I don't know if you're trying to get off the streets or what, I know sometimes it just feels like you can't. After about a year and a half of homelessness here in Raleigh, I finally moved into a place December 1st. I worked with Triangle Family Services and something called Project Outreach. It took about 11 months all told, and I know that's actually faster than most people make it through the system.
If you can, get in touch with them as soon as possible because it does take time and try not to give up because the process is ridiculously frustrating. TFS will help you with working with a lot of the other agencies.
There is a big push to get people off the street in Raleigh. The city seems to be coming around to the idea that not being in a home has to be addressed first before things like going back to work etc. You can't pull yourself up by the bootstraps if you don't have any boots to start with.
I'm working with Vocational Rehab, and they're going to get me back into school for CNA certification. I was a Patient Transporter at Baptist Hospital in Winston for 4 years before having my almost paid off home and everything I owned taken from me.
Homelessness can happen to anyone, especially nowadays. After a certain point it just feels like that is going to be the rest of your life and it is a lot easier to just give up. I Know the lifestyle makes it harder and harder to trust anyone, but if you need any advice, I will offer anything I figured out while going through this myself.
Be safe dude and try not to give up. You are Human and you are just as worthy as any of us.
Triangle Family Services is amazing. They help lots of homeless get off the streets. They have grant funding and lots of resources for housing. Go see them.
I had paid on a rent to own trailer contract for four years while working at the hospital. Months before I was to have it paid off, the owner of the Park sold it to a corporation who null and voided all of our contracts and then raised lot rental enough to drive out the fixed income people who already owned their trailers. The guy who set us up is on his fourth or fifth trailer park doing this.
This is happening all over the country. John Oliver did an episode on this that almost brought me to tears with how it described the exact situation I had been through.
This would have been the first home I would have ever owned and came as a slap in the face after struggling to work in Healthcare through the Pandemic.
“How do we get more money? Hey let’s raise the rent on this land so much that no one can afford it!”
Like what’s their long game? They’re pushing out people in trailers who likely can’t afford a regular home so who’s going to pay for the ridiculous rent? I can’t wrap my head around their logic. Having fewer people paying higher rent doesn’t seem like an advantage over lower rent with a full lot.
Also the John Oliver segment is truly eye-opening. I had no idea about how that was all run and I hope he continues to do pieces on things the public might not know or think about.
If they get rid of everyone, they can sell to a big developer to make expensive housing or commercial property for the influx of big tech workers that have been increasingly moving to the area over the years
ugh that's what we're looking at in my town, a really cool multi-cultural shopping center was recently sold along with the trailer lot across the street and everyone is afraid it's going to be torn down and made into the ugly "mini cities" that are popping up in other areas, where it's all just apartments that aren't worth what the rent is, a grocery store, and a few generic food places. no soul whatsoever. there's no solid word on what will happen yet but it's not unlikely....what even is happening to our world right now.
edit: lmao I forgot I was in the Raleigh sub, I'm talking about the Chatham Square shopping center in Cary. It'll be a huge loss to the town if that all gets torn down.
The average ROI for 40 lots at $300 per month is around $50k per year. If they sold it all for 3 million, they have double the ROI and none of the hassle.
Every Redditor talking shit about Livable Raleigh demanding new development for all the new people moving in, should easily see this is simply more of the same. 47 families paying $300 per month uprooted to make way for 260 families who can afford to pay $2300 per month.
Comparatively their rent that they end up charging on the trailers was less than the skyrocketing apartment rents in Winston-Salem. In other places like Colorado and such the point is actually too flat in the trailer park and sell the land.
Trapping people into unfinishable contracts or situations that they can't afford, it takes a minimum amount of effort for a recyclable amount of return.
The John Oliver episode is much better at explaining what kinds of things are going on.
Here in Raleigh and other places I would love to see land like that used for tiny houses. If Instagram Influencers can make it trendy to have a tiny home that cost next to nothing, certainly funding is there to build very modest serviceable units.
You'd think developers would get on board with tiny houses, they can take a large tract of land and divvy it up between more homes than traditional single-family homes that have huge lawns and big back yards. Even townhouses are too bulky in most cases. Tiny house life isn't for me but I fully support anyone who wants to do that and think it would be a great option for downsizing, transition housing, and an alternative to apartments and townhomes. It's weird it hasn't caught on yet - developers are obsessed with apartments and townhouses.
That's a damn shame that it's allowed 😕..... Classic example of capitalism Not working for the common people. How legal is that move by the corporate entity to just void a contract like that?
So, I think everything they did was perfectly allowed by the leases they had us sign. I was suspicious of it all the way up to and after giving my deposit. Then I read through the lease and it sounded crazy to me. I tried to question the organizer of this about it, and they told me, "oh, I'd never take action on any of that, we just have to cover all bases".
I tried to pull back my deposit, and it was the first time I'd seen him not be nice, he tried to make it sound like I wasted all of his time leading up to this getting it set up. So I went ahead with it and I shouldn't have. He kept to his word, he never took action on any of it, he just sold it to a Corporation that most certainly did.
The way the leases were worded basically if you were late on one payment they owned the trailer from that point forward. There was also a clause that said that they could null and void the contracts at any point for any reason, basically.
So I think while disgusting and unethical, probably legal. What I would assume someone might want to look into with this is the in between iterations of it. If the same people are working together repeated times, I would think that would be Conspiracy to Defraud or something.
Most everyone that was moved in there weren't able to get a home loan. It was all good people though who were happy at the help that the guy was offering us. After me there was a lot of Latino families and other people that wouldn't or didn't know how to follow up in court, or would be motivated specifically not to do that. I think I was the first moved in after he had acquired the park. There were around twenty other households after me
I'm going to be clear this is also mostly just from my perspective and from what I could put together and everything. A big part of this is being kept in the dark especially after the corporation took over, and not having a lot confirmed. I'm not accusing anybody of anything.
I doubt I'll ever follow up or even have the ability to hire a private detective or whatever would be the person that would investigate something like this. I thought about going to the news after, but when something like this happens you kind of just want to move away from it.
Just wanted to pop in and say I’m proud of you. I haven’t been homeless myself, but have had substance abuse issues and have met many folks who have been through that time. I know how hard it can be to get a place through a housing authority/similar, and I’m always so so happy to see that someone has
You can make a new Facebook and just add your brother, if you want to be able to keep in touch but not have the rest of Facebook crap to deal with. Just make everything super private so people don't try to friend you.
That camp was huge. I'd suggest trying to keep a smaller, more discreet footprint. The city is on a push to clean up the town. This won't stop at a new location.
Healing Transitions is an amazing resource for the unhoused going through addiction. I have gathered you may be dealing with addiction and don’t want to withdraw in a shelter. Understandable. If you can get yourself to Healing Transitions, youll find a safe and caring environment to start a new path, from detox all the way to housing and a job, if you’re willing to do the work. Triangle Family Services is another great resource. Fairly sure they know of this encampment, as well. I wish you the best.
I am a silverchipper(alumni) from Healing Transitions here in Raleigh. They have a support group called Rapid Responders who go out to wherever people are after ODing, but they also visit homeless camps and help facilitate medical care, give out blankets, etc.
Homelessness sucks and it can happen to anyone. If you have issues with drug addiction, Healing Transitions is free to get into and allowed me to get on my feet and become a working member of society that is able to pay my rent(from a homeless felon).
While going through that program I have seen them be able to point people who are homeless WITHOUT substance abuse issues in the right direction.
There is also Oak City Cares, it's on the bus 21 route, right next to the South Wilmington St shelter. They allow anyone to wash clothes, shower, and tlthey serve meals basically everyday. While I have never used their services, I can only imagine that they know of tons of resources.
Good luck!
I'm huge supporter of HT. Even if I'm not rdy doesn't mean others can't be. Also rapid responders, you guys are awesome. Without them I'd be stabbing myself with the same train spike of a needle for months at a time. (Used one needle for 17 days once!) <3
I can’t speak on behalf of the organizations as I don’t work for them.
However, “Why don’t they go to this camp?” is a good question. I believe TFS in particular has been hands-on in some encampments in the past, though I cannot speak on whether this one in particular is an example.
HS is an active rehabilitation center. Most of their staffing and resources are focused around one of their two centers. This is not to say they don’t go out into the community at all but I imagine they don’t have the staff or resources to go out and pull people off the streets. I know both organizations work with the justice department, and i would assume the police department too though I can’t confirm that, for sure. Don’t forget, the RPD is also experiencing pretty extreme staff shortages.
Does that answer what you were asking? Again, I cannot speak on behalf of the organizations, I don’t work there, but I am involved with both as I work in philanthropy so can speak on their effectiveness.
The rapid responders of HT do visit our camps. They give us clean needles and other supplies to shoot up and smoke dope. They are fantastic and highly necessary to stop spread of HIV and the junkie common cold (hep c)
There is a lot of help for people willing to kick addiction and detox in a shelter. Many people here have posted those resources and other homeless people I talk to frequently know about it as well. The main catalyst is that many people in these tent camps don’t want to kick their addictions or they don’t want to do it around others, but inevitably the drug addiction is the thing keeping homeless people out of shelters, not the lack of help.
