(04-09-2022, 12:15 PM)plam Wrote:(04-07-2022, 06:59 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: This makes me wonder, for some homeless, what is actually needed to keep them in safer accommodations.
Somebody who doesn’t understand that you can’t have a campfire inside a building is not somebody who is capable of living independently.
There are no easy solutions, but some of these people likely wouldn't start a fire if they weren't cold. It is really tiring to be cold all the time, and I don't even like fires.
PS speaking of fires it's also extremely common to have people lighting fires outside where they really shouldn't be lighting fires (because of conservation, or fire hazard, or...)
A fire outside where they shouldn’t, I understand, and a desperate but capable person might do that. I know I would, if I really needed to. I have enough imagination to know that there isn’t really much making me different from somebody who is more likely to be homeless.
A fire inside — doesn’t matter how cold they are, there is something wrong with their mental equipment. And I don’t mean to denigrate them by saying that; I’m just saying they probably can’t cook for themselves in a proper kitchen either and keep it clean (by which I don’t mean clean as such, just not filthy to the point of becoming a hazard).
And so my real point is that hearing about these fires makes me wonder if we need something different. I’m sure some homeless can be helped by making lower-cost accommodation available. But others need more of a care setting. I don’t mean go back to the old lock-them-up days of mental hospitals, but I don’t think low-cost housing will be enough for all the homeless.