is: We make it too easy for the poor to stay poor AND the government isn’t here to take care of the poor.
They believe that by giving the poor too much they are making it too easy to stay poor. They also believe that it isn’t the job of government to take care of the poor.
I’m not angry at that. I’m not judgmental of that. I’m simply trying to understand the lay of the land. If you feel that I’m incorrectly judging the current government please let me know in the comments below.
But if we can agree that’s the situation then this article is for you. And this is why you need to give us $1.
Please take a minute (literally 60 seconds) to watch Keith’s testimonial on his experience with us. He’s moving back to Indiana now. He’s got his CDL and will start driving again soon.

“Second Chance Village gives people a second chance so they can clean up the past so they can move forward.” – Keith

On not making the homeless too comfortable.

I saw the head of the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carsan, tour some HUD facilities in Columbus Ohio.
This is his quote:
Don’t Make Housing for the Poor Too Cozy, Carson Warns – The New York Times

Compassion, Mr. Carson explained in an interview, means not giving people “a comfortable setting that would make somebody want to say: ‘I’ll just stay here. They will take care of me.’”

Well, we’ve got that covered.
The people in the Second Chance Village live 24/7 in the cheapest tents we can find. They cost $50, maximum.
The zippers break. They leak. They are too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.
I will say that we may have over done the coziness of them by giving these people old pallets to put their tents on and sometimes, if we have them, we give them tarps to put over their tents to keep out the inevitable leaks.
But fear not. Many times we don’t have pads to put their blankets on (we almost never have actual sleeping bags). So they have to sleep directly on the slats of the pallets.
Our pallets often come to us looking a lot like this:

So, while it’s true that we’ve gotten most people up off the ground, the broken nature of the pallets are still quite uncomfortable.
We have 2 porta potties for 30 people to use. Granted, that’s pretty comfy considering we used to make them all use 1 porta potty.
But being that they only get cleaned out once a week they get really smelly for at least 3 or 4 days. You pretty much are assured of gagging every time you use them. We don’t have men’s and women’s porta potties. Everyone uses the same ones.
About one third of our residents are women.
They have no running water by their tents. They have no electricity.
The fire department has demanded that no open flames are permitted what so ever. So there is never a camp fire. Nor are they permitted to use tiki torches. So, when the sun goes down it’s lights out.
Winter is coming. That should continue to add to their discomfort. We certainly don’t have year round tents. We could never afford those. We’re mostly hoping some donations of more blankets will come through.
And, as I mentioned above, you don’t have to worry about them cuddling around a cozy campfire when the temperature dips below freezing. We aren’t allowed to have fires. Just blankets, if we get enough donated.
Just cold and darkness. After 5pm it will be just darkness and cold.
It should be like that for a good 4 solid months.
You are always more than welcome to come visit some time. I’d love to show you around. I assure you I’m not over exaggerating any of this.
Just the same, our people are thankful to have a place that is stable and secure.
Stability, security and dignity are the only extravagances we afford our residents.
I can understand if you feel that’s too much. But that’s where we draw the line in eliminating society comforts.

On not being the job of the government.

