Not houselessness itself. Not it's conditions and causes and rates and all that. No demographics either.
There's a side to houselessness that people do not see. Most interactions between housed and dirty besides police is charitable shit; He told me God loves me and gave me a $20. It doesn't often go beyond that, except maybe the occasional conversation between a homeless person and the person behind the counter at 7-11.
My best friend is a chronically houseless person. He has a sick fucking camp and doesn't give a fuck about being homeless.
I'm either friends with or acquaintances with like several dozen unhoused people who regularly come into the store I work graveyard at, on east side Portland, Oregon. We They are a vibrant culture of their own, living in the shadows of a day that doesn't belong to us them. I have friends with cool personalities and backgrounds. I want to use this as an opportunity to teach you guys about unhoused people, the culture they have; what they do, and all that shit.
So yeah, ask away.
Portland is chill as fuck. One of my friends got their camp torn down last month I think, but it's not done aggressively. My other friend has been at his spot forever. I'm there right now.
I wonder how Ted Wheeler will tighten the screws.
There's a lot of unhoused people who actively help other unhoused people as a form of mutual aid, as in not for barter or whatever. My friends/campmates are like that.
There's also "street moms."
But mostly we have a pretty vibrant mixed barter economy/fiat system where bottle returns (in states that have that) and drugs are currrncy and even used to value other forms of tender.
(I'm sorry if this is really dumb or offensive)
How does hobo culture compare to unhoused people culture?
You're thinking of dirty kids/train hoppers vs the kind of people who live in tents and on the sidewalk and stuff.
There's a ton of subcultures out here, many of whom overlap and merge together at the ends like ciggie cellophane repurposed as drug baggie. Like Dead Heads aren't quite hippies, and hippies are the opposite of punks, and you can be punk and live in a tent by the freeway on-ramp just as much as any freight kid can be punk.
But to answer your question it depends. Hobo culture is a subset of unhoused culture as a whole, like how English is a subset of Germanic . Let's take a crack at it.
Assuming hobo is a more age-inclusive form of dirty kid...
- Dirty kids/hobos don't give a fuck. Most unhoused people are territorial to a degree. They'll share but follow the principles of good fences make good neighbors. Dirty kids, again, don't care so much.
- Meth is the stuff that keeps the shopping carts running on time. Dirty kids/hobos smoke weed, do psychedelics, drink, and do heroin.
All I can think of atm.
How is the food situation? Only prepackaged meals?
My friends have cooking equipment and fire pits. They make dinner for me all the time.
Are fresh ingredients affordable or are there places that give those out? Guerilla gardening?
My friend recently got enough biscuits or whatever to fill an entire like, I don't know what you'd call it, like a 5' long container thing for tools and shit, from Wendy's or something.
That's a shame. I tend to ask the ones I know what happened or what their story is, get some insight into the conditions that are putting people there etc.
One common thread I just realized: many of my friends, and myself, became homeless because we became overwhelmed by the material conditions of our lives becoming Hell.
For us this is our only escape. And it sounds sad but we don't care. We have freedom and we love it.
I have almost forgotten that people who aren't depressed or have mental illness exist because that's all I've known for so long, like we live on another world.
What's a decent day standing by an exit from a highway? There is a rotating cast of people asking for aid on my way home and I feel bad/want to help. Is a dollar helpful each day? Or should I just give them a monthly twenty? I've thought about giving them something to sell (a bouquet of roses or something), plus some money, but I suppose that might be illegal or just patronizing. Would the monthly $20 be better spent at the local food bank?
A monthly $20 would most definitely be better spent on an unhoused person spanging at the freeway on-ramp. I know when I was unhoused I found that infinitely more helpful than any of the food banks, which are helpful and all, but I need more than survival rations.
Cool, seems like a bulk payment would be the way to go. Save everyone some time
Also how much you make depends. The on-ramp/driveway spangers will make at least $20 in an urban area. Sometimes more but it's never like homeless dude hopping in a Mercedes type shit (those stories are all fake btw).
Is it ever a good idea to gift items to homeless people or is cash generally the best route? In case non-cash gifts can be appreciated, what things tend to be demanded most?
I know I liked to get cash because I had a lot of frivolous shit I wanted to buy not because it was survival related but because it was validating. Stuff like eyeliner and black nail polish. I was also able to have a phone with service through a pay as you go plan. All of that is outside the realm of what unhoused people typically want, need, or receive from strangers. I recommend either giving cash or asking if you can buy them something.
Is okra a yay or nay? I don't personally like it/am unaccustomed, but I've seen that a bunch of it ends up in my local food banks.
As in giving it to unhoused people? Most of us don't have cooking equipment. Some of us do though, and my friend/campmate, who I'll call Ren, is an awesome as fuck cook.
