I have hired people in the farm who were getting homeless benefits. I have also hired juvenile girls who lived in a half way house as part of their rehabilitation.
The homeless worker ..one of them..had more benefits than the young girls. I wish I could have worked more with them. People need help. The right help at the right time for the right people is more effective than blanket free for alls.
He was living in his grandmother’s two million dollar Mountain View home and the first thing he asked me was if he could smoke his pot because granny wouldn’t approve...while the girls were huddled and chaperoned at all times.
I would pay more in social taxes if I could choose the programs and if there were more transparency as to where that extra money went.
Definition of homelessness in California:
California defines homelessness if you come out of an institution(jail in this case..but also includes substance abuse rehab, mental institution etc) after a 90 day stay and don’t have a place to stay. If you don’t have a utility bill in your name, then you can be called homeless.
Because he was in jail twice consecutively and was out on bail, if he could claim mental disability he doesn’t have to go back. But if he can claim mental disability and homelessness..citing them as a reason not to work, he could get benefits for life.
He skipped something legal and was at risk for going back to jail. So he just claimed that he was sleeping on the streets and didn’t have an address.
Look..he was really smart. At that point, I really wanted to help him and I can even appreciate some lateral thinking for problem solving. I didn’t mind that he was using a break to get back on his feet. If someone says they are mentally disabled, I am going to believe them and not question it.
But he was doing things that made me feel unsafe because he was setting up the stage for me vouching for his mental instability if I were questioned. Like fire. He would get the blow torch for everything..wasp, weeds, gophers. I have worked previously with the homeless and previously incarcerated. And the most harrowing, addicts. With the former, it’s easy to integrate them back into society. A lot of times you know when you are being lied to and that’s ok too.
But our loopholes are so gaping in CA that people who need help are not getting the right kind of help. And it’s nuts to keep doing the same thing again and again ..and keep expecting the same results. And just throwing more money at it is not doing it differently. A lot of organizations, non profits and sub contractors who win bids are making more money than what actually goes to the homeless people. Homelessness alleviation is an industry of its own. Without the homeless, there would be a lot of jobs that do homelessness outreach. Which by itself could be a way to prevent future homelessness. But that’s just creating jobs to give people money..those needing other kinds of help are not getting it. Because at the end of the day, money doesn’t solve the problem entirely.
I want to add another story. At my orchard farm, there was a homeless lady who’d come by to use the packing shed. She was an older person and had a dog with her at all times. She was clearly mentally unstable. She used the shed to hold meetings with her imaginary friends. After I pull in, I have to wait while she opens the swing door and tells each one of her imaginary friends at the meeting..’thank you. Please come again’. Like 5-7 times. Then she’d give me a withering look and leave with her dog.
I played along because I knew she was harmless. Then one day the dog disappeared and my general rule at the farm was not to leave any tools outside unlocked. Someone must have left a shears outside one evening. When I came back, she had gone on a rampage at the lavender field and shredded the greenhouse plastic. I don’t know if she was ill or she had lost her meds.
I had to call the cops and I had to check with insurance. I did not want her in jail. I only wanted her to get her meds.
But the cops(they were remarkably kind and they were already frazzled by this kind of issue in a semi rural area) said their hands are tied. They literally can’t help her or get her meds or even find out if she has any next of kin without arresting her. Because of fourth amendment and privacy issues. If booked, she could get fingerprinted. And then they can find out if she is a missing person or if she has any prior history etc.
This was difficult for me. I agreed that the next time I will file a complaint because I didn’t want her to be in the system and on police records. But she never came back. We’d never know what happened to her. She disappeared..just like that. Did I do the right thing? I don’t know! Did the cops have enough authority? I don’t know! There are homeless advocates.
Because I have a story for that too. There were a bunch of young homeless people who became squatters in my farm. They stole things. Used the place to sell drugs. Stole electricity. Destroyed my property and fencing multiple times. Again the cops couldn’t do anything. They had to go via the homeless advocates and non profits because cops are not allowed to deal with this issue. But are they drug dealers(and we are not talking marijuana here) or homeless people? Net net, I have to absorb the losses on a farm that was not making much anyways. Worse, they were cutting the trees by the creek, build bridges from the greenhouse lumber they cut, made make shift ‘apartments’ and cottages with plywood and tarp... and pooping in the creek and I would go every weekend and pick up poop, condoms, needles because I grow food. I can’t have stuff like this around. And the homeless advocates did nothing while they continued to trash my farm and made it their sales HQ.
And start ups. Don’t get me started. A billion dollar company that could have provided safe solutions to mentally ill and homeless population BACKED off from selling their product because they didn’t want to work with the police. Because it would affect future funding and the woke progressive climate in SV won’t look favourably on anyone who works with cops and law enforcement. The clowns had taken over the circus when the employees tender woke feelings matter more than delivering actual solutions to the needy. This is tragic. And I will not pay any more taxes to enable this lunacy that is The California Democratic Goat Rodeo.
