HOMELESS
Finding employment in today's job market is no easy task for anyone. For the homeless, it is doubly difficult. I do sense that the readers who have given a donation in order to read this issue of the Homeless Voice are aware and sensitive to the plight of the homeless. Pick up any newspaper, magazine or turn on your TV and you will most likely read or hear that the economy of the United States is not in the greatest shape. Depending on what version of the report you believe, you are going to form opinions. Everyone has a right to think, accept, and voice their thoughts and ideas. This would be a dull world if we all had the same way of gathering information and expressing ourselves. This us why is so important to communicate and understand what other people may be up against in their daily lives before we make judgments. The leader of this nation was wearing rose colored glasses when he announced that the economy had turned around and there was a chicken in every pot. A great many people pray each night that there will be a chicken in their cooking pot come morning, and far too many would be overjoyed just to have a bowl of cereal and some milk for their child's breakfast. But the truth is, no matter how much a homeless family hopes and prays for a better life, nothing will change for them until the father or mother is able to obtain a job that pays a high enough wage to support the family. According to a Mayors Survey on poverty in the United States completed on December 29, 2003, nine million people in our great land were officially without work. This number of nine million does not include millions of people who have been without a job for a year or more and have been dropped from the list. Many of these jobless individuals are in danger of losing their homes. Now factor in the sixteen million homeless Americans, most of whom also do not have a job, and we are faced with the stark reality that one out of ten Americans are without gainful employment. This rate of unemployment hasn't been seen since the Great Depression. And with little hope of a bright future, the numbers are growing worse every day. With a ever increasing number of businesses being closed in America and sent out of the country, to be reestablished where labor is cheaper and the profit margins for their products are higher, jobs in the states are getting scarcer and harder to find. The Mayors Survey found that over two million factory and manufacturing jobs have left for foreign lands since the beginning of the decade. White collar jobs are rapidly dwindling as well. And even for an individual with a good education and job skills, the process of obtaining work that pays enough for housing, food, transportation, and other necessary essentials is a long, difficult, and dismal process. It may surprise you to learn that many people who are now in a homeless situation are often highly educated, and when given a chance, they can regain their lost standard of living. For anyone who is unemployed, searching the "Help wanted" ads in the newspapers is often the first step in finding a job. And each day, hundred of homeless men and women search through the help wanted sections of their local newspapers in hopes of returning to gainful employment. But for the homeless citizens of our nation, finding a job and being hired is like trying to
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climb Mt. Everest without the proper training or equipment Most ads ask you to phone for an application or an interview. Telephoning for either is a challenge. If you have been wandering and living on the streets for a while, the only place you have to call from is a pay phone. This means you have to have change. And if you have enough change , you might want to spend it to buy a cup coffee in order to relieve the nagging hunger pain in your stomach, at least for the next ten minutes. If you're lucky enough to live in a shelter, you possibly can use their phone for free. The first thing you will be asked over the phone is your name, your address and a phone number where you can be reached. Again, if you are fortunate enough to live in a shelter, you can give the shelter's address and phone number, or maybe one of a family member. But what if you have no one to help, no one to care, and no one to rely on? The homeless person would have to
Sunday Uher give the number of the pay phone and camp next to it for the next several days in the hopes of receiving a call back. This is not likely to happen, so he or she is forced to forget about getting the job. Suppose the homeless job seeker is fortunate enough to make an appointment for a job interview? Unless he is living in a shelter, he has no clean clothes, because the pants and shirt he has on may be the only things he has to wear, and he's had them on for days, or weeks. They are dirty and so is he, not by any choice of his own or by bad hygiene habits, but by not having a place to wash his clothes or himself. Yes, there are public restrooms where he can wash his face and hands, wet his Continued on page 8
Folks, please remember that selling this newspaper is a job. While it provides income for the vendors and support for the shelter, it is very important to inform the public on homeless and poverty issues here and around the country. We also hope to bring simple but important medical information to you. It is a great challenge for the vendors to work only on the medians...but they have to. This is dictated by statute; so we hope you will take the opportunity to use the turn lanes whenever possible. Again we thank you for continued support...you are our lifeline.
