ALAN IS MY KIND OF WEIRD

Alan

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue center light pop and everybody goes "AWWW!”

Truth be told, Alan, regardless of appearance, is anything but normal.

From the very first meeting, I knew - "There's a story there" - and I was right.

Is it not strange how friendship pops up in the most unusual places?  Who would have thought that the likes of the old geezer would get up close and personal with a very 'hard to know' person such as Alan.  Might have something to do with me winning personality OR the knack of asking too many questions...

In many ways, Alan is a contradiction.  Alan says he does not care about appearances, yet buys a very sporty vehicle, bright red no less.  Not content to live as a renter, Alan purchases a grand house.  Mind, Alan still thinks that Walmart is the only place to purchase his wardrobe.

I like Alan, more to the point, I am quite sure Alan likes me.  He does not understand the drama of my life, but seems interested in all of the weird things going on.

Alan is not one to upset folks.  Goes out of his way to not hurt feelings.

Recently, Alan closed the deal on his new house.  A large three bedroom house.  The old geezer wasted no time in telling Alan what colour to paint the bedroom that would be 'home' to the old geezer.  Banged on quite long, I did.  Partly out of fun and partly to test the waters.

However much Alan might like the old geezer, the idea of having MOI share his home was not to his liking.  Alan did not know how to tell the old geezer.  I may be lots of things but 'daft' is not one of them.  Truth be told, it was very clear to MOI that a new housing situation was not going to happen.

The last time looked, friendship should not be a chore.  Nor should one make another feel uncomfortable with what expectations.  Alan will more than like, be very close to the old geezer for years to come.  It is quite possible that me being a rose, covered with thorns, is not what sort of flower Alan thought the old geezer would be in the garden of friendship, but is still better than being a nasty weed...

Now if I could only get Alan to splash out on furniture, instead of talking ally rubbish from someone...

WHERE IS THE SAVINGS

Finally, in an editorial in local newspaper, is much truth about the homeless situation in Hawaii.

Dormitory 'rooms' and not apartments for the homeless.  Collecting the homeless that 'cost' in social services received and hoping that change might actually happen.  Providing a place that 'maybe' leads to getting off alcohol or drugs.  Knowing full well that many homeless families are still not served.

Right, other cities have had success in getting the homeless that 'cost' the most off the streets.  One wonders how much direct control the cities have in the running of said programmes, or how much is 'farmed out'.

In Hawaii, more specific, Honolulu, there is much duplication of effort.  Why is that?  Is there not a welfare office that knows who the needy are?  Social Security office that can provide an income to needy?  Community health centres who service the needs of the sick?  Can not the government offices already servicing the needy homeless, pool information and get help to the needy homeless.  Why this endless collection of information by different non-profits?

Does it really have to cost $30,000.00??? Per homeless housed?

At the end of the day, cash to deal with the homeless problem still 'costs'.

OK, SO I OFFEND

My post about the homeless brought loads of emails.  Not all were kisses, some were bricks.

I am in on the trick, am well aware that my style offends some folks in non-profits and local government.  Even the Fourth Estate...

Lots of folks wanted to know why I was so harsh with IHS and US Vets.

After years of providing help to the homeless, they are no more able to sole homelessness than anyone else.  Truth be told, there is money to be made in collecting an endless stream of cash to provide services.  Directors of the two programmes make a good living doing good.  Regardless of mistakes, they have folks convinced that they are on the cutting edge of helping the homeless.  They have data to back them up.

Folks who are 'au fait' with this blog know quite a bit about the old geezer.  I am at my best when adding personal experience to the story being told.  This story should be no different.

I have dealt with mental illness the whole of my life.  PTSD and Bi-Polar.  Two big issues to deal with.  I have been lucky.  When times were darkest, there were folks who loved me and got me to doctors.  I have been in hospital, done years of treatment and come to accept the reality of taking medication to control my mental illness.  I am honest with myself.  Facing the stigma of mental illness was not easy to come by, but when it was faced, it made living with mental illness more easy to cope with.