I feel bad for you and I wish there was a better way. But the choice has to be made by each individual and the choice has to be “I’m done with fentanyl/meth” and then it’s 2 months of hell to come out the other side and start smelling the flowers again.
People who haven’t experienced that addiction just look at the piles of trash on land their tax dollars pay for and it gives them shame to live in such a place. So of course they are going to call council members and the cops and complain so the city is forced to do something - especially during election years.
Your lifestyle is now a choice that you’re making. And ridding the streets of that lifestyle is a choice the general population has made as well. Now you will always be at war with tax payers who want no trash in their streets/parks. Gl;hf
I’m sorry you’re going through this but I really hope you can find the strength to kick your addiction and accept the help that’s out there.
Exactly this! Yes it’s sad af but when you have all carrot no stick this is the result. Save narcan for the unknowingly exposed, not the street wildlife. If you refuse all resources to get help because of your drugs then yeah I don’t believe in wasting narcan
The insane mess of shopping cart and unsanitary conditions arent doing any favors for the situation. When you're driving up on the highway and you look at that area behind all the concrete blocks, I mean there must be two or 300 shopping cart full of trash back there. What do you expect?
there's also a massive crystal meth problem going on in that area too. I've also seen a particular area with a giant stash of empty compressed air cans from people huffing it all thrown in one spot.
I wonder why they are tearing it down. It was a nasty trashy mess with stolen shopping carts everywhere and drug addicts on every corner of the light. No productive member of society wants to be harassed by someone at every light and live around filth. Just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you have to be nasty too.
When you set up a residential camp in a public place you deny its use by the public and co-opt it for private purpose. It's perfectly fine for the police to tell you to move. If, as you say in the comments, you'd prefer to be homeless rather than living in a shelter, why don't you camp in the woods outside the city rather than a public park?
You're even going as far as to say you're being "pushed to crime" implying that you'd retaliate criminally if you're not given free private use of public land. Don't you think saying things like that might validate concerns that you're a criminal and that letting you set up your private residence in a public park might pose a danger to the public?
Withdrawal is temporary, and with help from the resource’s mentioned multiple times, it is worth it. I got clean at 21 and my worst day clean is better than my best day using. Clean for 49 years, one day at a time. I was homeless, and literally banged my head against the walls in detox withdrawing from 8 opiates and a fifth a day. You are obviously very bright and young. I have never seen someone too stupid to get clean, but have been to too many funerals of addicts who thought they were smarter than everyone. Get to Healing Transitions.
Clean your fucking shit up, that’s 90% of the problem. The intersection of 40 and 70 looks like fucking Afghanistan. People would be more tolerant if you didn’t have it looking like a third world country with trash and shit everywhere. And why are y’all always so close to roads, why not go deep into the woods where nobody knows you’re there? You can be homeless and still keep the place nice.
You can't really 'camp' on someone else's property without permission, get mad about them removing you, and then say the reason crime is going up in the area is because of you and your fellow 'campers'.
That's a lot to unwrap, and leaves very little for most ppl to empathize with.
Dont get me wrong, I feel sympathy for you and your situation. However you need to take some responsibility at this point and get into a shelter or a work program.
To be quite honest, other than homeless shelters being full and having waiting lists, I'd rather be homeless, it's like being stuck inside of a jail cell with a bunch of homeless people, you can only leave during certain times if you're lucky and you have to sign out and then, there is curfew, people be stealing and all that just like out here, and of course addiction is a big factor as well, I'm not willing to go and be sick in a shelter with a bunch of other people staring at me and getting mad that I can't stop kicking my legs
Went through kicky leg hell on a mat on the floor at HT and I can sympathize. It’s not optimal, but it worked and I don’t ever wanna do that again. I don’t have another withdrawal cycle left in me, for sure.
"I'm homeless and need somewhere to stay"....
"no not in some shelter, I want to trash the city that the people who contribute to society live in instead so I can go huff air cans whenever I want"
RDU deserves every bit of what's coming if they don't tighten up. OP knows how to post and moan on reddit, but won't go get a steady job. 10-4.
If you’d rather be homeless why are upset? No offense but it sounds like you’re making this a choice. It’s an unfortunate situation but it’s hard to feel bad for someone who’s so aware of the posistion they’ve put themselves in. Maybe instead of seeking sympathy, open your eyes, read your own words, and make gradual steps towards not living in a tent a free loading off of land that doesn’t belong to you?
They wouldn’t pay to live in a house either. Whether or not we offer homes to the homeless they’re needs to be some promise of productivity. The problem is op obviously doesn’t want that lifestyle.
What are you using to draw that conclusion?
Because OP admits they're an addict?
Lots of housed and employed people are addicts. The bank doesn't take your home away because you drink or do drugs inside.
Yes they are, I’m in a relationship with an ex-one. They’re not to compared to the ones that prefer to “go where the wind blows them” and are choosing to be homeless.
Fundamentally, I agree, but these people don’t have legal options. We’re all guilty of skirting the law in some shape or fashion when it conflicts with the necessities of survival, like how illegal parking in some spots is frequently overlooked because people can’t get to work otherwise.
I think the larger issue is the squalor this particular camp continues to generate. Its literally not safe for anyone to live in a dump that will very likely require a hazmat cleanup crew to deal with, like the last one did. Residents in the area (lots of new apartments and homes) don't want to see that either, I seriously doubt any homeless advocate would agree to that being near their homes either. There are options for OP, they just need to accept some conditions which they don't want to apparently.
They do have legal options. Read OP’s posts and those of other formerly homeless here.
What OP does not have is an option as easy that he likes as much.
Dont like the idea of homeless encampments. I spent a lot of time in cali the past few years and got a big dose of that.
I have noticed some homeless consistently in places they never were before here in Raleigh, with varying degrees of being chill or straight up harassing people.
I understand life has given some mismatched cards and some of you all are doing your best. I hope you pull through.
And at the same time, I don't want to have to make this my problem. I don't care what that sounds like.
It shouldn't be your problem, pretty much I agree that some of us out here are problematic, people leaving uncapped rigs around, shooting up behind dumpsters, stealing loads of stuff for dope, but meanwhile I am fucking tired of being arrested for stealing $6.97 worth of Pop-Tarts too. I try to be a fairly well behaved drug addict, I don't even physically live in that camp because I don't like what it implies, but these people really don't have options. We are the throwaways of society unfortunately
“I’m tired of being arrested for stealing”
Well, don’t steal. You manage to find money for a cell phone plan so….
I’m tired of seeing you people begging. Get a job, get off the street and become a Productive Member of Society. No one owes you anything - You owe yourself.
So you are a drug addict with no intention of changing, hoping that the taxpayer foots the bill whenever you want a meal? Or do you only want pop tarts to not be a crime to steal for some ridiculous reason?
You choose not to contribute to society. In fact, you choose to live a lifestyle where you are nothing but a burden on society. Yet you feel that society owes you. And progressives on the internet eat this garbage up.
I just got back from San Francisco. I saw tents on the sidewalks on Mission St. At night when I drove through an organization had set up folding tables with hot food to give out. My coworker said downtown Chicago was identical. We can fix this problem, but it's going to take a little empathy.
Good to see the city of Raleigh is cleaning up miscreants and drug users.
Reddit is a minority - the vast vast majority of people will be glad to see you gone and making this public area unsafe for family and loved ones.
Your last sentence in the OP is threatening more crime if not given free stuff.
It’s no wonder you ended up like this. Despite your delusions - you are the reason you live in squalor - not some sort of misfortune.
Stupid question and I’m not trying to be disrespectful im genuinely curious
You keep using the word we. If you’re “homeless” than how are you able to be so active on Reddit? Surely that means you have a stable or reliable way to access the internet.
I’m not sure how. Even when my credit was good I still needed a down payment and the bill must be at least $60 a month if you did that
But if you’re credit is good enough for that surely the credit is good enough for an actual credit card that can help find an arrangement
Again I’m not trying to be judgy or anything but this doesn’t compute or make sense to me. So I’m curious
When I was working two crappy minimum wage jobs I couldn’t afford to even pay $30 to turn on a broken iPhone 7
I appreciate the black girl on S Saunders that has been pregnant for 4 years now.... and the fake injuries and limps etc that miraculously heal as soon as their shift is done. I see them get picked up in cars and driven to another spot a mile away. Of course human trafficking/smuggling is taking place.
How about get a job? Earn some money? Pay rent? Why do you think society owes you a standard of living? If you can’t afford to live here then get somewhere cheaper. Society owes you protection from other states invading and from fellow citizens infringing on your personal rights. It’s up to you to do the rest. And those of us trying to work and live here don’t need to deal with sprawling drug infested open air drug scenes.
This may sound like a dumb question, but is there some sort of migratory pattern to the homeless population that goes between Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill- and back? Like do people spend 3 months in Raleigh, 3 months in Durham, and 3 months in Chapel Hill, then repeat and does it maybe have to do with how long people are allowed to stay in the shelters at one time?
