An idea I had. Sorry for the long post in advance

B-randon · 04-30-2018, 08:13 AM

So I saw a video the other day of people on youtube giving food, blankets, clothes and money to th homeless. Me being the nice person I have always been I like to help people. So i did some thinking. How can I help the homeless in anyway possible? Then it came to me. Im a part of the skoolie community, so I could build short bus skoolie conversions for the homeless. But then It dawned on me, what if they dont have a drivers license to be able to go to different places to stay for how ever long they are allowed to stay. Also what if the have no source of income. My original thought was to build short bus skoolie conversions for homeless for a few grand. Spend $200-$300 to get them some food in their fridge and cupboards in their bus, and another $500-$1000 for food, gas, and to pay for their stay at different campgrounds if they couldnt find somewhere to permanently park. Then thats when I thought about them not having a license to drive or a source of income, and the campgrounds for a month or 2 at different ones is like $400-$500 a month which just wouldnt work for them. I would really like to keep this idea and give them a place to live, shower, sleep, and have food to eat, but I dont know how to make this possible. Anyone who could point me in the right direction on how I could go about doing this I would greatly appreciate it.

Versatile · 04-30-2018, 10:14 AM

You have to be very careful of who you help. There is a bunch of homeless near me that are Professional Panhandlers.They have a camp and have a van that drives them around to good locations. They work in 1/2 day shifts. They use walkers etc to get sympathy and lately i have seen 2 different ones using their child also. You will be in for a huge learning experience.

B-randon · 04-30-2018, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Versatile

You have to be very careful of who you help. There is a bunch of homeless near me that are Professional Panhandlers.They have a camp and have a van that drives them around to good locations. They work in 1/2 day shifts. They use walkers etc to get sympathy and lately i have seen 2 different ones using their child also. You will be in for a huge learning experience.

Thank you for letting me know. I didnt think about that. But i will take that into consideration now that you have told me

Whatthefak · 04-30-2018, 11:04 AM

Besides the scammers, alot of homeless people have drug and/or alcohol problems put an addict or drunk behind the wheel of a bus isn't the best idea.

There are some great people who do tons to help, I would suggest checking into what they do already and adopt that kind of thing in your area

B-randon · 04-30-2018, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whatthefak

Besides the scammers, alot of homeless people have drug and/or alcohol problems put an addict or drunk behind the wheel of a bus isn't the best idea.

There are some great people who do tons to help, I would suggest checking into what they do already and adopt that kind of thing in your area

Thank you for the info

Whatthefak · 04-30-2018, 12:00 PM

A lady I volunteered with in California runs food rescue it's basically a program that finds people with fruit or nut trees and picks them for free cleans up the mess and the owner gets as much as they want the group takes the rest. They trade fresh pears and oranges to the food bank for canned and boxed goods they get donations from the framers markets and people in the group cook and feed the homeless

brokedown · 04-30-2018, 12:28 PM

I'm always wary about things like this. Every time I come up with an idea to help people in need, there are three main things that stop me from doing it.

1. Many of the homeless people you see are just scammers. Even the ones that you really want to believe, the guy with one leg, the pregnant woman.. They're making more money than you did today, they aren't paying 35% of their earnings in taxes, and while they may actually have a drug or alcohol addiction problem, they're not going to use free money to seek treatment. Donations to a shelter or other program are guaranteed to actually provide more help to more people than handing a $5 to a guy who happened ti have a piece of cardboard and a sharpie on a highway offramp.

2. Many homeless people are are legit homeless have real problems that you and I are not capable of dealing with. Lots of legit homeless people suffer from mental issues (usually treatable, but untreated). If you've spent much time around someone with schizophrenia you already know they can be unpredictable, irrational, and dangerous. Some homeless people are regular folks down on their luck, but many are in much worse shape.. And you can't tell the difference from a distance. Contributing money to homeless organizations connect people who are equipped and prepared for these situations in contact with people who need help.

3. Many ways you might think of assisting homeless people are actually illegal in many places. You hear the stories in the news, people being arrested or fined for handing out sandwiches at a park, tiny homes built for homeless people in california being impounded and destroyed. mobile shower and haircut providers being fined and shut down.

Not to say it can't be done, but I don't think it can reasonably be done casually. Donating and volunteering with established organizations is.

B-randon · 04-30-2018, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brokedown

I'm always wary about things like this. Every time I come up with an idea to help people in need, there are three main things that stop me from doing it.

1. Many of the homeless people you see are just scammers. Even the ones that you really want to believe, the guy with one leg, the pregnant woman.. They're making more money than you did today, they aren't paying 35% of their earnings in taxes, and while they may actually have a drug or alcohol addiction problem, they're not going to use free money to seek treatment. Donations to a shelter or other program are guaranteed to actually provide more help to more people than handing a $5 to a guy who happened ti have a piece of cardboard and a sharpie on a highway offramp.

2. Many homeless people are are legit homeless have real problems that you and I are not capable of dealing with. Lots of legit homeless people suffer from mental issues (usually treatable, but untreated). If you've spent much time around someone with schizophrenia you already know they can be unpredictable, irrational, and dangerous. Some homeless people are regular folks down on their luck, but many are in much worse shape.. And you can't tell the difference from a distance. Contributing money to homeless organizations connect people who are equipped and prepared for these situations in contact with people who need help.

