Sacramento Homeless blog

There's an interesting article by SlumJack , posted to the homeless section of change.org, titled " How Homelessness Causes Psychiatric Disorders ." The main character, Alex, undergoing "aversion therapy" in the movie version of A Clockwork Orange . I buy in to the thrust of what SlumJack writes in his piece, without being too sure of some of his details. The gist of the argument is this, in my dandified words [Excuse me, SlumJack, if I am broadening your argument a tad.]: If you are a longterm sane and sober chronically homeless person, you are stuck waist-deep in the big Muddy Muddy.  Unless you make a claim of being bonkers, and get certified as such (which isn't difficult to accomplish what with the too-eager and -friendly "doctors" out there), you'll never get out of the homeless-help services' Cesspool of Hopelessness that they (and society, with it's disinterest in your circumstance) has put you in and left you in. But...

Very interesting recent article " Why I Choose Streets Over Shelter " in change.org's Ending Homelessness blog where an Oakland, CA, homeless man, using the moniker SlumJack, provides five reasons why he prefers sleeping on the street to staying in an emergency shelter. SlumJack's first reason will resonate with anyone who has been subjected to the nightmare of Sacramento's Winter shelter: 1. Shelters usually require that you enter early in the eve and then remain there until early the next morn when you must leave. This can totally waste HOURs of otherwise possibly productive time, just sitting around in unpleasant to worse circumstances -- at a time when EVERY resource, including time, must be marshalled. SlumJack's other reasons are affected, I think, by his use of a bicycle towing a cart to haul his property. He's subject to having property stolen and has trouble finding a somewhat secure place to keep his things. [As the Sacramento homeless know well...