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| Home Front Economy |
| Homeless Increase - in Massachusetts |
| 2007-10-08 |
| There is just enough space for Lisa Rivera's family to sleep at Jessie's House homeless shelter. In one room, she fits the full-sized bed she shares with her 9-year-old daughter, the trundle for her 11-year-old son, a twin bed for her 14-year-old daughter and a playpen for her 1 1/2-year old son. "It's comfortable, but it's hard sleeping all together," the 32-year-old woman said. "Oh my God, sometimes it's so hard." Faced with domestic abuse, high housing costs and unemployment, Rivera's family finds itself among the growing ranks of the homeless in Massachusetts - and possibly, the country About 1,800 homeless families were in Massachusetts shelters last week - up from 1,400 in June 2006 and just under 1,200 in June 2005, according to state figures. There are more families in shelters now than at any time since the inception of the state's family shelter program in 1983, according to the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. How's that new mandatory health insurance thing working out, folks? State officials blame a wide range of problems - from cuts in assistance to the recent housing crisis. "We're very concerned that this is going to keep going," said Julia Kehoe, commissioner of the state Department of Transitional Assistance. Massachusetts is one of the few states that keep government records of the number of homeless families in shelters because state law requires the Commonwealth to shelter any family that meets income and other guidelines. The state keeps a daily count to show how many beds it needs, said Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. Nationally, the picture is much less clear. More money, more grants, more shelters, more taxes, more freebies, more illegal aliens, more homeless - a socialist paradise! |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #6 This is the sort of story that you usually see in California, with the added fillip that she is an illegal immigrant. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-10-08 12:13 |
| #5 Irony is always lost on the left. It's precisely because of liberal policies that Massachusetts has such high housing costs. F-em and the horse they rode in on. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2007-10-08 11:50 |
| #4 It's long past the time that every child born in America is DNA swabbed. We've long ago given up on holding people accountable for 'bearing false withness'. It's time to "trust, but verify." If we're making payment for the kids' survival, we're entitled to identify the contributors. That includes mommy Bets on how many in this instance, father unknown, would produce a correlation with adult males swabbed IAW standing law on criminal detentions and arrests? My bet would be that any sperm donor who has no inclination to take responsibility for his 'gift' to society, doesn't take much responsibility for any other of his actions in society. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-10-08 11:38 |
| #3 Less mean spirited than making you pay. IMHO she should be LOANED the cost of housing, not be allowed to transfer it from taxpayer wallets. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-10-08 11:14 |
| #2 Seeing how this women's living on my dime, how about the enlightened state of Massachusetts maybe makes her give up the baby daddy names of her four bastard kids and maybe, just maybe, have them chip in on the price of raising what they're responsible for bringing into the world? I know that's "mean spirited", but fuck her... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-10-08 10:37 |
| #1 Don't worry. They will all go away the day that President Clinton is sworn in. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-10-08 10:36 |