Homeless in America

Homeless in America

May 2014 edition

Published by Philip F Kearney, Jr. at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 by Philip F Kearney, Jr.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Near Death

Chapter 2 - The Beginning

Chapter 3 - Homeless in Ohio

Chapter 4 - Homeless in America

Chapter 5 - Homeless in Florida

Chapter 6 - Back to Dayton

Chapter 7 - A Trip to Florida

Chapter 8 - Back to Ohio

Chapter 9 - My nickistoys.com

Chapter 10 - After The Storm

Chapter 11 - A New Beginning

About the Author

Preface

I originally used Death Row as the title for this work, but changed title to Homeless in America. Death Row is the area in Los Angeles, California, where homeless people live who have no hope of a better life except after death. The homeless live in a major city area, sleeping in card board boxes. After dark and after all business are closed, the members of Death Row pull out card board boxes to sleep in, until morning. The members of Death Row have no way out of their circumstances, except death. I have slept in many shelters and missions, and experienced a similar living pattern. No loitering in the area is permitted until just before opening. The lines always form behind the building near the back door, and all leave must leave the by same back door in the morning before sun up. All must be out of the area before daylight. This plan is nationwide, keep the needy in the dark, and the public will never know how bad the situation really is.

The people, places, churches, organizations, missions, shelters, cities and states are real. I have diaries by name, date and place of all events. I have changed the names of all people, places, churches, organizations, missions and shelters. Any resemblance to real persons, organizations, or shelters is unintentional and coincidental. This book was written to show the hopelessness of being homeless, and trying to work out of the situation by working honestly for what one gets. The few instances where one is successful are showcase examples, used as advertising for more money for those involved. The real philosophy behind the situation is to make jobs for those in charge by making the problem bigger. This is same reason the welfare system did not work. More than one food stamp caseworker has told me to find myself a welfare mom, that is what the other guys do. It is like being sentenced to a life on death row, with no Governor’s pardon, and no hope of anything except bare survival in bad and unconscionable conditions, followed by death. People, myself included, routinely go without medical care, dental care and only because society judges them guilty of the crime of poverty. I have experienced a life in this county I would never have believed. Society and the local police treat the poor as criminals. Our society sees a person without money as a criminal, without any legal rights.

One city in Ohio denied me city drinking water for no legal reason. An attorney advised me that In this country you have all the legal rights you can afford, if you can’t afford any, you don’t have any. If you make waves over drinking water, the city police will kill you, and the coroner will call it suicide. Quite frankly, I had a lot of respect for this man, as he did tell me the truth, which is required by the Attorney’s Canon of Ethics. I was seriously considering making waves, and could have ended up dead just for pursuing my seeking legal rights. The same Attorney did give me some manual work when I had no cash.

I talked to many people and found my experiences routine. I saw many people break down and turn to drugs and/or alcohol. Others broke down mentally, and were perpetually in and out of hospitals and/or jails. Many people told me to do whatever I had to do to make money to get my life going again. Once I had money, I could work honestly if I wanted to. The Secretary of a Christian men’s organization told me You don’t report your income and pay taxes until after you make your first million. This attitude was the predominate attitude I experienced by those better off than me. Simply stated, make money any way you can, just don’t get caught. Work honestly when you have enough money to afford being honest. Honest work is not the way to get out of poverty.

To my shock and dismay I could not find a single church that I could attend, put my faith in God and work honestly for what I get. The Good Samaritan is the exception in churches in this country. Some will go forth and do a good dead, but stop short of a recommendation to their church. The Do Gooders run out and do a good deed and tell the needy you need to get into a good church, and then run back and talk about the good deed. I found many people from church who would tell me I need to get into a good church and recommend one (A good church meant any church but my church) on the other side of town. There was always a good reason for not attending the Do Gooders church.

Once while homeless, I stopped at a church with a couple working outside. The man was cutting grass and the woman was planting flowers. I asked for water to drink as I was almost out, and it was very hot. The man told me the church was locked and he had no way to get water. I asked if I could sit on the porch a minute and cool off and he said yes and sat down beside me. Before retirement he lived and worked in Dayton. We both worked some of the same places and knew the same areas of Dayton. We seemed to be establishing a friendship and I noticed the woman (his wife) planting flowers had water for flowers but none for me. The man I spoke to said he did not believe in helping anyone, as he once helped a person with groceries and they started attending his church. I thanked him, got up and walked away, thinking he was afraid that if he gave me water to drink, I might mistake it for Christian compassion and attend his church.