I’ve met with the people in the government who give out money to the homeless. They flat out told me that there is no place in their program for what we do.
So, I can’t imaging ever seeing a dime from the government.
That means that this tent city we’ve made must exist on private funds. It’s on my private land being paid for by working families’ private money.
We’ve never gotten a grant. But maybe some day we will. Although, I’m not exactly holding my breath. Magically getting a grant is not my marketing plan. If it happens, great.
But otherwise we grind out our money. My wife supports our family and private investors are slowly supporting our Second Chance Village.
But we’re still easily $2000/month in the hole. That’s being covered also by my wife’s income.
I’m building up my auction business and we’re also building out services and products we can sell that are made and offered by the homeless that live with us.
So, you don’t have to feel bad that you are contributing to a non-profit that’s getting fat off the money of government programs.
“Fat” is nowhere near where we are currently. We are just in survival mode.
So, this charity is everything a conservative could ever dream of.
Incredibly sparse living that no one would ever want to spend any more time at than is absolutely necessary. And it’s all run by private money.
Here’s the pitch: I NEED YOUR DOLLAR!!!!
GO HERE TO DONATE YOUR DOLLAR.
I don’t need $5. I don’t need $10. I need $1.
On top of that, when you donate $1 you will get inside information that is only available to members.
I know some dirt poor people. I’m talking: no photo id, no food stamps, no social security, no disability, no income at all. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
AND THEY CAN AFFORD TO GIVE $1.
GO HERE TO DONATE YOUR DOLLAR.
YOU can afford to give $1.
What’s your excuse?
Do you still feel you’d be throwing away your hard earned dollar on lazy, no good losers?
Everyone at our facility is only allowed to be at our facility if they agree to be moving forward in some way. Quit drinking. Quit drugs. Go to your doctor. Work on your resume. Get a job. Get a house.
If you aren’t moving forward we kick you out.
Your dollar is not going to lazy people. Your dollar is going to people that fell through all the cracks in society. All they are asking for is a place to sleep so they can get back on their feet.
That’s it.
There is no one that is more deserving and more needing your dollar than the people at the Second Chance Village.
I don’t mean to be rude here. But what is it that you can rationalize not giving us $1?
Are you too lazy? Are you too selfish?
What?
Here is a testimonial from another one of our residents, Cloud:

GO HERE TO DONATE YOUR DOLLAR.
If you are a Conservative I’m giving you EXACTLY what you’ve asked for.

  • A very sparse, uncomfortable living situation for the poorest of the poor.
  • A totally privately funded organization completely outside of the government. (If anything, the government would rather we not do what we’re doing.)

GO HERE TO DONATE YOUR DOLLAR.
If you are a Liberal: PLEASE help me. The government is abandoning the poor like rats off a sinking ship. Without a doubt, homelessness is going to get worse and the suffering is going to increase the next 4 years. We need you so much.
GO HERE TO DONATE YOUR DOLLAR.
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GO HERE TO DONATE YOUR DOLLAR.

Houston is Flooded. You want to help. Here's how.

“The Red Cross emailed me this morning. They want me to come to Houston.”
That was the conversation Rocky, my wife, and I had this morning.
Rocky is, among other things, certified with the Red Cross in emergency sheltering.
She’s worked with them and worked on various certifications with them for years.
When you sign up for the Red Cross this is what you think it’s going to be. Traveling the world helping in the biggest disasters of your time.
What it really is is going out in the middle of the night to some country town an hour away in the middle of winter to help with a house fire.
The Red Cross is huge in helping with house and apartment fires. They often use a portion of the money they get from big disasters like today’s Houston flooding to help with these house fires. They give out gift cards for hotels, supplies and furniture.
It’s disasters like the one we’re experiencing right now in Houston that bring out the best in people.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

That is powerful advice from Mr. Rogers.
In my own work I see the greatness in people every single day. There are so many people that are good, caring and generous. It’s actually humbling to see.
But sometimes the help can become somewhat of a difficulty.
My friend Marcia Marshall shared a story: ​When disaster relief brings anything but relief – CBS News
The story reports that right after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre they started getting teddy bears.
And how many teddy bear came to Newtown? “I think it was about 67,000,” Kelsey said. “Wasn’t limited to teddy bears. There was also thousands of boxes of school supplies, and thousands of boxes of toys, bicycles, sleds, clothes.”
“Generally after a disaster, people with loving intentions donate things that cannot be used in a disaster response, and in fact may actually be harmful,” said Juanita Rilling, director of the Center for International Disaster Information in Washington, D.C. “And they have no idea that they’re doing it.”
Now… let me be clear. This is in no way meant to make a person feel bad or get discouraged in giving. The giving nature of Americans is one of our absolute greatest qualities.
I just wanted to put this article together to offer some giving tips.
The first thing to do is to do a little research. I just did a search for “What donations does Houston need?”
Here are two articles I found:
Hurricane Harvey: Where you can donate to help with disaster relief and recovery – Vox
How to help Houston after Hurricane Harvey – SBNation.com

SOUTH TEXAS BLOOD & TISSUE DONATION: You can donate here. Local residents can also donate blood in person.

TEXAS DIAPER BANK: You can donate here.

HOUSTON SPCA: You can donate here. (SPCA is an animal shelter and is also taking in stray or displaced pets.)