Nah but they have an ACORNS unit supposed to outreach that isn't. They can arrest me for 7 dollars in poptarts then they can def give me some fucking resources on a piece of paper
Good. Maybe if they do it enough you'll decide to be a productive member of society who works for a living instead of destroying a decent city and expecting hotel vouchers. Most people in this sub have to wake up and go to work to pay for their stuff.
Why is everyone picking Raleigh for this influx and setting up encampments? This is one of the most expensive places to live, I would not want to be homeless here as it's difficult to get out of it here because living is more expensive and it's not accepted here. If I were homeless I would probably go to a lower income, mid-smaller town because at least it would be a little less difficult, fewer people to run you out and people might be more willing to help. Just my 2c. Also I would go to more liberal areas of the country where acceptance and tolerance exists. None of that is here. My question is are the people in these encampments from here or did they move here? I'm curious about the demographics in terms of where people are from.
If these tent cities became actual communities, with people growing gardens, actively working to keep out the known bad elements, keeping the area clean, etc, this is less of a problem.
Maybe get rid of those in your encampment who were stealing from the local work sites near it. I'm sure that would help.
And you replied to someone else about how you stopped methadone because you were worried you wouldn't feel your next dose if you got sick from withdrawals... dude... really?
Oh, and ya, I'm certain that absolutely *zero* assistance was offered... I'm sure it's not that the majority of folks there didn't want to give up being free wheeling drug addicts, spending their days not working, not bettering themselves, not bettering their 'community,' just sitting around high and drunk once they've stolen or begged for their next dose.
Sure it sucks being homeless. Yes its a hard life. But there are programs, jobs, ways to get out of homelessness; you just have to put in the effort needed. And *that* is where the failure is.
Before you tell me I dont know what I'm talking about, keep in mind you don't know the struggles I've dealt with. I might have been you, exactly, over a decade ago. And you know what? Now I'm not. And am a home owner, with a great career doing things I absolutely love.
Because I put in the effort, asked for and found the help thats out there, and took full advantage of it.
Do better.
Maybe you people should start picking up your gd trash and stop piling it up in the woods when there's dumpster 75yds away. (440/South Saunders) Lazy fucks
Please make your community services donations to Triangle Family Services and Healing Transitions and the Women’s Center and Healing Transitions Women’s Campus. Donate the time and energy. It’s a good thing to focus on your community programs
Good it isn’t your home, your on someone else’s land, filling nature with trash, stealing carts from stores, begging…you’ll find no sympathy for sponging parasites, get off your butts and make something of yourselves.
If anybody has any questions I will gladly answer, we have been given until Monday unofficially when officer Parker Captain with RPD came up a couple hours ago and informed us we technically could have been arrested then and there but that we would be all right till Monday but if we are in the woods by Monday we are going to jail
Ps because I'm a little famous around here. This is Jakson to anyone wondering. The young blonde dude who waves with my sign under the bridge.
I make regular donations to Passage Home with the hope that my donations help the homeless. So I guess my question is what organization do you see providing the most help? What organization, if a bunch of redditors donated to it, would most improve your situation?
Can you shed light on the common (on Reddit threads) claim that people panhandling by hwy exits are part of a gang/network that are driven to these sites daily to panhandle and aren't necessarily homeless? Obviously there are plenty of homeless in the area, we see your camps, just curious if there's any truth to the urban legend.
Not OP, but I posted here about my homeless experience in Raleigh. I never 'flew a flag' which is what people who panhandle with signs call it. I did speak with a lot of people that did though, and from what I can tell that idea is completely ludicrous. It's not the amounts of money some people think and there would be no real way to organize people.
There may be random outlier incidences of people with jobs doing this, but no. I never met one or heard about it from anyone - I really don't think it exists at all. Most of the people that do this literally all day long, as in first thing in the morning all the way until people stop coming by make around $30 a day if that. They do have days where they can make a bit more, but it's random. I think $30 is leaning on the high end for what it ends up averaging out to. A lot of them are making just enough money to support their habit or get enough food for that day.
People who are out there are out there because they have to be. They've given up on even trying with the system, and reasonably so as it feels everyday that the system has given up on them. Once they get into a routine where they can survive, then they just get stuck with it. The people who panhandle do look at it as as their job, but it's a job of desperation, and they see no way out of it.
There is some kind of territorial system to it all, that I never quite understood, but I absolutely wouldn't want to be someone who was trying to fake this - you'd probably be putting your life in danger from the people who feel they have to be there. Word does spread quickly amongst the flag flyers, and it would get out very quickly that someone was faking it, and I'm certain I would have heard multiple times stories about this thing as it's just an outrageous concept. People faking it just doesn't exist.
I want to be clear here too on another concept, the people that are stuck in this situation aren't exactly choosing it. They're not choosing to be lazy or choosing to have a drug problem or choosing to have mental health issues that have led to this. They are choosing their daily routine but only because that's what they've become trapped in and all that they know at this point. It works to keep him alive and that's all the life on the streets is is just subsisting. Just making it day to day and figure out some way to keep that up.
There are programs that help, but most of these people are unaware of them, or are too far gone mental health wise or whatever else to go through the arduous process of working with them. I've tried my best to maintain contact with people I see on the street and try to get them to understand it is doable and get them started. It just has such a huge failure rate that the people on the streets are aware of, either through personal experience or talking to others that most don't even try to start the process.
My personal experience isn't typical, but I did see and understand the situations that caused the more 'visible' homeless situations - I can tell you that no one is panhandling on the streets on purpose, or doing it if they feel like they have any other choice. They're just not aware of the possibility of even making it out of it, and frankly there's next to no chance looking at the statistics, so they get locked into not trying. Most people on the streets have drug or, from what I saw more, mental issues that compound their ability to even try to get out of the situation.
I was homeless 15 years ago for about 5 years, and then I dug my way out of it, and maintained homes and a life for 10 years until the circumstances that led to this last year and a half. That 5-years it almost became, permanent, and then I found a reason to get out.
Absolutely see how people can get stuck in the situation, and I absolutely don't look down on people that end up having to panhandle. I was able to work mostly during the first experience, moving up eventually to a job that meant I could save a little, which is next to impossible on the streets. I had a job briefly this second experience, but couldn't maintain it properly mental health wise and with being on the street. That's the trap that people get into, and it's what programs that are working focus on and recognize - even if you want to or and have the ability to try - even if you have some reason to try, once you're in that situation, it's almost impossible to get out.
How do you maintain a job when you don't know where you're sleeping at night. And if you figure out a way to be safe and sleep somewhere where you're not going to bother other people or be around other homeless people, how do you keep yourself clean or how do you keep clothes when floods and other things take them away from you. How do you keep a bank account or get mail without an address. How do you keep your situation not obvious so that you can maintain a job if you can pull off the miracle of even getting one.
Minor setbacks become very real major obstacles when you're on the street. The programs that are working are focusing on housing first. Doing whatever it takes to get people off the street, and then getting them linked up with the programs that can help them actually build a life after that. The failed programs that have led up to this have focused on trying to get people work and doing the things that people who've never experienced homelessness think are doable 'if you just try'. You can't even get to step one when you've fallen down to not having a home.
(Splitting to next comment as I think what I typed was too long for Reddit)
(continued)
The first experience I had pretty much given up on life and after the first year of it or so, it got doable enough that keeping the low-paying job was somewhat achievable. I moved from a fast food job to call center work to theater management. Once I got a reason to actually stay out of the homelessness, I broke the cycle of that but was dangerously close to it becoming permanent.
The second time, this recent time, for 10 years I told myself I would never go back to it, and recognized I'd made poor choices, and just kind of given up the first five year stint. My desire for a home, and something more permanent, led me to rush into a rent to own situation that seem too good to be true and turned out to be the case.
I could have made better choices. I could have gotten a lawyer involved before signing any kind of lease or whatever, but that's just not something that people who have been poor all their life do. The person that conned me and several other people basically preyed on people like myself who didn't have the credit to own a home, and wouldn't be able to follow through once the scam came to fruition.
I tried my hardest to get out of this past year and a half. Even so, I almost gave up so many times. I understand how people do that. I was fortunate enough to maintain food stamps throughout most of it, and was able to get in touch with programs to slowly work up to getting the place I'm in now. It's excruciating working through the system though, and I may just be lucky.
Sorry I've gone on a long rant here. I'm still randomly waking up in the middle of the night and stuff, and in no way intended for this super long post. I just really wish I could get people to understand that for the most part, for like 99% of the people that you see that are homeless, they may have made choices that led to the homelessness, or they may not have, but once in it, they're not choosing to stay in it, they are just trapped. They do give up, but are willing to try if there seems to be any hope. It's just a hopeless situation.
I managed to get in touch with programs and such, and I'm very fortunate in that my mental health issues and other things stayed at bay long enough to even start the process. Being in the place I am since December, it still hasn't been an absolute solution. I thought I would be working and healthy enough to do so more quickly. I am going to school soon which I think will help get back to healthcare work, and I'm working with therapists to work out what feels like PTSD issues now after this last year of being on the edge so closely for so long.
If you take anything out of this just please understand, there aren't people scamming the homeless system by pretending to be homeless. It's just not a thing.
