Comments for Study reveals 'hidden homeless' in rural America »
Posted By dissent 7 months ago in NewsHomelessness often means life in soup lines and on city streets, but as a new study commissioned by the state shows, it isn't confined to cities. It also can be found across rural areas, so concealed that some people are surprised it exists at all, the study finds.
"It's the hidden homeless," said Melany Mondello of the Shalom House mental health housing organization, who headed the study and a resulting 32-page report called "Cost of Rural Homelessness."
The study, commissioned by the Maine State Housing Authority, is believed to be the first study in the nation to provide a look at the costs of rural homelessness in a state. It concludes that providing "permanent supportive housing" — subsidized housing in combination with mental health, employment and other support services — for homeless people is less costly than serving them while they're without a home.
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cheif7 months ago
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It's been that way since I can remember in the Appalachian mountains...they don't make as much noise as the inner city poor,
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so they don't get their wheels greased.
I think there's a couple kids in the 'hood that makes a living being photographed with politicians who want to show they care
and that poor black african child with the extended belly and flies all over his face has made millions for someone, but there is nothing done for the people in the mountains, so why
should they look for poor people any place else? If they need
a poor person, the hood is easy to access when they know you're
giving something away...why bother with the people in the mountains? They live there by choice, right? -
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Gransater7 months ago
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Somehow the idea that a homeless person is a bad individual, and should only be sustained ninimaly has been one of the bedrock beliefs in the the country for too long a time.
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I hope hope other states run their own investigation into this matter. Their collective findings will probably find that proactively helping these individuals in need to be a better way to go, from a purely economical aspect point of view.
Also, being the wealthiest country in the world, why do we insist on sweeping these individuals under the carpet, and try hard to forget about their very existence? -
charlottegreenComment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned1 Reply
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Charlson7 months ago
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Helping the homeless is a balancing act. Who does not want to help people who need a helping hand? You want to help them stand on their feet and take responsibility for their own welfare. It takes time and patience and a proactive program that will need funds to accomplish, but, in the long run, will save money and produce better citizens.
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vor7 months ago
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The safety net(sic) appears much harder to access for these people. And the limited mental capacity does not help in many of these cases.
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But it is also difficult for the middle class in this day and age. Try getting government assistance while you still own property! You have to lose it first in most cases. A vicious Catch-22. Watching my girlfriends daughter and her family struggle through this of late. They were living a comfortable middle class existence until the downturn, then her husband's work as a flight instructor just dried up.
The plight of the people in this story is awful but far from unusual in this economy. But Maine might be the last place I would want to be stranded without shelter. Not so bad in the summer but the winter certainly creates a deadly situation.
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