Seniors join ‘new’ homeless
I’m gettin’ up there in years myself — 60 in June. So I’m sympathetic.
The latest crisis to hit California is that its massively high cost of living is pushing seniors out onto the streets. Social Security checks, small pensions and food stamps might cut it in Michigan, but not in California.
The Contra Costa Times reports:
OAKLAND — Yolande Cole played by all the rules.
She always worked, as a temp doing administrative work and later as a caregiver for the elderly. She didn’t drink or do drugs and paid her bills.
Yet in the 68th year of her life — a time Cole had long looked forward to finally slow down — she found herself homeless after a live-work situation in San Francisco didn’t pan out.
In one moment, Cole lost not only her job, but also a roof over her head. She moved in with friends, but after several months of couch surfing, she found herself filling out an application at a homeless shelter in West Oakland.
“I felt like I was stepping off a cliff, like there was no bottom,” recalled Cole, who grew up in New York City and attended San Francisco State University at one point.
The culprits:
Skyrocketing housing prices, together with cuts to food stamps and other programs as well as increased longevity, have resulted in more seniors becoming homeless, said local advocates.
In Alameda County, 9 percent of people older than 65 live on less than $12,000 a year, the federal threshold for poverty, according to the latest figures from the U.S. census. Calculating the number of homeless is more difficult, because many without permanent shelter stay with friends or significant others, while others are simply not located.
As I’ve mentioned before, the main causes are the California Coastal Commission, the Soviet-style bureau that severely restricts housing construction along the coasts, with a massive ripple effect flowing inland at least 50 miles.
And LAFCOs — Local Area Formation Commissions, which also severely restrict construction.
So people like Yolanda Cole built this country, and state — but now are forced by bad policies to live out on the street.
22 comments
Write a commentRelated Articles
Griping Teachers & Bad Grammar
Katy Grimes: Sitting in the Capitol lunchroom Wednesday after the big Senate education hearing, I overheard some interesting comments from
State peddles idea that bullet train contractors are investors
On Jan. 11, 2010, the Legislative Analyst’s Office issued a report on the latest iteration of the business plan for
Incomes down for 5th consecutive year
A new report confirms a theme we've advanced here at CalWatchDog.com: There has been no economic “recovery.” From the Financial
John, this could never happen in the progressive paradise that is Colliefornia (as Ahnode calls it).
After all, Demoncrats have had control of the legislature forever and the governorship for the majority of the time during the last 30 years. So how could such a thing happen?
Cuts to food stamps?
Lets look at the numbers. Our govt spends 70billion a year on the food stamp program. Only 7b actually hits the cards. The other 90% goes to the govt. If this was a private charity, Holder would have them in court for fraud. The vast % goes to the public employees and their pensions. When our govt ‘cuts’ funding to food stamps, guess what part they cut? The 10% that goes to the people, or the 90% that goes to the govt employees? Remember, our govt has no legal obligation to provide food stamps to anyone. But the public unions have signed legally binding contracts with our govt to protect their jobs and bennies. With these public unions, legally, our govt doesn’t exist to provide services to the people, it exists to provide bennies the govt employee slugs.
So, anytime you hear about some poor person getting hurt by govt cuts, remember, nearly all of our spending is spent on the govt. Only a fraction of it actually hits the needy people.
So its the govt employee slugs that are stealing from that ole lady, not the republicans or the rich or the taxpayers.
Hondo……
P.S. Perhaps one of those tens of thousands of public employees who retired at 100k ( or 200k, or 300k) a year could find an empty room in the mansions that they live in for that ole lady.
P.S. Perhaps one of those tens of thousands of public employees who retired at 100k ( or 200k, or 300k) a year could find an empty room in the mansions that they live in for that ole lady.
There is no doubt that our kind, loving, saintly progressives who infest…er…I mean grace this blog will offer the poor woman a roof over her head and food for her stomach.
I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before Sawhorse, Doglass, Skippy step up with that offer. And if not there is always NTHEOC and Teddy along with A Haul.
If we collected the $400 billion in owed but unpaid federal taxes it would be easy to make sure people like this woman had the kind of support they need to live a life of dignity. I suspect the charity giving done by many of us here would far exceed your own, bob. Still, we should be ashamed to live in a society where this is happening and people like you still call for more tax cuts for the wealthy.