Every day I sit and listen to homeless folks talk.  Every day I meet folks who are mentally ill, some more ill than others.  Many of the folks living uncovered are mentally ill.  Many of the homeless do not have the courage to face their illness.  Most do not have anyone left who cares.

Years past, Hawaii had loads of places that helped the mentally ill get help in coping with the struggle of life.  Most of the programmes that helped the mentally ill have had monies taken from and the ability to service this very needy homeless group is under served.  Trained professionals who knew how to reach troubled souls are not so readily available.  Programmes that helped the mentally ill homeless get help getting off the street find funding hard to come by.

Honolulu is trying to find answers to the homeless problem.  The mayor gets loads of advice from folks who say they are able to deal with the problem.  Right, so long as funding comes their way.  IHS is not in the mental health business.  Serving the needs of the mentally ill is not something they do well.  I hear the stories and I have personal experience as to their lack of understanding of how to deal with the mentally ill.  US Vets is capable of helping folks, so long as they can pay their own way, or the government provides a grant to cover the cost.  I doubt that either non-profit really knows how to reach out to the mentally ill homeless.  Mind, they will get it a good try if there is a grant to be had.

It may well be that Honolulu needs to run its own homeless programme.  Stop passing the buck to non-profits that clearly have not had much luck in lowering the number of mentally ill living uncovered.

When the state of Hawaii took funding from mental health programmes, it had to know on some level that the cost to society was going to rise.

There is no easy fix to getting homeless folks in housing.  Offering housing to mentally ill and abusers of drugs and alcohol without conditions is not the answer.  Mind, IHS and US Vet will roll out data that supports this approach.  What a waste of money.

'WHAT A LOT OF TOSH'

Once again, the local newspaper does another front page story on the homeless in Hawaii.  Once again, the headline promises much but the story is lacking.

The Mayor of Honolulu detailed his 'new' plan to deal with the homeless situation.

The shocking news in this latest article is that it requires $30,000.00 per person to help 100 homeless get off the street.  $30,000.00...

Seems right odd to this old geezer that clever folks in local government and working for the local newspaper keep going back to the same sources for information on how to deal with and solve the problem of homelessness in Hawaii.

The cost of providing housing for the homeless is based on another study to come from US Vets, one of the non-profits local that tries to help get folks off the street.  US Vets and IHS, already receive public funds to deal with the problem of homelessness.  Both organizations have been in the business of providing help for the homeless for years.  Both do some good, they have some success,  BUT, they have yet to solve the problem of homelessness in Honolulu.  Can you imagine how much in public funds has already been spent with no solution to the problem found.

The good folks who toil in the fields of homelessness want us to believe that providing 'apartments' with no strings attached to, somehow is going to work better than what has in the past.  What ever happen to 'a room somewhere out of the cold night air', being a good beginning.  Do US Vets and IHS really want the good people of Hawaii to believe that providing 'apartments', fully furnished, to severely troubled folks is going to work.  Do you really believe that a severely mentally ill person, or some one with a severe alcohol or drug problem is going to be morally responsible in dealing with the responsibilities of maintaining an apartment?

Truth be told, so long as local government keeps going back to non-profits for answers, we are going to have continued problems with the problem of homelessness.  I can not believe that it requires so much money to provide help for so few folks.

I do not believe providing apartments with no conditions is going to solve the problem facing homeless folks.

Honolulu has to face the fact that past programmes dealing with mental illness and alcohol and drug abuse, that were cut when cash was tight has made the problem more severe.  There were very good programmes in place that worked.  Problems were solved.  People were helped.

There is a very high price to pay by society for the lack of social services to homeless people with mental illness and abuse problems.  Perhaps it is time to give back the monies to government programmes that worked in the past.  Non-profits, like IHS and US Vets, already get public monies to service their target groups.  They are no more successful in solving homelessness than anyone else.  Anyone can work the data to serve their agenda.  IHS and US Vets are monsters that need to be fed endless amounts of cash to stay in business.  Whatever success is had is not without continued failure to address the real issue of homelessness and how society deals with it.

If the mayor wants to make a difference, let him and the city council look for answers from different quarters and stop going to back to a well that is run dry.