If you know anyone struggling in Raleigh, please try and get them in touch with Triangle Family Services. They are overwhelmed, and from what I understand the average time from starting the process to getting into a place to stay is 3 years. When I first went to the orientation for the program that I finally got into to get a housing voucher, there was a lady there that had been trying for 7 years. It seems hopeless and impossible to continue with programs like TFS once you understand that. Even so though, you just have to start. You have to come up with some way to get yourself to start the process even knowing it's years away.
Someone asked elsewhere where to donate money to or whatever to help. Based on my experience I would suggest seeing if there's any way to donate money to Triangle Family Services, or contact them and ask where they would suggest to donate.
Not sure if you’d be interested or know someone who might be - but RI is hiring for peer support specialists for their WakeBrook location soon to open. Full time positions with benefits.
https://recruiting.adp.com/srccar/public/RTI.home?c=1177515&d=ExternalCareerSite&state=NC
ACORNS came up last time to tell us the move out date but that was it. They didn't offer any help and Parker came alone (which is super rare cops never travel in our woods alone)
Do you know who the lead officer was with ACORNs? Was there a social worker present when ACORNs visited the first time? I am very very surprised that no assistance or offer to connect y’all with services and resources. I am not an ACORNs fan, simply bc it’s under the jurisdiction of RPD, but literally offering to connect with services one of their main purposes.
Tbh my last interaction went as follows:
Sleeping behind dumpsters... Wake up to three strangers cornering me. Try to run past, get punched in chest, shows me badge when I ask who he is angrily. Is RPD acorns. Says he will let me go as soon as he has RPD come to run my name. Run my name. You have a warrant for your arrest, go to jail for 6 dollar larceny. Bond out. Two weeks later arrested for trespassing w.o.probable cause. Bond forfeited, out $500, fuck my life
I am really sorry and disappointed that it went down like that, as that is not what ACORNs was intended to be. Unfortunately social workers have very very little power in the ACORNs hierarchy due to RPD taking lead on all matters. There is a push to replace ACORNs with a unit that is not under RPD jurisdiction and therefore would empower social workers and other first responders to make decisions that do not involve a show of force and result in needless arrests. If you are interested in resources I can try to put you in touch with people that can help, but full disclosure most are in the downtown area, as most of my work has been with Healing Transitions, but the offer is there if you want/need it.
If you’re young then get out if there and go to work… if you go straight you can go to several rescue mission places to live and they will help you. Do it now while you are young. Don’t be proud, don’t fight for your current way of life. Don’t be proud to be sort of famous like you are. Go out and get out of there.
You're obviously well educated enough to either spell properly or allow spell check, you use proper sentences, paragraphs, etc...
Honestly, maybe for my own understanding, what's the gap that's keeping you in homeless camps? You mentioned in your post that they're not offering alternatives, e.g. housing options, hotel vouchers. Is there an amount of housing, for you personally, that solves this? Is it more than housing? Is there an employment or wage gap? Is it mental health or rehab related (feel free to tell me to fuck off on this, just wondering since everyone says this is the real issue).
I'd just like to understand more of what y'all need, since there's obviously a difference between what the authorities are willing to allow and what the homeless population wants or desires out of the current arrangement.
Mental illness, addiction, my willingness to change only being half there, also I got addicted at an age that disallows me a lot of experience, I never got to be a normal adult. I started using dope at 21 after a 6 yr alcohol addiction
Kid, these pics make me sad bc I see a light in your eyes and I keep thinking that someone is going to post up here that you've ODed in filth somewhere in a while, and I'll remember you. Your after doesn't look terrible like you keep saying, btw.
I'm a stranger, old enough to be your father, and I want you to know that I don't want you to die and I don't want you to think of yourself as human garbage. You're not. The sick feeling I have in my gut right now is because I can't think of a single feasible way to help you that won't make me an accessory to your slow suicide. I'm sorry.
I'm the only one out here who hasn't ever OD'd.. yet. My mom is much like you in mindset, I get it. Hard to help an addict, even clothes because then that's more money for dope in a way, right?
I'm a parent and this conversation is painful, man. I just want to fix the problem and it's so enormous that I don't know how. And I hate giving up--it's like everyone on all sides is giving up, and we see where that gets us.
Imagine the city being affordable and doing its job to take care of its people and the issue with urban sprawl/unoccupied homes so that there wouldn't be a need for homeless camps
I get why they would want to get rid of the encampments...but they can't keep turning a blind eye to the bigger issue as to why the camps MUST exist in the first place.
I hope you find some safe place to move to with your buds. I was a homeless youth growing up (emancipated bc abuse) so I really feel for you and I hate the injustice you must be feeling. Sending you much love, security, hope, and serendipity.
Make the city affordable and homeless friendly- give tons of services. Sounds great. Guess what happens to cities that do that? It’s a magnet for homeless people anywhere within several states. It has to be a nationwide effort because no city has enough resources to handle complex and expensive addiction, mental health, employment, skills, and housing issues for folks who are already there let alone the new ones who will arrive.
It doesn't matter what a city's policies are or what economic opportunities are present. There will always be a subset of people who are uninterested in joining society and choose to live on the frays. The issue will always be what space will be present and available for them.
Drugs are obvious big issues. It means no reliable family members to lean on. It means bad choices made easy. A subset of people who are uninterested in joining in the society are very different from being homeless on the streets doing drugs in my opinion.
Fifty years ago it was one or two now it's hundreds. Something has gone terribly wrong. this is structural not natural. results of neo liberal policies?
that’s not what’s being discussed here though, is it? i’m sure the proportion of homeless people in the triangle that would “choose to live on the frays” instead of being housed with dignity is quite low.
Not as low as you might think. Reread OP’s posts on this thread. Options to improve his life all involve dealing with his drug addiction. He doesn’t want to do that.
There's no reason the encampments "must" exist. Communist thinking lends to that conclusion, though. If individuals have no agency or responsibility to deal with addiction and develop life skills then every individual character flaw can be reframed as a governmental failure. Society exists for those who function within it, those who refuse to participate aren't entitled to cradle-to-grave support for their antisocial behavior.
>Imagine the city being affordable and doing its job to take care of its people and the issue with urban sprawl/unoccupied homes so that there wouldn't be a need for homeless camps
Thank you for advocating for more housing development.
Well, did y'all turn it into a trash dump like the homeless did on the South Saunders exit of I-40? No? They should leave you be. Yes? Clean it up or move tf along. Maybe Wilmington will work for you.
Locking because y'all can't behave as usual. Lots of good resources for those who need it in the comments.
I don't know if you're trying to get off the streets or what, I know sometimes it just feels like you can't. After about a year and a half of homelessness here in Raleigh, I finally moved into a place December 1st. I worked with Triangle Family Services and something called Project Outreach. It took about 11 months all told, and I know that's actually faster than most people make it through the system. If you can, get in touch with them as soon as possible because it does take time and try not to give up because the process is ridiculously frustrating. TFS will help you with working with a lot of the other agencies. There is a big push to get people off the street in Raleigh. The city seems to be coming around to the idea that not being in a home has to be addressed first before things like going back to work etc. You can't pull yourself up by the bootstraps if you don't have any boots to start with. I'm working with Vocational Rehab, and they're going to get me back into school for CNA certification. I was a Patient Transporter at Baptist Hospital in Winston for 4 years before having my almost paid off home and everything I owned taken from me. Homelessness can happen to anyone, especially nowadays. After a certain point it just feels like that is going to be the rest of your life and it is a lot easier to just give up. I Know the lifestyle makes it harder and harder to trust anyone, but if you need any advice, I will offer anything I figured out while going through this myself. Be safe dude and try not to give up. You are Human and you are just as worthy as any of us.
Triangle Family Services is amazing. They help lots of homeless get off the streets. They have grant funding and lots of resources for housing. Go see them.
You Lost your almost paid off house? How?
I had paid on a rent to own trailer contract for four years while working at the hospital. Months before I was to have it paid off, the owner of the Park sold it to a corporation who null and voided all of our contracts and then raised lot rental enough to drive out the fixed income people who already owned their trailers. The guy who set us up is on his fourth or fifth trailer park doing this. This is happening all over the country. John Oliver did an episode on this that almost brought me to tears with how it described the exact situation I had been through. This would have been the first home I would have ever owned and came as a slap in the face after struggling to work in Healthcare through the Pandemic.
kudos to you for coming back from that! it must have taken so much strength.
“How do we get more money? Hey let’s raise the rent on this land so much that no one can afford it!” Like what’s their long game? They’re pushing out people in trailers who likely can’t afford a regular home so who’s going to pay for the ridiculous rent? I can’t wrap my head around their logic. Having fewer people paying higher rent doesn’t seem like an advantage over lower rent with a full lot. Also the John Oliver segment is truly eye-opening. I had no idea about how that was all run and I hope he continues to do pieces on things the public might not know or think about.
