Today, we will be discussing this topic not presented here before. A little break from our usual kibble because it is important on a personal level as well as impacts EVERY ONE OF US here in America. And many of us who have dogs.
Somewhere on Facebook, someone asked the question should homeless people have dogs? I was outraged. How in the world is it that people seek to take away every tiny bit left of what a person WHO HAS LOST EVERYTHING HAS??? Yet, this is the attitude all over America.
Homeless people deserve nothing, no dogs, no pets, no homes, no help, no nothing. Because they are lazy, crazy, moochers who do not want a job or a home and besides, it is their own fault. There is something WRONG with those people so let’s punish the heck out of them. Bans, laws, ordinances are EVERYWHERE (See below).
Yet, more than half of the 350+ women over the age of 50 in the Monterey Bay peninsula without homes HAVE dogs and still, in “dog friendly” Carmel, they are told to get rid of their mutts. As if it is the dog’s fault that THERE IS NO AFFORDABLE HOUSING and very LOW WAGES. And 49% of Seniors are Living in Poverty in the USA.
Women live longer than men, make less money than men, and get less Social Security retirement funds. Women also make easy prey for predators. Especially sick and elderly women. But hey, those bag ladies must have DONE SOMETHING WRONG to deserve living on the street. Some jerk on Facebook actually said something to that effect to me, that these people did not save up enough money so it’s their own fault.
Nope, the lazy, drunk, drug addicted, crazy people (it is easy to see how AFTER you lose your home and are treated like a nonexistent go away piece of trash that you THEN become mentally ill and / or start drinking or taking drugs) is a myth and stereotype used by some so that NOTHING NEEDS TO BE DONE OR CHANGED.
Now, women without homes need dogs for protection and companionship. Plus, it has been shown that people without homes will feed their pets BEFORE they feed themselves. People without homes Deserve EVERYTHING YOU DO, a home, a bad, a place to BE, food, health care and a DOG/Pet of their own choice. How DARE anyone tell another person what they should or not have.
8 reasons why homeless people deserve a dog
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-wolffe/8-reasons-homeless-people_b_6562446.html
I should write 8 reasons why homeless people deserve HOMES …
Just ask Richard Gere the actor what it is like to be homeless. He did a movie Time Out of Mind in New York where he was dressed up as a homeless man.
“I could see people from two blocks away decide to avoid me. Whether they were conscious of it or not, they were like: I know that guy. And they filled in all the other things that one needs to know to have a reaction. They decided, OK, this guy’s gonna be asking me for money, and I don’t really want to give him any money. In fact I don’t want to make any contact with him…”
http://www.salon.com/2015/09/08/richard_gere_on_playing_a_homeless_man_in_nyc_i_could_see_people_from_two_blocks_away_decide_to_avoid_me/
Now, Pets of the Homeless, a nonprofit organization in Carson City, Nevada has a different attitude and idea. They actually help to Feed the dogs of people without homes, all over America. And help to get vet care, spay and neuter and other care plus support shelters allowing pets. While I DO NOT think that shelters are the Answer to End Homelessness, because warehousing people is NOT an answer. There is NO PRIVACY nor DIGNITY in shelters. Plus, too much money is spent on salaries and buildings and not enough ON THE PEOPLE WHO NEED HOMES.
http://www.kgw.com/story/news/2015/10/27/salem-gets-homeless-center-that-takes-pets/74686852/
People should have HOMES. Their OWN HOMES. And some communities are creating tiny home villages and apartments and low income housing for seniors, but not enough to meet demand. And the thing is that taxpayers are paying THREE TIMES MORE per person per year to NOT HOUSE people. That is right. And some states Utah, Oregon, and others are ahead of the curve in providing HOMES and apartments for homeless people.
AND a 9 year old girl in Washington is building tiny homes and growing food and giving them all to the people in her community in need. If she can do this, then why can’t ADULTS with MONEY do the same ????
Now onto the personal aspect of all of this:
In 1996, I went through a divorce, lost a job, three crucial family members passed on leaving me a virtual orphan, was rear ended in a car accident, and then was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and told there was no cure, just grin and bear it (all of the pain and horribleness). Called this my Job experience.