CENTRAL TEXAS FOOD BANK: You can donate here.

SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK: You can donate here. Many displaced Houston residents will be relocated to San Antonio.

COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS: An umbrella organization coordinating shelters and organizations across Houston. You can donate here.

AirBNB: The hospitality company is working to coordinate people in need of a place to stay with people willing to offer a free room. More information here.
If you have food and clothes and money these places will likely take your stuff.
But what if you want to do more? 
Many people want to get involved personally. They want to go directly to the source.
This is where it gets tricky.
Rocky tells me stories of people that will show up at the Red Cross during an emergency and want to help. That is not the time to show up to the Red Cross.
If this emergency inspires you to help with the Red Cross I strongly encourage you to talk with the Red Cross (in a week or two, after this tragedy) and start the process of becoming a volunteer. Click here to go to their page on becoming a volunteer for the Red Cross. 
Boat owners asked to help in Houston rescues – WXYZ.com

Emmett, who oversees government operations in Harris County, where Houston is located, says, “We desperately need boats and high water vehicles … We can’t wait for assets to come from outside.”

If you have a small boat you might be able to help.
During the BP oil spill nightmare I went to Louisiana to cover that tragedy as a photographer.
There were many people that came as free agents to help.
There was a guy that came down to try to rescue sea turtles.
There was a group that brought pet food down to the area.
Here is a photo I took of one of the pet food people at the Gulf Oil Spill:

But the key was that none of these people were improvising. They knew what they were doing. They had some sort of infrastructure in place for when a disaster strikes. Or at least they had stuff on hand before they showed up.
Here’s the thing: You can always rely on the fact that another disaster will be right around the corner.
If the Houston flooding inspires you to physically help then use this as an inspiration to be ready to help the next time around.
Otherwise, try to be sensitive to what the needs are at this point.
Don’t send winter coats to a tropical island in the summer. Don’t send perishable food to a place without electricity. Don’t send toys to pretty much any disaster area.
And when in doubt, send money. I know it’s not sexy. And I know you are concerned that it might just go to a bloated infrastructure.
But the fact is, we need the Red Cross. It’s not like someone else is waiting in the wings to take over all the work the Red Cross does.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE MONEY TO THE RED CROSS.

Meet Our Life Saving Heroes: Steve, Jon and Ronnie

Steve, Jon and Ronnie are directly responsible for saving the life of one of our residents from an overdose last week.
Because this is a sensitive topic, I’m going to save the details of the encounter for the members only content area.
But let me just say this: I know you all don’t think you did much. I know you don’t think you are heroes.
You saved that man’s life.
I truly believe our community made it possible for you to see something that was wrong and act on it immediately.
Thank you!
I go into the details of what exactly happened and who Steve, Jon and Ronnie are in the members only area.
Membership is only $1/month. Click here to sign up and read the full article.

The Volunteer Conundrum

On 3 different occasions I’ve had volunteers from the outside become quite upset with our facility.
I just took a call from a great volunteer that was upset because people didn’t greet her warmly yesterday. She said it felt “dead” at our facility.
This article has sensitive, internal working’s information in it. I’m making it a member’s only article. If you are interested in what is going on with this topic please consider becoming a member.
Membership is only a $1/month.
Click here to get access to the full article.

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Send Your Homeless To Akron

I was reading about an idea someone had on Reddit:
A way to help the homeless more effectively : nonprofit
He writes:

So. My idea.
What if there were a network of small towns around the US where the economy is working and housing is cheap? Towns like the one I grew up in.
And what if there were an organization that could provide connections with people in these small towns – people who could help you find your footing, connect you with community programs in the local town?

Basically, he’s saying what would happen if we moved the homeless out of expensive towns and moved them to cheaper towns?
I’m hesitant to say that it’s absolutely a great idea. But that’s simply because I haven’t seen it work.
I will say that I really like the idea. And therefore think it needs to be tried.
I don’t know of anyone else in Akron that is brave enough to make this statement so I’ll just say it:
Send your homeless to Akron!
Our homeless infrastructure is quite good. We have shelters, feedings every night of the week, a lot of mental and physical health support systems as well as detox facilities.
I’ll also say something else slightly provocative: There is money in homelessness.
Charitable Giving in America: Some Facts and Figures | NCCS

Giving by individuals makes up the vast majority of contributions received by nonprofit organizations. Giving USA 2015 estimates that individual giving amounted to $258.51 billion in 2014, an increase of 7.1 percent in current dollars from 2013. This accounts for 72 percent of all contributions received in 2014.