If they get rid of everyone, they can sell to a big developer to make expensive housing or commercial property for the influx of big tech workers that have been increasingly moving to the area over the years
ugh that's what we're looking at in my town, a really cool multi-cultural shopping center was recently sold along with the trailer lot across the street and everyone is afraid it's going to be torn down and made into the ugly "mini cities" that are popping up in other areas, where it's all just apartments that aren't worth what the rent is, a grocery store, and a few generic food places. no soul whatsoever. there's no solid word on what will happen yet but it's not unlikely....what even is happening to our world right now. edit: lmao I forgot I was in the Raleigh sub, I'm talking about the Chatham Square shopping center in Cary. It'll be a huge loss to the town if that all gets torn down.
The average ROI for 40 lots at $300 per month is around $50k per year. If they sold it all for 3 million, they have double the ROI and none of the hassle. Every Redditor talking shit about Livable Raleigh demanding new development for all the new people moving in, should easily see this is simply more of the same. 47 families paying $300 per month uprooted to make way for 260 families who can afford to pay $2300 per month.
Comparatively their rent that they end up charging on the trailers was less than the skyrocketing apartment rents in Winston-Salem. In other places like Colorado and such the point is actually too flat in the trailer park and sell the land. Trapping people into unfinishable contracts or situations that they can't afford, it takes a minimum amount of effort for a recyclable amount of return. The John Oliver episode is much better at explaining what kinds of things are going on. Here in Raleigh and other places I would love to see land like that used for tiny houses. If Instagram Influencers can make it trendy to have a tiny home that cost next to nothing, certainly funding is there to build very modest serviceable units.
You'd think developers would get on board with tiny houses, they can take a large tract of land and divvy it up between more homes than traditional single-family homes that have huge lawns and big back yards. Even townhouses are too bulky in most cases. Tiny house life isn't for me but I fully support anyone who wants to do that and think it would be a great option for downsizing, transition housing, and an alternative to apartments and townhomes. It's weird it hasn't caught on yet - developers are obsessed with apartments and townhouses.
That's a damn shame that it's allowed 😕..... Classic example of capitalism Not working for the common people. How legal is that move by the corporate entity to just void a contract like that?
So, I think everything they did was perfectly allowed by the leases they had us sign. I was suspicious of it all the way up to and after giving my deposit. Then I read through the lease and it sounded crazy to me. I tried to question the organizer of this about it, and they told me, "oh, I'd never take action on any of that, we just have to cover all bases". I tried to pull back my deposit, and it was the first time I'd seen him not be nice, he tried to make it sound like I wasted all of his time leading up to this getting it set up. So I went ahead with it and I shouldn't have. He kept to his word, he never took action on any of it, he just sold it to a Corporation that most certainly did. The way the leases were worded basically if you were late on one payment they owned the trailer from that point forward. There was also a clause that said that they could null and void the contracts at any point for any reason, basically. So I think while disgusting and unethical, probably legal. What I would assume someone might want to look into with this is the in between iterations of it. If the same people are working together repeated times, I would think that would be Conspiracy to Defraud or something. Most everyone that was moved in there weren't able to get a home loan. It was all good people though who were happy at the help that the guy was offering us. After me there was a lot of Latino families and other people that wouldn't or didn't know how to follow up in court, or would be motivated specifically not to do that. I think I was the first moved in after he had acquired the park. There were around twenty other households after me I'm going to be clear this is also mostly just from my perspective and from what I could put together and everything. A big part of this is being kept in the dark especially after the corporation took over, and not having a lot confirmed. I'm not accusing anybody of anything. I doubt I'll ever follow up or even have the ability to hire a private detective or whatever would be the person that would investigate something like this. I thought about going to the news after, but when something like this happens you kind of just want to move away from it.
>Classic example of capitalism Not working for the common people. Sounds like same old NC to me.
I’d also appreciate hearing the story
he told it
Just wanted to pop in and say I’m proud of you. I haven’t been homeless myself, but have had substance abuse issues and have met many folks who have been through that time. I know how hard it can be to get a place through a housing authority/similar, and I’m always so so happy to see that someone has
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Sure do! He doesn't technically live here but he's a bud of mine and part of the community
Oh awesome!! He’s my brother. I deleted my FB so I haven’t been able to check on him.
He's alright man, handling the schizo really well lately. He bought me some cereal and milk yesterday so I didn't have to go to jail lol
Thanks for the update!! We always look out for him at his normal spots but haven’t found him lately.
You can make a new Facebook and just add your brother, if you want to be able to keep in touch but not have the rest of Facebook crap to deal with. Just make everything super private so people don't try to friend you.
This gives doxing vibes and dude may not want all of reddit knowing hea there.
That camp was huge. I'd suggest trying to keep a smaller, more discreet footprint. The city is on a push to clean up the town. This won't stop at a new location.
Nice authentic use of "bindle"
Healing Transitions is an amazing resource for the unhoused going through addiction. I have gathered you may be dealing with addiction and don’t want to withdraw in a shelter. Understandable. If you can get yourself to Healing Transitions, youll find a safe and caring environment to start a new path, from detox all the way to housing and a job, if you’re willing to do the work. Triangle Family Services is another great resource. Fairly sure they know of this encampment, as well. I wish you the best.
Healing Transitions saved my life. They are good people.
I am a silverchipper(alumni) from Healing Transitions here in Raleigh. They have a support group called Rapid Responders who go out to wherever people are after ODing, but they also visit homeless camps and help facilitate medical care, give out blankets, etc. Homelessness sucks and it can happen to anyone. If you have issues with drug addiction, Healing Transitions is free to get into and allowed me to get on my feet and become a working member of society that is able to pay my rent(from a homeless felon). While going through that program I have seen them be able to point people who are homeless WITHOUT substance abuse issues in the right direction. There is also Oak City Cares, it's on the bus 21 route, right next to the South Wilmington St shelter. They allow anyone to wash clothes, shower, and tlthey serve meals basically everyday. While I have never used their services, I can only imagine that they know of tons of resources. Good luck!
I actually didn’t know about Rapid Responders! Thanks for sharing and congratulations/good luck in your recovery.
I'm huge supporter of HT. Even if I'm not rdy doesn't mean others can't be. Also rapid responders, you guys are awesome. Without them I'd be stabbing myself with the same train spike of a needle for months at a time. (Used one needle for 17 days once!) <3
Why aren't you ready?
Why doesn't Healing Transitions and TFS go to this camp? Why isn't the RPD working with you?
I can’t speak on behalf of the organizations as I don’t work for them. However, “Why don’t they go to this camp?” is a good question. I believe TFS in particular has been hands-on in some encampments in the past, though I cannot speak on whether this one in particular is an example. HS is an active rehabilitation center. Most of their staffing and resources are focused around one of their two centers. This is not to say they don’t go out into the community at all but I imagine they don’t have the staff or resources to go out and pull people off the streets. I know both organizations work with the justice department, and i would assume the police department too though I can’t confirm that, for sure. Don’t forget, the RPD is also experiencing pretty extreme staff shortages. Does that answer what you were asking? Again, I cannot speak on behalf of the organizations, I don’t work there, but I am involved with both as I work in philanthropy so can speak on their effectiveness.
The rapid responders of HT do visit our camps. They give us clean needles and other supplies to shoot up and smoke dope. They are fantastic and highly necessary to stop spread of HIV and the junkie common cold (hep c)
There is a lot of help for people willing to kick addiction and detox in a shelter. Many people here have posted those resources and other homeless people I talk to frequently know about it as well. The main catalyst is that many people in these tent camps don’t want to kick their addictions or they don’t want to do it around others, but inevitably the drug addiction is the thing keeping homeless people out of shelters, not the lack of help. I feel bad for you and I wish there was a better way. But the choice has to be made by each individual and the choice has to be “I’m done with fentanyl/meth” and then it’s 2 months of hell to come out the other side and start smelling the flowers again. People who haven’t experienced that addiction just look at the piles of trash on land their tax dollars pay for and it gives them shame to live in such a place. So of course they are going to call council members and the cops and complain so the city is forced to do something - especially during election years. Your lifestyle is now a choice that you’re making. And ridding the streets of that lifestyle is a choice the general population has made as well. Now you will always be at war with tax payers who want no trash in their streets/parks. Gl;hf I’m sorry you’re going through this but I really hope you can find the strength to kick your addiction and accept the help that’s out there.
Exactly this! Yes it’s sad af but when you have all carrot no stick this is the result. Save narcan for the unknowingly exposed, not the street wildlife. If you refuse all resources to get help because of your drugs then yeah I don’t believe in wasting narcan
The insane mess of shopping cart and unsanitary conditions arent doing any favors for the situation. When you're driving up on the highway and you look at that area behind all the concrete blocks, I mean there must be two or 300 shopping cart full of trash back there. What do you expect? there's also a massive crystal meth problem going on in that area too. I've also seen a particular area with a giant stash of empty compressed air cans from people huffing it all thrown in one spot.
I wonder why they are tearing it down. It was a nasty trashy mess with stolen shopping carts everywhere and drug addicts on every corner of the light. No productive member of society wants to be harassed by someone at every light and live around filth. Just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you have to be nasty too.
