Time For Go-Go Juice! - Affordable Housing...A Dose of Good Medicine!

Well, good morning to you…at least I hope it is good. Get out your Go-Go Juice – I’ve got mine. I remembered the aspirin – I hope your events of last night were memorable and fun. Are you still wearing green beads? I’m almost out of tissue – again. Don’t you hate colds that just linger for all eternity? And then, it gets so bad, that you finally give up and go to the doctors in hopes of some medical cure to finally end your dreadful agony only to hear the overpriced doctor say, “Go home, get rest, take Motrin and drink plenty of fluids”, wondering why the heck did you even go in the first place? And I paid, “how much” to get that advice? You know we all do it. Well, maybe not entirely so – females yes, males – no. Why? Men hate going to the doctors – my husband persistently reminds me that it is a profession of people who are still “practicing medicine”. And then, he reminds me of the long hours it takes to prepare to go to the doctor, meet with the doctor, only to return back home and remain in the same condition that you left in (under most common viral infections). I must admit, I fear the “what if”. What if your condition mutated into something worse that could have been prevented? What if your viral bug turned psycho and became bacterial? Is that even possible? What if they ran a test and discovered a different cure? I’m scientific by nature and believe in the investigation of problems. That’s what a doctor does, isn’t it? But, for the most part, my husband, as most men, does not support paying someone to investigate, probe and prod if it does not result in a resolution. Honestly, he’s stubborn enough to have a heart attack and tell me to wait it out before calling 911 just in case it’s a simple case of heartburn. I know I have quite a few men reading my blog…am I not right? You know who you are (I do say that with kindness and jest.) As a problem solver myself, I have to agree in the logic of having a form of “resolution”. I just don’t want that resolution to end up on a dirt mound with a marble stone that reads, “He could’ve seen a doctor”. I think it’s a topic of argument that men and women will share until the end of time. Speaking of time, not to change the subject, however, our house guest is making great use of her time! There’s definitely a light at the end of her tunnel. She’s been quite successful at getting call backs from recent jobs she’s applied to. A bit of stability can go a long way, which brings me to my real topic of today – advocating for the homeless! As we have seen over this last year from our economic downfall, people lost incomes from lost jobs and many as a condition of that loss, also lost their homes. Homelessness is not a disease, yet treated like one. Federal and State agencies attribute homelessness to symptomatic problems that people have, such as addictions, mental illness, domestic violence, bad behaviors, etc. Experts estimate that there are currently 3 million people in the US who are homeless. Of that, less than 4% have direct contributing factors from such illnesses. Yet, the general consensus remains that “if there’s nothing wrong with you, then you should be working and therefore have enough income to pay for housing”. How realistic is this as the world has watched the spiral decline of revenues, job losses, businesses close and the immense amount of house foreclosures? I would love to hear the response from an MBA executive who lost his job over a year ago who eventually lost his home because he couldn’t pay his mortgage and finally shacked up with random friends or family members to survive? He too, would be considered homeless; however I don’t think he’d want to be stereotyped as having abnormal issues. Having a form of stability plays a key role to landing a job that will ultimately get you back on track and into housing, but it takes time. And, if employers think you don’t have a home…you are immediately dismissed as a viable candidate to a job regardless of experience. According to the United States Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan group led by approximately 181 mayors who represent 1,204 cities that have a population of at least 30,000 people in each city, reported that the main cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. Plain and simple. In today’s damaged economy, more and more businesses are struggling to stay alive and in doing so, cut their budgets hence, we now see reflections of an overall decrease in salaries and wages distributed to workers. These workers are also the consumers of needed housing giving reason for banks and lenders to lower the over inflated cost of real estate. One thing we have seen from home foreclosures is now there are a lot of empty abodes across the nation. It would be a tremendous idea if non-profit organizations and civic organizations find the means to negotiate with lenders to acquire such homes in effort to create the affordability. Everyone needs a place to live. Let this be my dose of medicine to my readers – get involved. While there may never be a cure to poverty in a capitalist society, we can at least unite to improve the quality of life for others and help people acquire a roof over their heads by pushing a resolution to affordable housing. It would have a positive effect on our economy putting money back into neighborhoods and city taxes while giving people a better chance of surviving and getting employed. It’s logical and makes cents. Wow – it’s now lunch time. Enjoy the rest of your day!