I like this story. A woman ran out of gas and a homeless guy spent his last $20 to buy her some gas. He explained how people had given the money to him and he decided to use it to help someone else out. He doesn't know what he will do with the $300,00 just yet, says he wants to think about it. Probably find a place to live, look for a job and give some of the money away to others who need help. He used to be a paramedic and he hopes to go back to that. A woman raised more than $300,000 to help a homeless man who spent his last $20 to buy her gas
Something I did when I first moved to Thailand was pretend like I was broke. This nice lady who lived across from me fed me all the time & was really nice to me. As soon as I got a good job I hooked her up with a job there. (300% pay increase from her old job) She's still working there AFAIK, and the last time I saw her was in 2009 when I returned to that same employer for a big project.
This is a great story all around. The accounting I saw on the news said that some of the money would also be used to help others re-boot their lives. Not sure how that will shake out, but it's a reaffirming story for sure.
I have mixed feelings about stories like this one. On the one hand, good for the recipient and good for everyone who contributed. OTOH, 30 homeless people could each be given $10K and it could change 30 lives.
. Sounds like this guy intends to help lots of others - he gave away his last $20 when he had nothing.
With 300K, put 100K in to property, put 75K in to tiny houses on the property and get local sponsors for these homes and get people in them. Then get some grant money to add more tiny houses, rinse repeat. Once your first property is maxed out, open a franchise in every state. It’s all started with grant money but the goal is the homes are sponsored by some concerned party or organization. Pretty soon you have a network of communities helping the homeless which is built largely on private donations.
Freebies for homeless people turns your city into a resort/mecca/destination for homeless people. I'm all for giving people a hand up, but giving away houses and money is not the answer. -Mike
I fear he is yet to get free of the drug / substance abuse that kicked him to the kerb in the first place.
I agree it is a great story of decent behaviors. The Devil's in the details of how the fund gets used.
In every story I've ever heard about a homeless person being given a lot of money, it didn't turn out well.
Or maybe just people in general. How many times have we heard about big lottery winners that end up miserable and broke? There may be specific stories involving homeless people who have been given a lot of money but I haven't seen them. I am not sure if that is a trend or not. Same with lottery winners. I would also like to point out that not all homeless people are the same. We may make assumptions about someone who is homeless but there is a good chance that those assumptions could be wrong. This story is an example of a homeless person who acted in a way that goes against a lot of the stereotypes. It will be interesting to see what happens with this. I wonder if the media will continue to follow the story.
I don't disagree. But homeless people generally aren't great with money, obviously. I'm sure the media will follow up once or twice. More if things goes bad. Good news doesn't sell.
You could say the article is about homeless people. I consider it an article about one homeless guy. I choose not to put the burden on him to represent all homeless people.
This. I have some direct experience with the homeless and it's true they are different in circumstances as well as character. Generally speaking, the homeless tend to fall into 3 categories of circumstances as to why they are homeless. 1) temporary 2) mentally ill 3) addicted to drugs or alcohol. It's worth mentioning that many homeless persons are in both categories 2 and 3. Also, children are often accompanying their homeless parents and they don't really fall into any of the above categories. What I found, when getting to know them personally, was that many are friendly and genuinely nice people, while the nasty ones are relatively few - just like the rest of us. Many people believe the stereotype that the homeless are automatically not nice people. Sure, they smell bad and most lack normal social skills but they're not lesser human beings than anybody else.
I am on a first name basis with some of the local homeless folks. Some of them really appreciate having someone listen to them. Of course there are a few lunatics and sometime I ask what I have gotten myself into. Generally most of the street campers are somewhat normal people with issues like we all have. Some more, some less. I have a plot in the back of my mind about a detective who uses the homeless as his eyes and ears. They can be invisible to the general public and may see and hear things that others don't.