3. Many ways you might think of assisting homeless people are actually illegal in many places. You hear the stories in the news, people being arrested or fined for handing out sandwiches at a park, tiny homes built for homeless people in california being impounded and destroyed. mobile shower and haircut providers being fined and shut down.

Not to say it can't be done, but I don't think it can reasonably be done casually. Donating and volunteering with established organizations is.

I really appreciate you saying this especially your third point. I would hate to buy a bus and do everything to help someone 1. to find out they are just scamming or 2. to have it impounded after i worked so hard to build everything.

Whatthefak · 04-30-2018, 02:01 PM

You could always (illegally) cook and serve food at any place you find a homeless camp

Food won't be impounded or traded for drugs

And real people in need usually need healthy food and clean clothes more than anything

B-randon · 04-30-2018, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whatthefak

You could always (illegally) cook and serve food at any place you find a homeless camp

Food won't be impounded or traded for drugs

And real people in need usually need healthy food and clean clothes more than anything

This is one reason I love the skoolie community. Unlike other communities I have been in or forums I have been on this community/forum has got to be the best one yet. Everyone is really supportive and helpful and are easy to talk to and dont bust your balls about doing this or that. And i appreciate everyone that has helped me on this post and on my new member post

Whatthefak · 04-30-2018, 02:34 PM

I don't know how much time you want to invest but you may want to look into forming a 501-c3 non-profit. A ton of companies have an automatic donation, Safeway grocery stores in California have a 25 or 50 dollar donation it doesn't need approval if you have a 501-c3 number and ask they just hand you a gift card. You can do it at each location like 4 times a year. Home Depot also has similar

Jshaul · 04-30-2018, 09:44 PM

There's a possible solution to this one: Start a restaurant in a bus.

You'll need to do an awful lot of paperwork, but there's absolutely zero way to forbid someone from charging a penny to food to everyone who walks in the door. You could even convert the majority of it to a dining room - there's loads of other buses who have similar.

B-randon · 04-30-2018, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jshaul

There's a possible solution to this one: Start a restaurant in a bus.

You'll need to do an awful lot of paperwork, but there's absolutely zero way to forbid someone from charging a penny to food to everyone who walks in the door. You could even convert the majority of it to a dining room - there's loads of other buses who have similar.

Thanks for that idea, I appreciate it. I will definitely lok into that. My whole goal from the beginning was to help the less fortunate, but at this point ists been made clear my original i dea just will not work. to makny fakers and scammers that could screw me over in the whole situation. but i like your idea

EastCoastCB · 05-01-2018, 07:10 AM

I've been helping out a homeless kid who contacted me through this site. He's got a 4x4 van but its been broke down at a local shop for over a year. We hook him up with meals, a few showers, and I find him WORK when I can.
The rest of the guys at the camp he was staying at in the woods just steal stuff all day and smoke meth.

About giving buses to the homeless-
I'd hate to give meth heads a mobile lab lol.

B-randon · 05-01-2018, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I've been helping out a homeless kid who contacted me through this site. He's got a 4x4 van but its been broke down at a local shop for over a year. We hook him up with meals, a few showers, and I find him WORK when I can.
The rest of the guys at the camp he was staying at in the woods just steal stuff all day and smoke meth.

About giving buses to the homeless-
I'd hate to give meth heads a mobile lab lol.

Exactly, basically the reason i wont be doing my original idea anymore

EastCoastCB · 05-01-2018, 07:25 AM

Compassion for our fellow man is a good thing.
But unfortunately there are WAY too many folks taking advantage to try helping "the masses", IMO.

Our friend we've been helping out has become like another member of the family. He's been working and saving and now he's doing great.

colin · 05-16-2018, 06:41 PM

there is an organization called" forever change", they are doing exactly the thing you are talking about. check out the website. they are based out of medford OR.

o1marc · 05-16-2018, 06:51 PM

Sadly, "No good deed go unpunished". The original thought of loaning out or renting something in my name to a lower class of people, no offense, scares the bejeezus out me thinking of the liability that could be put on me if they screwed up. Or the liability of a broke homeless person finding a way for an easy buck and sue you for something that "injured" them in "your" bus. I'm always leary about charities that use most of the donations as profit and send little to the people who deserve it.

colin · 05-16-2018, 08:51 PM

did you actualy check the website out, because you never would have used the phrase,"i am leary about charities that use most of the donations as profit and send little to the people who deserve it". i have talked with this organization and this not what they are about!!!

Nomadusa · 05-17-2018, 12:25 AM

Not nice to talk about people who you really know nothing about being homeless is not as easy as you think and i really hate when people are like look he has a van well is that a bad thing that he spent his money on a van ? Must of missed the list of approved items you can buy when homeless not everybody that is homeless are bad people and I dare anybody on this website to name one thing a homeless person is done somebody that lives in a home has not already done name one crime a homeless person is committed to somebody that lives in a home is not committed people who live in home scam people

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