This rule was applied by every church I tried to attend, if you have been homeless and have no money; you can never attend any church. Churches are for people who already have friends in the church, or for people with money. A stranger in the land, with money, has many friends the first day in a new church. I found the questions were the same in every church. Where do you work and where do you live, or how much money do you have and how much money will you have in the near future?"

I am not faulting God, and I always found a few wonderfully good people in every church. However, the good experience in each church was followed by a bad experience with someone else, who made it clear that I needed to find another church. The usual reason was God was trying to teach me something, and when I learned what I needed to learn, I would prosper and have money. Many of the Good Samaritan Organizations tell people to donate money to their organization, but do not give to the needy. The needy will take advantage or deceive the giver. However, what I saw was the Good Samaritan Organization is taking advantage of the needy. Jesus said be a Good Samaritan, he did not say donate to a Good Samaritan Organization. People, who donate money to a Good Samaritan Organization, do not learn anything. I believe Jesus commandment to be a Good Samaritan is so one learns from the money and time spent with the needy.

Good Samaritan Organization do a lot to reduce the suffering of the needy, however, this does not help the needy become self-sufficient. I also believe God is too smart to put a Good Samaritan and needy person together in a situation, without each being a blessing to the other. My experience, when I had enough to be a Good Samaritan myself, was that the needy have a blessing or a message to help the giver. Most miss this message when being a Do Gooder, because the Do Gooder thinks the needy have no value, and thus no message or blessing to give back.

As a stranger in the land without money, I could not find a single place where I could put my faith in God, attend church, and work honestly for what I got. The people in charge in the Church would ignore me and tell me that when I learned what God was trying to teach me, I would prosper (according to the Churches that means have money). When I was working, I was called a nerd and ridiculed, because I did not engage in the dishonest practices others were. I also did not drink alcohol, smoke, or use drugs. Other employees were usually stealing from the employer, or not reporting all their income for income taxes. The low end wage scale is so low, that unless one works more than 40 hours a week, he cannot make enough working honestly, to live on. I believe that the reason the crime rate is so high in this country is because it is almost impossible to find a job, making enough to live on, without a recommendation from someone with money. Most everybody who knows someone already, that needs a job, and are not ready to get to know someone new who is penniless. I believe this situation will continue until this country has no real middle class, just the very rich and the very poor.

I don’t think people are more heartless than a few years ago. I believe the hard heartiness I experienced is an example of the economic hardship most are encountering. Each year most have less money after the necessities are paid for. Each year, most find it more difficult to maintain the standard of living of a few years ago, some even in danger of not being able to maintain the same standard of living. Many are trying to cut corners, and one way is to ignore the needs of others and concentrate on maintaining one’s own standard of living.

Full employment is the best way to raise the wage scale, not by minimum wage laws. When employers have to compete for good employees, the wages of all go up. Wealth is created by agriculture and manufacturing, all other jobs are service jobs that do not create new wealth but consume wealth. We are losing the ability to create new wealth in this county by moving agriculture and manufacturing out of this country. That leaves service jobs, that are low paid due to the glut of workers competing for the existing jobs. Many are trying to provide a service or sell to someone who has already has money. Workers who once had high paid factory jobs now have low paid service jobs and cannot afford the services of a Doctor or Attorney. I can neither afford medical care or even afford an Attorney.

The way to improve the standard of living of all in this country is to tariff goods manufactured in a foreign country at a substandard labor rate. You might call this leveling the playing field, so the foreign worker’s wages are comparable to wages in this country. This will keep the good paying jobs in this country. This will preserve and improve our ability to create new wealth. We cannot all sell fast food hamburgers to each other. When people have more money to spend each year, there is something left to spend for charitable purposes, or as a Good Samaritan. Before one can afford to be a Good Samaritan, one needs to have enough not to need a Good Samaritan himself.

The only reason I am still alive to write this book is due to my faith in God, and the Good Samaritans along the way. Do Gooders who helped me, reduced my suffering with donated food and shelter, and also helped keep me alive to be here today. At my age (54)), a change in the economy leading to full employment, and an improvement of wages for all, will come too late to change my situation. Due to the character I have developed, and my faith in God, has lead me to lose my fear of death. Since I am not afraid of death, I am not afraid to live, knowing bare survival is all I can really expect, followed by death and a just judgment by God. As I do believe in a just and good final judgment by God, I have the satisfaction of knowing that life will be better for me in the next life.