And thought that was the worst year EVER.
Until this one hit and here are just a few of the highlights…
At the beginning of January, I finally had a home to move into, for ten days. Person turned out to be a very scary crackpot, to say the least.
At the end of January, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Not having a home was a bit of a problem (a BIG problem) to having surgery.
But then the newspaper, doggie mamas came through BIG TIME and so did BADRAP and I was given a few weeks breathing space to get through the surgery.
It was crucial for us to have a home after surgery, a place to rest, heal and recover. Instead, I moved into a place with someone with a dog who had an agenda, to steal the Breast Cancer Support Group money that was given to me. We lived there two weeks. Happy recovery, not.
Decided to move back to Carson City, Nevada, because it is cheaper and perhaps I could get a place of my own. Did not really find one so I moved in with a cowgirl and her three Jack Russells. Seemed all very positive, hot springs, Cici learned how to use a doggie door and became part of a dog pack, and then the doggie poop hit the fan when the cow girl decided instead of allowing me time to rest and recover, it was time for me to become her housekeeper with lists of 20 things to do every day. What?
Desperate for rest and my own space and place, I accepted the offer of a very kind and generous doggie donor of a camper for Cici and I to live in. A mobile home on the road. Ok, what did I know about such campers? And with a very light budget, plus a bunch of campers having passed through our paws, we got a popup camper that has to be cranked, unhitched and has caused me to become unhinged hauling it around, decimating bushes and walls and other items in its way. (It really should be mandatory for people to have lessons on how to drive these things BEFORE they buy one).
Not knowing where to go or what to do again, I headed to the 101 from Reno. A little time with the trees, perhaps? Oh yes, there were fires, smoky twisty windy roads, lots of road work, 100+ degree temperatures and 30 minutes with the trees. What a trip. And no place affordable to park the camper.
Back to Monterey, where we were living for five years. And it seems to have become totally worse for people without homes. Bans, ordinances, all terrible decimating peoples rights.
imagine if you were at risk of being thrown into jail every time YOU went to sleep, ate food, went to the bathroom or TRIED TO SURVIVE in hot or cold weather, in the rain, outside in the elements.What would you do? What would your mother, sister, granny, or aunt do?It is not only unconstitutional, illegal and/or immoral to have these bans in place all over the USA, but it is cruel and unusual punishment according to the Department of Justice.http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/no-camping-and-other-laws-that-sneakily-push-the-homeless-away/412216/
But hey, too many cities are still putting these laws on the books. Stealing people’s possessions to the tune of $250,000 in Salinas (why build affordable housing when you can take away what little someone has, charge them to get it back and profit off of their misery?). No overnight parking or camping in Marina (Just because everyone else in the area is jumping off the roof, so the Mayor decided to go ahead and be part of the doggie pack and make it a criminal offense to sleep in his town). Do not sit and lie down in public in Monterey. Yup. You heard me. It is also illegal to FEED people in public in 33 cities across America.
In Carmel. we got a very hard wake-up call there which I will tell you about in a minute.
We went back and forth between Monterey and Paso Robles, where we discovered a few resources, like a place to sleep at night in the Jeep not the camper.
I did not mention the fact that I have tried to sell the camper and got offered half of what was paid for it which would leave me with NOTHING to buy a new camper with. The kind of camper we need is the kind that is easy to manage, that we can pull over by the side of the road, open a door and go to sleep.
Nor that I was robbed, scammed and had to call the police to get the scammer out of the camper (we popped up for three nights at a hot springs in Paso Robles). It is rustic, to say the least. And the hot springs pool itself very good for the healing of the body.
Well, I also did not say anything about the guy who smashed the Jeep and camper into a fire truck.
Need I go on? (How am I still standing????) well, am barely hobbling. My feet hurt so bad.
And just last week, I found out that the dearest person in my life is now in the hospital, just had an operation and is very very ill.
Was in and out of the ER all October where they told me I have blood clots on my lungs. And the doctors take one look at me and dismiss my condition because well, after all, I am fat and without a home, so that makes me a nobody and certainly not a person of worth who deserves health care. Bye bye bye.
