This article was submitted to us via anonboards.com
#opsafewinter Anonymous US occurs April 15, 2017 and nothing is listed for Maryland on the opsafewinter US state list. A serious problem exists in Baltimore just as in other cities around this country. The one website regarding this is limited at best with no way of adding another state and as the date is in April. The fifteenth of April doesn’t make sense as a date for opsafewinter because it will be warm out. Opsafewinter is a time when Anonymous comes together to offer extra clothing and food to help the homeless get through the winter. A city that should be added to the US list is Baltimore, Maryland.
I know a few homeless people in the area. We must do something to help them. I have personally witnessed the trouble that exists here,The most important thing is to understand the statistics of the homeless in this city. 30,000 people in this city will experience homelessness every year, and 3,000 will be on the streets every night of every year. Along with the 25,000 who need HVAC vouchers every year. I’m pointing out that these things go on because it is a problem that has never been flixed by the City of Baltimore. Along with that, there are more than 16,000 empty houses that could be utilized, a great percentage remains empty because City Hall won’t stand up for the homeless and make things right.
The goal in being housed in a shelter is to get an HABC voucher which is Section 8 housing. Only 100 vouchers are available and so the homeless keep being bussed in off the streets to shelters that many times have no beds. However, if they manage to go to one of the few application sites the people with a coveted 1/100 of vouchers must find a renter that accepts the voucher This is difficult because you must stay in a shelter or on the streets hungry and somehow work up the energy to show up with an application for a HABC at a a specific time and place. Knowing, the whole time, that the possibility of getting a voucher is minimal at best. All but the lucky 100 out of 30,000 will remain on the streets. The additional problem with this is that some homeless people qualify for $10,000 with which to buy one of the boarded up houses in Baltimore city. That comes with other issues regarding paint, sewage, electricity, furniture, and food. Yes, these people have a place to lay their heads but these places are not suitable for living and these people have no jobs and end up back on the street so that they can eat. The other thing they do is get a group of homeless friends together who can work and try to pay the rent that way.
In addition the government in Baltimore city has been focused on improvement of the city which means demolishing the boarded up houses that could be sold or better yet given to homeless people. They mayors of this city have been more concerned with bringing in revenue than fixing the underlying issues like homelessness and drug sales. They would rather bring in developers to rehab all of these areas into expensive apartments for the wealthy and tourist attractions like they have for the past 26 years. The other reason there are so many homeless people on street corners all over the city and who take buses to the county is to beg for money for food and drugs. I’m not sure what’s worse, getting bussed off the streets to shelters where they must sleep on the floor anyway, or staying where they’re comfortable and possibly have connections with other people. There are good and bad homeless people. Those that steal from others or attack them and those who protect each other.
Many reasons for people choosing not to stay in a shelter and prefer the streets is untreated mental illnesses. 40% of Baltimore homeless people are mentally ill. They are embarrassed about being around people in crammed shelters shaking and mumbling. More importantly the amount of people and the shelter schedules cause such anxiety that they are forced to leave. Homeless people in shelters who are not mentally ill discriminate against those who are. Eventually the untreated mentally ill have to leave. When Schitzophrenics alone they don’t hear voices as loudly and their level of anxiety goes down markedly.I know this for myself as a bipolar individual. It’s a horrible trade off because at least 1200 mentally ill homeless individuals are then outside during the fall and winter during the worst weather.
A number of the homeless are still suffering from the Vietnam war and especially the Iraq. A large number of those who fought, had no one to come home to and had to stay with friends as long as they could. Then after they had outstayed their welcome there was no choice but to go onto the streets. People might wonder why they couldn’t get a job because after all the armed forces trained them. When these people who fight for our country need a lot of time to recuperate from what they’ve seen and get on proper medication they don’t have a choice because those things take time. They wear their uniforms on the street most of the time so that people can see the government has not taken care of them. Many are not capable of taking care of themselves after what they’ve been through. They suffer from extreme PTSD and high anxiety which causes people in the shelters they make be in to yell at them and force them out. People who suffer from wartime PTSD wake up screaming or sit up while asleep yelling orders and taking them. This wakes shelter people up and makes them angry towards these people. They have no choice but to leave.
The homeless exist in every city, town, and state in the United States of America. I’m confused as to what we are doing about this problem. From what I can see, it’s being ignored day by day and night after night. Baltimore, is suffering and we need Anonymous to help start an #opsafewinter here this year. The the mayor cannot be permitted to say she has developed programs to aid the homeless anymore.