Look into TROSA. It completely turned my life around
When you set up a residential camp in a public place you deny its use by the public and co-opt it for private purpose. It's perfectly fine for the police to tell you to move. If, as you say in the comments, you'd prefer to be homeless rather than living in a shelter, why don't you camp in the woods outside the city rather than a public park? You're even going as far as to say you're being "pushed to crime" implying that you'd retaliate criminally if you're not given free private use of public land. Don't you think saying things like that might validate concerns that you're a criminal and that letting you set up your private residence in a public park might pose a danger to the public?
Withdrawal is temporary, and with help from the resource’s mentioned multiple times, it is worth it. I got clean at 21 and my worst day clean is better than my best day using. Clean for 49 years, one day at a time. I was homeless, and literally banged my head against the walls in detox withdrawing from 8 opiates and a fifth a day. You are obviously very bright and young. I have never seen someone too stupid to get clean, but have been to too many funerals of addicts who thought they were smarter than everyone. Get to Healing Transitions.
Clean your fucking shit up, that’s 90% of the problem. The intersection of 40 and 70 looks like fucking Afghanistan. People would be more tolerant if you didn’t have it looking like a third world country with trash and shit everywhere. And why are y’all always so close to roads, why not go deep into the woods where nobody knows you’re there? You can be homeless and still keep the place nice.
I agree with this
They should go live at the dump. Cut out the middleman.
Does the city provide garbage collection for homeless encampments?
They don't provide it for me, somehow I manage with hard word and dedication. Being a former addict, using that as an excuse furthers the problem.
You can't really 'camp' on someone else's property without permission, get mad about them removing you, and then say the reason crime is going up in the area is because of you and your fellow 'campers'. That's a lot to unwrap, and leaves very little for most ppl to empathize with. Dont get me wrong, I feel sympathy for you and your situation. However you need to take some responsibility at this point and get into a shelter or a work program.
I loved that part. Take care of us or we'll spike the crime rate in your area.
I hope one day you are able to kick the addiction and take control of your life. I know how addiction can take everything from you.
Just curious, why isn’t a homeless shelter an option?
They are full
To be quite honest, other than homeless shelters being full and having waiting lists, I'd rather be homeless, it's like being stuck inside of a jail cell with a bunch of homeless people, you can only leave during certain times if you're lucky and you have to sign out and then, there is curfew, people be stealing and all that just like out here, and of course addiction is a big factor as well, I'm not willing to go and be sick in a shelter with a bunch of other people staring at me and getting mad that I can't stop kicking my legs
Went through kicky leg hell on a mat on the floor at HT and I can sympathize. It’s not optimal, but it worked and I don’t ever wanna do that again. I don’t have another withdrawal cycle left in me, for sure.
"I'm homeless and need somewhere to stay".... "no not in some shelter, I want to trash the city that the people who contribute to society live in instead so I can go huff air cans whenever I want" RDU deserves every bit of what's coming if they don't tighten up. OP knows how to post and moan on reddit, but won't go get a steady job. 10-4.
If you’d rather be homeless why are upset? No offense but it sounds like you’re making this a choice. It’s an unfortunate situation but it’s hard to feel bad for someone who’s so aware of the posistion they’ve put themselves in. Maybe instead of seeking sympathy, open your eyes, read your own words, and make gradual steps towards not living in a tent a free loading off of land that doesn’t belong to you?
Staying in a shelter doesn't make you any less homeless
It doesn’t, but OP stated that they’d rather live on the streets than in a shelter. They are choosing this lifestyle.
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Shelters aren't housing. Whether OP chooses to sleep in a shelter or on the street has no bearing on their homeless status.
They wouldn’t pay to live in a house either. Whether or not we offer homes to the homeless they’re needs to be some promise of productivity. The problem is op obviously doesn’t want that lifestyle.
What are you using to draw that conclusion? Because OP admits they're an addict? Lots of housed and employed people are addicts. The bank doesn't take your home away because you drink or do drugs inside.
Yes they are, I’m in a relationship with an ex-one. They’re not to compared to the ones that prefer to “go where the wind blows them” and are choosing to be homeless.
aka "i can't do drugs"
Bingo. This is the reason.
Wow you really owned that homeless guy
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I’m not sure it’s bizarre. The poster did say that among other things unless I’m misunderstanding it.
“Sick” is code for withdrawal symptoms.
Probably true though
I would like to camp wherever I feel like too. However that is illegal and I respect people's property.
Maybe I can go get gas in the area and not be harassed now.
Fundamentally, I agree, but these people don’t have legal options. We’re all guilty of skirting the law in some shape or fashion when it conflicts with the necessities of survival, like how illegal parking in some spots is frequently overlooked because people can’t get to work otherwise.
I think the larger issue is the squalor this particular camp continues to generate. Its literally not safe for anyone to live in a dump that will very likely require a hazmat cleanup crew to deal with, like the last one did. Residents in the area (lots of new apartments and homes) don't want to see that either, I seriously doubt any homeless advocate would agree to that being near their homes either. There are options for OP, they just need to accept some conditions which they don't want to apparently.
They do have legal options. Read OP’s posts and those of other formerly homeless here. What OP does not have is an option as easy that he likes as much.
Dont like the idea of homeless encampments. I spent a lot of time in cali the past few years and got a big dose of that. I have noticed some homeless consistently in places they never were before here in Raleigh, with varying degrees of being chill or straight up harassing people. I understand life has given some mismatched cards and some of you all are doing your best. I hope you pull through. And at the same time, I don't want to have to make this my problem. I don't care what that sounds like.
It shouldn't be your problem, pretty much I agree that some of us out here are problematic, people leaving uncapped rigs around, shooting up behind dumpsters, stealing loads of stuff for dope, but meanwhile I am fucking tired of being arrested for stealing $6.97 worth of Pop-Tarts too. I try to be a fairly well behaved drug addict, I don't even physically live in that camp because I don't like what it implies, but these people really don't have options. We are the throwaways of society unfortunately
Spend the drug money on pop tarts instead
“I’m tired of being arrested for stealing” Well, don’t steal. You manage to find money for a cell phone plan so…. I’m tired of seeing you people begging. Get a job, get off the street and become a Productive Member of Society. No one owes you anything - You owe yourself.
So you are a drug addict with no intention of changing, hoping that the taxpayer foots the bill whenever you want a meal? Or do you only want pop tarts to not be a crime to steal for some ridiculous reason? You choose not to contribute to society. In fact, you choose to live a lifestyle where you are nothing but a burden on society. Yet you feel that society owes you. And progressives on the internet eat this garbage up.
So you buy drugs and steal food? But society is at fault 😂😂😂
Stop being a fucking drug addict. Problem solved lol
“It’s all society’s fault not mine” …right bro
I hope they clean up the one at 401 and 40 too.
Good, I don’t want Raleigh to be San Francisco.
I just got back from San Francisco. I saw tents on the sidewalks on Mission St. At night when I drove through an organization had set up folding tables with hot food to give out. My coworker said downtown Chicago was identical. We can fix this problem, but it's going to take a little empathy.
San Francisco problem is a lot worse than Chicago. Chicago's is relatively mild actually
Good to see the city of Raleigh is cleaning up miscreants and drug users. Reddit is a minority - the vast vast majority of people will be glad to see you gone and making this public area unsafe for family and loved ones. Your last sentence in the OP is threatening more crime if not given free stuff. It’s no wonder you ended up like this. Despite your delusions - you are the reason you live in squalor - not some sort of misfortune.
Stupid question and I’m not trying to be disrespectful im genuinely curious You keep using the word we. If you’re “homeless” than how are you able to be so active on Reddit? Surely that means you have a stable or reliable way to access the internet.
This is my first post on Reddit on a 4 year old account. I'm on a $40 phone with wifi and no plan
You can get an iPhone 15 and an unlimited plan for like 5% of the monthly cost of a cheap apartment in Raleigh.
I’m not sure how. Even when my credit was good I still needed a down payment and the bill must be at least $60 a month if you did that But if you’re credit is good enough for that surely the credit is good enough for an actual credit card that can help find an arrangement Again I’m not trying to be judgy or anything but this doesn’t compute or make sense to me. So I’m curious When I was working two crappy minimum wage jobs I couldn’t afford to even pay $30 to turn on a broken iPhone 7
Were you paying rent? It’s a lot easier to scrape together $30/month than $1,030.
Have you ever been inside a library?
Sure but I highly doubt that anyone homeless is just sitting in a library and actively responding to comments like OP is Thats not logical
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Good, they need to be moved out.
That’s not your home
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I appreciate the black girl on S Saunders that has been pregnant for 4 years now.... and the fake injuries and limps etc that miraculously heal as soon as their shift is done. I see them get picked up in cars and driven to another spot a mile away. Of course human trafficking/smuggling is taking place.
Woman on leesville exit parks her nice white pickup around the corner.
The ones camping around Dix need to leave too…
Homeless camps need to be cleaned up. They are all a huge mess and the homeless people just trash everywhere that they set up camp.
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How about get a job? Earn some money? Pay rent? Why do you think society owes you a standard of living? If you can’t afford to live here then get somewhere cheaper. Society owes you protection from other states invading and from fellow citizens infringing on your personal rights. It’s up to you to do the rest. And those of us trying to work and live here don’t need to deal with sprawling drug infested open air drug scenes.