Plus, there is more that I cannot even discuss or go into. Remember, I told you ONLY the highlights.
Now onto yesterday…
I woke up from sleeping in my Jeep after too many nights doing the same feeling sicker and sicker. And since the ER doctors have the attitude mentioned above, getting treated with disdain is not exactly what I seek so I just left after the social worker gave me the usual BS.
Banging your head against the wall time and time and time again is not as much fun as it supposed to be.
Well, I was in Carmel and went over to the Starbucks. I could hardly walk my feet felt like burning hot coals and I was barely able to make it to the Jeep, get Cici. I needed help feeding her. I had food and a bowl in the car but could not manage the supplies and her. I let her walk, I could barely walk with her so I sat down. And felt dizzy and like I was going to faint.
I saw someone I had seen there before, who had seemed like a dog friend. And asked her to please help me feed Cici, go to the car, get her food and bowl. She ignored me and walked away. Ok. So then a guy came along and I asked him the same. He kept right on going to his car. As if I did not exist. He heard me but just kept on walking. So then I asked another woman and the same lack of response.
At which point, I lost what little left I had of sanity and started crying and yelling. Of course, these kind folks in doggie paradise went right inside to tell Starbucks on me because they could not ignore me, me and my doggie dilemma had nothing to do with them, was not their problem, and Cici and I were interfering with their coffee time. Someone came out and told me to leave. I told her that I could barely walk. We had a few more choice words and she said that if I did not leave, she would call the police. I told her to please go ahead and call 911 and whoever else. She did.
Then we had a big party.
In the midst of all the chaos of fire rescue, paramedics and police, who were all asking me the same questions making my already dizzy head spin off its axis, the kindness man showed up. He took care of Cici, fed her, walked her and offered to take her for me if / when I went to the hospital.
Ahhh, the light at the end of this very long tunnel. ONE doggie lover left in Carmel.
ONE kind stranger. No, there were two others. A gal from Seattle, who helped me and a worker at Starbucks who was leaving, gave me her breakfast sandwich and told me that they should NEVER have treated me like they did. Well duh. Other people who were very very kind to me recently include the manager of Panera’s Bread in Sand City, the church we held at Starbucks in Pasos Robles with Sandi, Linda and the other gals, and several more who have answered the call to help a ‘friend’ in need.
ANYONE with a brain, eyes to see, and ears to HEAR could SEE that here was a person in CRISIS who was SICK and needed assistance. Well, why be kind to that person when you can deny, ignore, or police and threaten them ???
That is it, America. The sad truth of what is happening EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, EVERY MINUTE to 3 million PEOPLE across America. Good, decent, hard working Americans, too.
Like James Worley, Homeless Lives Matter on Facebook and Twitter,
an honest man who found a purse filled with $1,700 and went out of his way, while homeless himself, to return the money to its rightful owner.
Like 82 year old Kelli who lived in her van for three years. Elderly women, single moms with kids, veterans, and hard working people not making enough money to afford the ever increasing rents in every city. People in San Francisco have to make $175,000 to pay $4,500 a month in rent. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose have declared emergencies in their respective cities in regard to the overwhelming number of people somehow living without homes.
http://www.montereyherald.com/article/NF/20150124/NEWS/150129839
WE ARE IN CRISIS, America.
Yes, our furry friends deserve homes and SO DO THEIR OWNERS and FRIENDS !!!!
Millions of dollars are raised for our doggies and KITTIES and they deserve the Love and Care AND what about the people who are their families??? Do they not deserve HOMES and a Helping Hand Up, so that they can take care of their pets and not have to choose between food and rent or health care and their dog ????
According to AARP, Approximately 19 million low-income 50+ households in America cannot afford their housing costs and/or live in inadequate housing.
According to Medicare, nearly half of all seniors (48%) live in poverty today, especially in: DC (59%); California (56%).
This was the article written about Cici and I in January 2015:
http://www.montereyherald.com/social-affairs/20150228/homeless-at-65-not-the-life-former-journalist-imagined
We really need a HOME NOW. And I am asking if you would be willing to help us get the camper / home we need asap? It is imperative, life vs death. Any amount of donation, sharing will help, thanks.