My life now consist of writing this book, hanging on until I can retire at 62, and treating others the way I want to be treated. I have transferred my registration to inactive status as an as Attorney, as I do not have enough of an income to pay the costs to keep my Attorney License active. Without receiving payment for any legal services in over ten years, I cannot even afford to give free legal advice. If I don’t have enough money, I cannot even give away legal advice. However, I can always donate time, as circumstances allow. Jesus preached love of one and another, not judging someone else as not worthy of enough income to stay warm and eat. That is the real problem in this country. That the work of some is not considered worth paying enough to live on.

When one leaves this life, one can only take with him, the character he has developed, his personality, and faith in God and received a just judgment. He who dies with the most toys still dies. In this life, in this country the Golden Rule applies, He who has the Gold, makes the Rules.; but God is the only real Gold.

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Introduction

The four stages of death are 1) shock and disbelief; 2) frustration, 3) anger; and finally 4) acceptance of death. In any experience in which one experiences a severe emotional shock, the same stages are true. When one’s belief in right and wrong, leads one to believe an experience is possible for someone else but not for me; the same four stages apply. My experience can be applied to any experience in which one’s own belief of right and wrong is so violated that one goes into shock. If one does not put faith in God, one can never accept wrongs that occur in this life. Failure to put faith in God, and accept ones life, no matter how wrong it feels, leads to a life of escape through, alcohol, drug's, or any other form of addictive behavior. Many people profess faith in God, but only if they understand. You must first believe and then you will understand, not understand before you believe.

If one cannot put his faith in God and accept death or the experience as part of life, one never progresses past the anger stage and accept one’s life and also accept one’s death. Many people never think about death as happening to them, they avoid the thoughts until death is starring them in the face. I have come full circle, and have accepted my situation, based on faith in God, even though it does not seem right. God is all good, all knowing, and all powerful, I accept my situation even though it does not feel right. I am 54 years old, have no income, and cannot get a job, or start a business to make enough to even keep working. I am essentially a home companion, doing odd jobs around this home, in return for room and board.

Due to a lack on money and no income, I am down to walking and riding a bicycle. I attend no church, as no church nor anyone in a church, seems interested in me. I have no social life, except for free internet access, as without money all seem to ignore me. In eight years I can retire on social security, and I have my faith in God. The struggle I’ve had these twelve years, is I had nothing for retirement, and felt an irresistible drive to get an income going to save and build for retirement as well as needing money for medical and medial insurance. I have finally had to accept that after these twelve years, I have accumulated nothing, and cannot even do the strenuous work I did five years ago. It is simply, live as best as I can now, and not worry abut dying cold, hungry and Homeless in a few years.

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CHAPTER 1

Near Death

February 13, 1992. I packed up everything at Rockbridge, Ohio and had just barely had enough money for gas to drive away. I drove the car to the street outside Mother’s House and left it with a power of attorney to sell the car for what ever money she felt I owed her. I left a note and took a book bag and started hitch hiking South, looking for a warm where I could attend Church, work honestly for what I get, but first of all I needed a warm place to sleep and proper food. I had been up all night getting everything packed and cleaned out of the temporary living quarters I had lived in. The sun was just coming up, when I started walking down the street in Dayton. I walked about ten blocks out of the plat to Dayton Xenia Rd. I started East towards Xenia planning to take US 42 South, if nothing better happened. I was walking East when a woman about my age gave me a ride. From the questions I figured she was a Nun (I met here again four years later when I started taking the adult CCD classes) She asked me if I was I Catholic. I stated I was baptized in the Catholic Church, but had gone no farther. She dropped me of at Fairfield Rd. just two blocks from the Church we met again at four years later.

I continued walking East for several miles when another man picked me up and gave me a ride to Xenia. I somehow got turned around and was headed North on US 42 out of Xenia when another man picked me up. I told him of my predicament and he informed me I was headed the wrong way. He turned around and took me through Xenia and dropped me off on US 42 heading south. Xenia is a small town and this only took about ten minutes. I continued walking South on US 42, trying to hitch a ride. It was starting to get dark about this time, and I was getting very tired. I ate some peanut butter and crackers and drank some water and continued South. I was getting very discouraged and probably in shock from my situation, I could not believe this was happening. I walked several miles and it was starting to rain. Fortunately for me, it was warm for the month of February in Ohio. I was sitting on a guard rail to tired to walk anymore, in a heavy rain in the dark of the night, across for three houses on a lonely stretch of the road, when a car stopped, it was a young couple.

Just like everybody else that night, they said they were Christians and would give me a ride. It was also the night before Valentine’s day and it seemed everybody thought that if they gave me a ride, someone else would be a Good Samaritan. After twelve years of this treatment, I realize, that everybody was just giving me a ride, and dropping me off far enough away, not to be in their neighborhood. Many people told me