So this means you’re not going to help the poor woman?
So when did I call for more tax cuts for the wealthy?
Anyone who is truly wealthy is smart enough to NOT pay much in taxes.
(Just look at Buffet or Gates for example.)
Just use your noggin, Skippy. Is it cheaper for a wealthy person to buy a couple of Congress critters and corruptoticians in Sucramento and get some tax shelter laws written or let the government steal a third of everything they make like they do for the average working stiffs?
I think you can figure it out. If not, here’s George Carlin explaining it nicely…
So Yolande ‘PLAYED BY ALL THE RULES’? Well there you go, she’s totally screwed in loving Kalifornia. Her fault for making the ‘wrong career choices’, e.g in not becoming a shameless RAGWI trough feeder. Forcibly relocate her to soviet style apartment block housing in Riverside or San Bernardino and declare victory.
Like I always tell my doomer little buddies!
Pay off your house in your early 50’s!!
MY farm is paid off, debt free and profitable. It is my land and I do with it as I will. Mine, mine, mine. I hoist a gnarly knobbed middle finger in the fat pasty face of gubmint!
Bill-o–
Well done lad!
Same here– paid off the ranch years ago— living is easy— many of these teabaggy whiners out here will never pay off the homestead, have huge credit bills and still continue to moan—- I have zero sympathy for them!
Well done Billy!
Bill… you are fooling yourself….. you are just one more of the silly suckers that have bought into the government propaganda….
YOU do NOT “own’ anything. You were fooled into “thinking”/”believing” you owned a house or land… that was perpetrated to “keep you quiescent and docile”.. as long as you could congratulate yourself that “Ohhhh….. I am so smart, I PAID off my mortgage so I am no secure and I OWN my house… I am SAFE”!
You either don’t understand or you are afraid to understand.
The LAW reads that “All property resides in the STATE”… verbatim.
What did the law just tell your gullible brain? THEY “own” your property, you don’t….. and when push comes to shove they will claim their RIGHT to the property and you will be sitting on the curb.
For starters, just get hit by something unexpected and don’t pay the annual TAX on that property for about three years and see what happens….
…. and there are many many other instances wherein the government, (any one of them) can confiscate what you THINK is “your property”……
Do a little research, and quit buying the brainwashing that keeps you a half-wit.
Hey John, why don’t you take a page from the book of Morris Dees or Mark Potok and start the Southern California Poverty Law Center?
There’s plenty of money to be made in poverty and there’s plenty of poverty in Colliefornia (as Ahnode sez) thanks to people like Ahnode and the Demoncrats.
And if you don’t believe there’s plenty of money to be made in poverty just look at Morris Dees. It’s made him a multi-millionaire.
capitalism at its finest!!
Hmmm, yet the wealthy are richer than ever and we have this crap. Wonder how that happened? I hope people realize how important family is, I would never let my parents end up on the street!!!!
Hard to even get a beanie and apron job! Tough out there.
This senior woman needs help. Lets all chip in and have John give her money for awhile and get her some help!
Meanwhile, the fat entitled arses plant themselves in front of the ahole boxes and watch football all weekend. They think all would be better to let the govt run everything, as long as they get their monthly bribe. ” Take from the rich, I bet the local firemen could design and make this TV, while I spread my butt plumage on the recliner custom built by the corrections officer collecting disability at age 45 because of a chronic hangnail. ”
How many of the entitled pension slugs give to charity? They have sore backs from all the sloth, and can’t make the donation. My generation will fix this through natural selection, give it a little nudge.
Obviously desmond is playing devil’s advocate.
Probably Stephen Colbert breaking in a new act.
Desi is really frustrated he gets very little of the pie. He is excused from donating.
Desi is really frustrated he gets very little of the pie. He is excused from donating.
this is what happens when Facebooks double standards disagrees with you. my comment was simple black and Mexican neighborhood have high crime rates than normal
This Feature is Temporarily Blocked
.
You recently posted something that violates Facebook policies, so you’re temporarily blocked from using this feature. For more information, visit the Help Center.
To keep from getting blocked again, please make sure you’ve read and understand Facebook’s Community Standards.
If you think you’re seeing this by mistake, please let us know.
who can live on $900 dollars a month ?
Once your house is paid off u can live on little– 900 bucks would be tough –even for a bunker queen like rex the Poodle!