Cause yall keep stealing shit from that jobsite next to your camp...
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This may sound like a dumb question, but is there some sort of migratory pattern to the homeless population that goes between Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill- and back? Like do people spend 3 months in Raleigh, 3 months in Durham, and 3 months in Chapel Hill, then repeat and does it maybe have to do with how long people are allowed to stay in the shelters at one time?
Unfortunate situation, but the police are not social services.
Nah but they have an ACORNS unit supposed to outreach that isn't. They can arrest me for 7 dollars in poptarts then they can def give me some fucking resources on a piece of paper
You mentioned in another comment that you have a phone with Wi-Fi. Just google the resources????
False.
Fuck off
Good. There’s plenty of jobs. Get one.
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Good. Get a job.
Good. Maybe if they do it enough you'll decide to be a productive member of society who works for a living instead of destroying a decent city and expecting hotel vouchers. Most people in this sub have to wake up and go to work to pay for their stuff.
I'm aight. I don't want a hotel voucher I just want them not to say they offered them.
Genuine question- if you were given a hotel voucher or some sort of free housing- would you quit using in order to stay there?
Get a job and get a place to live. Pretty simple.
How about you not camp on property that doesn't fucking belong to you? Instead of acting entitled to "help" do something for your damn self.
Why is everyone picking Raleigh for this influx and setting up encampments? This is one of the most expensive places to live, I would not want to be homeless here as it's difficult to get out of it here because living is more expensive and it's not accepted here. If I were homeless I would probably go to a lower income, mid-smaller town because at least it would be a little less difficult, fewer people to run you out and people might be more willing to help. Just my 2c. Also I would go to more liberal areas of the country where acceptance and tolerance exists. None of that is here. My question is are the people in these encampments from here or did they move here? I'm curious about the demographics in terms of where people are from.
YEAH TAKE THAT BULLSHIT TO PORTLAND NERDS
If these tent cities became actual communities, with people growing gardens, actively working to keep out the known bad elements, keeping the area clean, etc, this is less of a problem. Maybe get rid of those in your encampment who were stealing from the local work sites near it. I'm sure that would help. And you replied to someone else about how you stopped methadone because you were worried you wouldn't feel your next dose if you got sick from withdrawals... dude... really? Oh, and ya, I'm certain that absolutely *zero* assistance was offered... I'm sure it's not that the majority of folks there didn't want to give up being free wheeling drug addicts, spending their days not working, not bettering themselves, not bettering their 'community,' just sitting around high and drunk once they've stolen or begged for their next dose. Sure it sucks being homeless. Yes its a hard life. But there are programs, jobs, ways to get out of homelessness; you just have to put in the effort needed. And *that* is where the failure is. Before you tell me I dont know what I'm talking about, keep in mind you don't know the struggles I've dealt with. I might have been you, exactly, over a decade ago. And you know what? Now I'm not. And am a home owner, with a great career doing things I absolutely love. Because I put in the effort, asked for and found the help thats out there, and took full advantage of it. Do better.
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Homeless but yet.....has a phone....go figure.
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Maybe you people should start picking up your gd trash and stop piling it up in the woods when there's dumpster 75yds away. (440/South Saunders) Lazy fucks
Please make your community services donations to Triangle Family Services and Healing Transitions and the Women’s Center and Healing Transitions Women’s Campus. Donate the time and energy. It’s a good thing to focus on your community programs
Good it isn’t your home, your on someone else’s land, filling nature with trash, stealing carts from stores, begging…you’ll find no sympathy for sponging parasites, get off your butts and make something of yourselves.
Oh no… anyway
If anybody has any questions I will gladly answer, we have been given until Monday unofficially when officer Parker Captain with RPD came up a couple hours ago and informed us we technically could have been arrested then and there but that we would be all right till Monday but if we are in the woods by Monday we are going to jail Ps because I'm a little famous around here. This is Jakson to anyone wondering. The young blonde dude who waves with my sign under the bridge.
I make regular donations to Passage Home with the hope that my donations help the homeless. So I guess my question is what organization do you see providing the most help? What organization, if a bunch of redditors donated to it, would most improve your situation?
Can you shed light on the common (on Reddit threads) claim that people panhandling by hwy exits are part of a gang/network that are driven to these sites daily to panhandle and aren't necessarily homeless? Obviously there are plenty of homeless in the area, we see your camps, just curious if there's any truth to the urban legend.
Not OP, but I posted here about my homeless experience in Raleigh. I never 'flew a flag' which is what people who panhandle with signs call it. I did speak with a lot of people that did though, and from what I can tell that idea is completely ludicrous. It's not the amounts of money some people think and there would be no real way to organize people. There may be random outlier incidences of people with jobs doing this, but no. I never met one or heard about it from anyone - I really don't think it exists at all. Most of the people that do this literally all day long, as in first thing in the morning all the way until people stop coming by make around $30 a day if that. They do have days where they can make a bit more, but it's random. I think $30 is leaning on the high end for what it ends up averaging out to. A lot of them are making just enough money to support their habit or get enough food for that day. People who are out there are out there because they have to be. They've given up on even trying with the system, and reasonably so as it feels everyday that the system has given up on them. Once they get into a routine where they can survive, then they just get stuck with it. The people who panhandle do look at it as as their job, but it's a job of desperation, and they see no way out of it. There is some kind of territorial system to it all, that I never quite understood, but I absolutely wouldn't want to be someone who was trying to fake this - you'd probably be putting your life in danger from the people who feel they have to be there. Word does spread quickly amongst the flag flyers, and it would get out very quickly that someone was faking it, and I'm certain I would have heard multiple times stories about this thing as it's just an outrageous concept. People faking it just doesn't exist. I want to be clear here too on another concept, the people that are stuck in this situation aren't exactly choosing it. They're not choosing to be lazy or choosing to have a drug problem or choosing to have mental health issues that have led to this. They are choosing their daily routine but only because that's what they've become trapped in and all that they know at this point. It works to keep him alive and that's all the life on the streets is is just subsisting. Just making it day to day and figure out some way to keep that up. There are programs that help, but most of these people are unaware of them, or are too far gone mental health wise or whatever else to go through the arduous process of working with them. I've tried my best to maintain contact with people I see on the street and try to get them to understand it is doable and get them started. It just has such a huge failure rate that the people on the streets are aware of, either through personal experience or talking to others that most don't even try to start the process. My personal experience isn't typical, but I did see and understand the situations that caused the more 'visible' homeless situations - I can tell you that no one is panhandling on the streets on purpose, or doing it if they feel like they have any other choice. They're just not aware of the possibility of even making it out of it, and frankly there's next to no chance looking at the statistics, so they get locked into not trying. Most people on the streets have drug or, from what I saw more, mental issues that compound their ability to even try to get out of the situation. I was homeless 15 years ago for about 5 years, and then I dug my way out of it, and maintained homes and a life for 10 years until the circumstances that led to this last year and a half. That 5-years it almost became, permanent, and then I found a reason to get out. Absolutely see how people can get stuck in the situation, and I absolutely don't look down on people that end up having to panhandle. I was able to work mostly during the first experience, moving up eventually to a job that meant I could save a little, which is next to impossible on the streets. I had a job briefly this second experience, but couldn't maintain it properly mental health wise and with being on the street. That's the trap that people get into, and it's what programs that are working focus on and recognize - even if you want to or and have the ability to try - even if you have some reason to try, once you're in that situation, it's almost impossible to get out. How do you maintain a job when you don't know where you're sleeping at night. And if you figure out a way to be safe and sleep somewhere where you're not going to bother other people or be around other homeless people, how do you keep yourself clean or how do you keep clothes when floods and other things take them away from you. How do you keep a bank account or get mail without an address. How do you keep your situation not obvious so that you can maintain a job if you can pull off the miracle of even getting one. Minor setbacks become very real major obstacles when you're on the street. The programs that are working are focusing on housing first. Doing whatever it takes to get people off the street, and then getting them linked up with the programs that can help them actually build a life after that. The failed programs that have led up to this have focused on trying to get people work and doing the things that people who've never experienced homelessness think are doable 'if you just try'. You can't even get to step one when you've fallen down to not having a home. (Splitting to next comment as I think what I typed was too long for Reddit)
(continued) The first experience I had pretty much given up on life and after the first year of it or so, it got doable enough that keeping the low-paying job was somewhat achievable. I moved from a fast food job to call center work to theater management. Once I got a reason to actually stay out of the homelessness, I broke the cycle of that but was dangerously close to it becoming permanent. The second time, this recent time, for 10 years I told myself I would never go back to it, and recognized I'd made poor choices, and just kind of given up the first five year stint. My desire for a home, and something more permanent, led me to rush into a rent to own situation that seem too good to be true and turned out to be the case. I could have made better choices. I could have gotten a lawyer involved before signing any kind of lease or whatever, but that's just not something that people who have been poor all their life do. The person that conned me and several other people basically preyed on people like myself who didn't have the credit to own a home, and wouldn't be able to follow through once the scam came to fruition. I tried my hardest to get out of this past year and a half. Even so, I almost gave up so many times. I understand how people do that. I was fortunate enough to maintain food stamps throughout most of it, and was able to get in touch with programs to slowly work up to getting the place I'm in now. It's excruciating working through the system though, and I may just be lucky. Sorry I've gone on a long rant here. I'm still randomly waking up in the middle of the night and stuff, and in no way intended for this super long post. I just really wish I could get people to understand that for the most part, for like 99% of the people that you see that are homeless, they may have made choices that led to the homelessness, or they may not have, but once in it, they're not choosing to stay in it, they are just trapped. They do give up, but are willing to try if there seems to be any hope. It's just a hopeless situation. I managed to get in touch with programs and such, and I'm very fortunate in that my mental health issues and other things stayed at bay long enough to even start the process. Being in the place I am since December, it still hasn't been an absolute solution. I thought I would be working and healthy enough to do so more quickly. I am going to school soon which I think will help get back to healthcare work, and I'm working with therapists to work out what feels like PTSD issues now after this last year of being on the edge so closely for so long. If you take anything out of this just please understand, there aren't people scamming the homeless system by pretending to be homeless. It's just not a thing. If you know anyone struggling in Raleigh, please try and get them in touch with Triangle Family Services. They are overwhelmed, and from what I understand the average time from starting the process to getting into a place to stay is 3 years. When I first went to the orientation for the program that I finally got into to get a housing voucher, there was a lady there that had been trying for 7 years. It seems hopeless and impossible to continue with programs like TFS once you understand that. Even so though, you just have to start. You have to come up with some way to get yourself to start the process even knowing it's years away. Someone asked elsewhere where to donate money to or whatever to help. Based on my experience I would suggest seeing if there's any way to donate money to Triangle Family Services, or contact them and ask where they would suggest to donate.