By standing up, being brave and having a heart I absolutely, 100% believe people will support this cause.
This is what I know about the homeless:
They are in a rough patch of their lives.
They are trying to get back in the game one way or another. You simply can’t live long as a raging alcoholic or drug addict. They know it. So the vast majority are working on getting past this point in their lives.
And then you have just expanded your workforce. Now you have people that want to work. I know that’s the case because I see it everyday.
On top of that, if other cities send us their homeless we are going to get skilled people. The notion that homeless people are worthless bums is just plain wrong. All the homeless come with a back story. And that back story usually involves a career that entailed specific skills.
Akron has the ability to take these people and help them get back into society.
On top of that, this is being done already. Communities all around us are shuttling homeless to Akron. We already are a homeless destination locally. We might as well be a homeless destination nationally.

The cost of housing in Akron is 45% lower than the national average.

Cost Of Living In Akron, OH

  • The cost of living in Akron is 8% lower than the Ohio average.
  • The cost of living in Akron is 16% lower than the national average.
  • The cost of housing in Akron is 45% lower than the national average.
  • Ohio general sales tax is 13% higher than the national average. Ohio state income tax is 76% lower than the national average.

Conversely:
Cost Of Living In San Francisco, CA

The cost of housing in San Francisco is 255% higher than the national average.

These high rent cities simply can’t cost effectively deal with homelessness.
I think it’s very possible we could even get money directly from these cities that send us their homeless.
This business model is very viable in my opinion.
Additionally, we can keep the homeless in specific areas of the city. We can keep them out of downtown and the west side. The east side has plenty of room for more homeless. The abandoned homes are endless over here.
The downside to the Midwest in general is that most of us are conservative in our risk taking. There is a significant level of fear.
I’m just not one of those people. I’m a risk taker and I’m not afraid. I see this as a huge opportunity for Akron to become one of the kindest, supportive cities in America. And in doing so we can show that a model of giving is very lucrative and desirable for a city.
Money will come to Akron. Smart, caring people will come to Akron. Innovation will come to Akron.
I’m telling you: the homeless bring the best and brightest to the table. I see it every day on a local scale. By being the national center for homelessness we will see more businesses move into Akron and we’ll see young people move to Akron. All to be part of this highly innovative concept.
So, put your homeless on a bus.
They can go to the Haven of Rest the first night.
Address: 175 E Market St, Akron, OH 44308
Phone: (330) 535-1563
Then come see us at The Homeless Charity and Second Chance Village the next day:
15 Broad St., Akron, OH 44305
Phone: 330-415-7519
While America might not currently believe this, Akron believes this:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

This has always been the secret to our success in America. I absolutely believe it can be the secret to our success in Akron.

HELP! My Daughter is Homeless.

When I was a kid there were these hushed conversations about Cousin Darrel.
“I hear he’s living in the woods.”
“I hear he drinks all day every day.”
It was clearly considered more of a shame put on the family than it was a concern for Cousin Darrel.
I would suspect this is how many families still feel when one of their own slips away into the woods.
But when it happens to your daughter all the emotions quickly intensify.
I know that’s the case because the only parents of homeless that ever contact me (so far) are the parents of homeless women.
In these cases, the parents, typically moms, are terrified.
They are in a state of shock, disbelief and fear. The conversations usually end in tears.

