The homeless in Tampa

I see it every day in Tampa. They seem to be at every intersection. Their pleas for help are drawn on the back of cardboard and they seem as common as the traffic lights themselves. Who are these people? What led them to the streets? Should I give them money? Whatever is going on in America is driving people to the street corners, and in Florida, the broiling afternoon sun to try and survive.

Some people subscribe to the Urban Myth of the homeless guy “Flying a Sign” and making a couple hundred a day and then going home to his spread in the suburbs. I don’t know about that. Flying a sign does not seem to be a very profitable activity, considering the competition today. Some people believe we should give them a bag with some lame ass crackers and directions to a social center inside instead of money. I think the condition that exist today cannot be solved by directions to a county office. It is more chronic than that

A few years ago, I considered these people to be bums. Nowadays, I’m not so sure. Driving my cab for 12 hours a day, makes me familiar with these people. I don’t think they are bums, they are the homeless and the unemployed. The ones I have talked to HAVE NO JOB. Simple.

A homeless guy named “Billy” hangs out at the Hyde Park taxi stand #21. He talks to the drivers and seems normal. He is just “down on his luck.“ He claims to have been homeless for years and often panhandles for money. He survives, but that’s about all he does. He has found places around downtown to get food. Some are better than others, but most will feed you and give you some sandwiches to take with you. That helps them for today. What about tomorrow.

Billy goes on Sundays to an old venerable church near down town called Hyde Park United Methodist. They feed the homeless on Sundays with a hot buffet of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, hotcakes, juice, fruit and so forth. The dichotomy this creates is that this act of kindness is in the shadow of swanky high rise condominiums and Bayshore Mansions.

Many of the people that eat at this church, hang out and sleep on Bayshore and many of the buildings in East Hyde Park. They are now calling this area Homeless Hyde Park. It is a problem that is getting worse as time goes on. The homeless women Missy Sjostrom was killed by a hit-and-run driver in this area one night while crossing the street at the base of the Davis Island bridge, another area were rich people live. The young women that hit her has rich parents and they hired a good lawyer to protect her from the legal system.

What these people need is HOPE and CHANGE. Maybe, one day, someone will come along and actually do something that will give real hope to these people, like a job and a place to live.

My understanding is that we are in the worst economy since 1936. Over 250,000 more people lost their jobs in America last month, and there seems to be no end in site. The unemployment rate is 9.8% and climbing. There are no jobs. Face it people.

The homeless people need work, money, health insurance and drug counseling. Giving them some lame crackers thru the window of your car is not helping them. You say you don’t want to enable these people since they may have an alcohol problem. You might be, but you are enabling them to live and keep going on. That is more kind.