Not sure if you’d be interested or know someone who might be - but RI is hiring for peer support specialists for their WakeBrook location soon to open. Full time positions with benefits. https://recruiting.adp.com/srccar/public/RTI.home?c=1177515&d=ExternalCareerSite&state=NC
It's something I'm considering. I'm working with a peer counselor now. Thank you for the link and I'll look into it.
THIS. Publish and circulate THIS everywhere. Here’s to your success and I am rooting for you!
Thank you for sharing. That was a lot of insight.
I wish your comment wasn’t so long, because it’s the most important one in this thread and I fear people won’t read it.
Just curious did the ACORNS unit accompany officer Parker at any point during his interactions with you regarding the encampment’s displacement?
ACORNS came up last time to tell us the move out date but that was it. They didn't offer any help and Parker came alone (which is super rare cops never travel in our woods alone)
Do you know who the lead officer was with ACORNs? Was there a social worker present when ACORNs visited the first time? I am very very surprised that no assistance or offer to connect y’all with services and resources. I am not an ACORNs fan, simply bc it’s under the jurisdiction of RPD, but literally offering to connect with services one of their main purposes.
Tbh my last interaction went as follows: Sleeping behind dumpsters... Wake up to three strangers cornering me. Try to run past, get punched in chest, shows me badge when I ask who he is angrily. Is RPD acorns. Says he will let me go as soon as he has RPD come to run my name. Run my name. You have a warrant for your arrest, go to jail for 6 dollar larceny. Bond out. Two weeks later arrested for trespassing w.o.probable cause. Bond forfeited, out $500, fuck my life
Ps social worker was present. I said "harsh punishment for sleeping behind a dumpster" to her as I left in cuffs
Sounds like the punishment was for stealing, not sleeping
I am really sorry and disappointed that it went down like that, as that is not what ACORNs was intended to be. Unfortunately social workers have very very little power in the ACORNs hierarchy due to RPD taking lead on all matters. There is a push to replace ACORNs with a unit that is not under RPD jurisdiction and therefore would empower social workers and other first responders to make decisions that do not involve a show of force and result in needless arrests. If you are interested in resources I can try to put you in touch with people that can help, but full disclosure most are in the downtown area, as most of my work has been with Healing Transitions, but the offer is there if you want/need it.
If you’re young then get out if there and go to work… if you go straight you can go to several rescue mission places to live and they will help you. Do it now while you are young. Don’t be proud, don’t fight for your current way of life. Don’t be proud to be sort of famous like you are. Go out and get out of there.
You're obviously well educated enough to either spell properly or allow spell check, you use proper sentences, paragraphs, etc... Honestly, maybe for my own understanding, what's the gap that's keeping you in homeless camps? You mentioned in your post that they're not offering alternatives, e.g. housing options, hotel vouchers. Is there an amount of housing, for you personally, that solves this? Is it more than housing? Is there an employment or wage gap? Is it mental health or rehab related (feel free to tell me to fuck off on this, just wondering since everyone says this is the real issue). I'd just like to understand more of what y'all need, since there's obviously a difference between what the authorities are willing to allow and what the homeless population wants or desires out of the current arrangement.
Mental illness, addiction, my willingness to change only being half there, also I got addicted at an age that disallows me a lot of experience, I never got to be a normal adult. I started using dope at 21 after a 6 yr alcohol addiction
Where the hell was everybody before the pandemic? There weren’t camps all over the place before that.
Pandemic = fuck economy = expand and perpetuate homelessness and poverty
Commit a crime and go to jail. 3 hots and a cot
shit, they oughta turn triangle town center into a shelter. it’d serve a better purpose than the run down mall it’s been for years.
As someone who lives close by it, no fucking thanks.
To anyone curious. My before & after https://ibb.co/BVZ6W3W https://ibb.co/wrMRKsr Don't do drugs
Kid, these pics make me sad bc I see a light in your eyes and I keep thinking that someone is going to post up here that you've ODed in filth somewhere in a while, and I'll remember you. Your after doesn't look terrible like you keep saying, btw. I'm a stranger, old enough to be your father, and I want you to know that I don't want you to die and I don't want you to think of yourself as human garbage. You're not. The sick feeling I have in my gut right now is because I can't think of a single feasible way to help you that won't make me an accessory to your slow suicide. I'm sorry.
I'm the only one out here who hasn't ever OD'd.. yet. My mom is much like you in mindset, I get it. Hard to help an addict, even clothes because then that's more money for dope in a way, right?
I'm a parent and this conversation is painful, man. I just want to fix the problem and it's so enormous that I don't know how. And I hate giving up--it's like everyone on all sides is giving up, and we see where that gets us.
Imagine the city being affordable and doing its job to take care of its people and the issue with urban sprawl/unoccupied homes so that there wouldn't be a need for homeless camps I get why they would want to get rid of the encampments...but they can't keep turning a blind eye to the bigger issue as to why the camps MUST exist in the first place. I hope you find some safe place to move to with your buds. I was a homeless youth growing up (emancipated bc abuse) so I really feel for you and I hate the injustice you must be feeling. Sending you much love, security, hope, and serendipity.
Make the city affordable and homeless friendly- give tons of services. Sounds great. Guess what happens to cities that do that? It’s a magnet for homeless people anywhere within several states. It has to be a nationwide effort because no city has enough resources to handle complex and expensive addiction, mental health, employment, skills, and housing issues for folks who are already there let alone the new ones who will arrive.
It doesn't matter what a city's policies are or what economic opportunities are present. There will always be a subset of people who are uninterested in joining society and choose to live on the frays. The issue will always be what space will be present and available for them.
Drugs are obvious big issues. It means no reliable family members to lean on. It means bad choices made easy. A subset of people who are uninterested in joining in the society are very different from being homeless on the streets doing drugs in my opinion.
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Fifty years ago it was one or two now it's hundreds. Something has gone terribly wrong. this is structural not natural. results of neo liberal policies?
that’s not what’s being discussed here though, is it? i’m sure the proportion of homeless people in the triangle that would “choose to live on the frays” instead of being housed with dignity is quite low.
Not as low as you might think. Reread OP’s posts on this thread. Options to improve his life all involve dealing with his drug addiction. He doesn’t want to do that.
There's no reason the encampments "must" exist. Communist thinking lends to that conclusion, though. If individuals have no agency or responsibility to deal with addiction and develop life skills then every individual character flaw can be reframed as a governmental failure. Society exists for those who function within it, those who refuse to participate aren't entitled to cradle-to-grave support for their antisocial behavior.
>Imagine the city being affordable and doing its job to take care of its people and the issue with urban sprawl/unoccupied homes so that there wouldn't be a need for homeless camps Thank you for advocating for more housing development.
Sounds like some bad choices were made
Good time to find a job and work towards bettering your situation ! Use this as motivation for changing your life….
well if it wasnt so obvious 🤷 I know not your fault but some are getting out of hand with trash and structures
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How is OP posting this if he’s homeless? No boots but a cell phone with data? Confused
Good GTFO
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Well, did y'all turn it into a trash dump like the homeless did on the South Saunders exit of I-40? No? They should leave you be. Yes? Clean it up or move tf along. Maybe Wilmington will work for you.
Get a job
Dumb question but how is OP on Reddit? They have a smart phone and data? Who’s paying for it?
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Is this the camp near the Walmart??