Here are my observations of homeless women:

They go homeless for the same reason men go homeless. A base of mental health issues sometimes mixed with addiction issues.
Everything is magnified for the homeless. Their mental health issues are worse than average. And their addiction issues are worse than average.
Then, when you mix mental health with addiction everything becomes out of control.
While mental health issues seem to be nearly universal with the homeless, addiction issues are not.
Not all homeless are addicted. But almost all homeless have mental health issues.
Personally, I believe we all have mental health issues to some degree. So it only makes sense that all the homeless have mental health issues.
That said, the mental health issues of the homeless in general are more apparent and exposed.
So, there is almost always something going on that could use work in the head of a homeless woman.
Then there are family issues.
It looks like to me that family issues are more heightened with homeless women than men.
But that’s likely just a bias I’m getting because families of homeless men don’t typically talk to me.
Just the same, I often see a conflict with the man the homeless woman is dating or is married to. This often leads to a conflict that can’t be resolved with the family.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think this would be as big a deal with a homeless man.
Homeless men often report being violent, selling drugs and stealing. Homeless men also are often dealing with anger issues.
Homeless women also have anger issues. But homeless men with anger issues are probably more scary.
So, if I had to guess, homeless men are probably not usually kicked out of their families because of who they are dating.
Now let me stop right there.
I want to make it very clear that while a family may feel guilty about forcing a loved one away, you never ever should feel guilty for doing so.
The men homeless women date could likely be a danger to the rest of your family. And homeless men can just be straight up a danger to your family.
When it is time to demand a person get out of your house then get them out. That’s a perfectly respectable and necessary action.
It’s OK to kick a man or a woman out of your house.
The reason it’s OK is because they are going to be OK on the street.
At least in Akron, the street doesn’t kill people. Opiates kill people.
Specifically, Fentanyl and Carfentanil kill people.
These drugs are mixed with other drugs in random doses. The user doesn’t have any idea how much is in there and then they overdose.
Fentanyl Crisis: Ohio Cop Accidentally Overdoses During Drug Call – NBC News
It takes such a small amount of this stuff to overdose a person.
And now I’m hearing they are starting to put it in marijuana.
Three Ohio toddlers overdose on opiates in one week

An Akron 1-year-old overdosed on pills and was revived at a nearby hospital on Tuesday, according to the Akron Beacon-Journal. He was given Naloxene and lived. Another Akron-area toddler wasn’t as lucky. Tymaine Thompson, 18 months old, died Sunday after overdosing on a combination of heroin, fentanyl and another unknown opioid.

Addiction city: Ohio’s opiate addicts would make the fifth largest city in the state | cleveland.com

There are an estimated 200,000 opioid addicts statewide, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman said. That’s roughly the size of the city of Akron.

If a person dies that has passed through our facility it’s not because they are homeless it is because they accidentally overdosed.
And sadly, people do die. A woman named Lori who was staying with us recently passed away from a drug overdose.
This is a topic of great interest to me. While we currently don’t have any Narcan at our facility I’m going to be getting some if I’m able.
There is a lot of talk about not reviving people after a certain number of times but I do not believe in that.
All I have to do is think about my own kid dying on the street as someone with Narcan stands over him letting him go.
I don’t believe the first responders of a city can be the one and only solution to reviving people from a drug overdose. It is so prolific they simply don’t have the resources to do it.
But a place like ours could definitely help in the process.
Addicts are a great interest to me and I have no limit on how much I will try to help and revive them.
As far as homelessness goes, generally, homeless woman are protected.

  • They stay with a man.
  • They have a dog.
  • They are part of a community that watches out for them.

Now, I’m not saying bad things don’t happen to them. But more often than not it’s the drugs that lead to these bad situations, not the homelessness.
And not everyone that is homeless is using opiates. They might be using another drug, they might be drinkers or they might be dealing with mental health issues.
So, this is my recommendation: talk to your homeless loved one, if you still have contact with them. See if you can help them get Narcan. If nothing else, they should have it in case one of their friends overdoses.
In Ohio you can get Narcan without a prescription. It has no other use than bringing people back from an opiate overdose. You can also safely give it to a person who isn’t overdosing. It has no other effect than just saving the lives of overdosing people.
You can go to this page and search on which pharmacies near you will give you Narcan: NARCAN® Nasal Spray Availability
And here is a letter you can take with you that your can show a pharmacist.  
As of now, I don’t have any personal experiencing working with Narcan. So I can’t tell you prices or how easy it is to use. But it’s a nasal spray. So hopefully it shouldn’t be too difficult to use.
As I get more involved I’ll report back.
So, as it stands right now, in Akron, try not to worry too much about your daughter being homeless. Chances are, she’s going to be ok.
The focus of concern needs to be more on opiates.
 

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