A Glass Darkly

NeverL0ved

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The reason I have been absent lately is due to the fact that I have been living on the streets in Brisbane, Australia.

For the last week and a half the only support I can access are through the usual Christian establishments (Since our government has mainly left charity to them) Sure you can get a free meal every day or two, sure you can be assisted with clothing and toiletry's, sure you can be given a room temporarily. But I have found that it is better to take less of the little they provide, and tough it out on the streets until better opportunity's come my way. Why? Because as I have found when interacting with these religious organizations, they never see the need to know me at all.

And how can you help someone the way they need, if you know nothing about them?
 
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Heavenhome

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But if you take only a little, then how will they get to know you?

Perhaps because the need is so great they are only able at the time to deal with immediate needs.

Would you be able to ask one of them if you could see and talk to a support worker, I think that would be the way to go.
Then things could be looked at more long term and they may be able to work out a plan for you.
I hope that you are able to get some assistance soon.
 
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Hazelelponi

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The reason I have been absent lately is due to the fact that I have been living on the streets in Brisbane, Australia.

For the last week and a half the only support I can access are through the usual Christian establishments (Since our government has mainly left charity to them) Sure you can get a free meal every day or two, sure you can be assisted with clothing and toiletry's, sure you can be given a room temporarily. But I have found that it is better to take less of the little they provide, and tough it out on the streets until better opportunity's come my way. Why? Because as I have found when interacting with these religious organizations, they never see the need to know me at all.

And how can you help someone the way they need, if you know nothing about them?

I'm sorry to hear of your hard times.

I know in America, if you fall on hard times medical companies pay healthy people for their plasma (blood)

You can make between 2-3 hundred dollars a month going twice a week to donate, and there is usually a place in the poorer sections of town, and almost always accessible through public transportation routes..

You might want to look into it, see if there's something. Helps to have it for food and transportation money, especially when your down on your luck.

Most homeless people don't want to be known - so charities simply try to respect people's desire for anonymity.. if you want to talk to charity workers then tell them your needs, and desires. They are usually very happy to accommodate.. many formerly homeless people spend the rest of their lives working for the charities that helped them most when they were down on their luck.. so you just need to talk to them, they will speak to you if they know what you'd like.
 
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joshua 1 9

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And how can you help someone the way they need, if you know nothing about them?
We cannot trust in MAN. We have to trust in God. God has all the answers and all the solutions to whatever we encounter in life. He will never leave us, never forsake us and He will never disappoint us. We can disappoint ourselves when God does not respond like a Gene in a bottle to do things our way. Because our way makes a mess out of things. That is why we need to seek God to follow His plan and purpose for us and our life. David tells us in Psalm 139:16 that God writes the book of our life before we are even born. The angels assigned to us can read our book to help us to become the person God intended and created us to be. So we can develop all of our gifts, talents and abilities to bring Him Praise, Honor and Glory.
 
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Aussie Pete

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The reason I have been absent lately is due to the fact that I have been living on the streets in Brisbane, Australia.

For the last week and a half the only support I can access are through the usual Christian establishments (Since our government has mainly left charity to them) Sure you can get a free meal every day or two, sure you can be assisted with clothing and toiletry's, sure you can be given a room temporarily. But I have found that it is better to take less of the little they provide, and tough it out on the streets until better opportunity's come my way. Why? Because as I have found when interacting with these religious organizations, they never see the need to know me at all.

And how can you help someone the way they need, if you know nothing about them?
The need is enormous and the resources finite. We help homeless people from time to time. We encourage them to come back. Mostly they do not.
 
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Occams Barber

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I know in America, if you fall on hard times medical companies pay healthy people for their plasma (blood)

You can make between 2-3 hundred dollars a month going twice a week to donate, and there is usually a place in the poorer sections of town, and almost always accessible through public transportation routes..

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has a monopoly on collecting all blood products in Australia. Blood donation is voluntary and unpaid. Australian donors receive no financial compensation for donating whole blood or plasma.
OB
 
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Hazelelponi

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The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has a monopoly on collecting all blood products in Australia. Blood donation is voluntary and unpaid. Australian donors receive no financial compensation for donating whole blood or plasma.
OB

Good to know...

I'm in America and donating was a financial lifesaver for me for a while, hate that it's not like that everywhere!
 
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Occams Barber

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Good to know...

I'm in America and donating was a financial lifesaver for me for a while, hate that it's not like that everywhere!

I like it. I find the idea of selling my blood (I used to donate) somehow ethically wrong. Blood donation is seen here as a public service. I will admit we have a shortage of plasma which could probably be resolved by paid donation.

I think it's a matter of what you're used to.
OB
 
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Hazelelponi

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I like it. I find the idea of selling my blood (I used to donate) somehow ethically wrong. Blood donation is seen here as a public service. I will admit we have a shortage of plasma which could probably be resolved by paid donation.

I think it's a matter of what you're used to.
OB

Oh you can donate whole blood here for free too..

but the plasma centers are usually paid as that is necessary for cancer treatments and more, and as they charge people for it they in turn pay those they take it from..

I also know it goes not just here, but all over the world when there are shortages elsewhere..

but yes, its just what your used to..
 
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Occams Barber

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but the plasma centers are usually paid as that is necessary for cancer treatments and more, and as they charge people for it they in turn pay those they take it from..

Blood and blood products, including plasma, are provided free of change to patients. As I said in my earlier post this may be a problem given the shortage of plasma.
OB
 
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mkdrive2

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And how can you help someone the way they need, if you know nothing about them?
Do not expect too much from people who do charity. They are humans, too. I needed help from those charitable organizations in the past, too. The people there were not friendly at all. I got a very bad impression of them, and I condemned them for it for a long time afterwards. But thinking back I think I expected too much from them. I wanted them to be superhuman. How can they show affection for everyone equally? They cannot.
 
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AvisG

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We cannot trust in MAN. We have to trust in God. God has all the answers and all the solutions to whatever we encounter in life. He will never leave us, never forsake us and He will never disappoint us. We can disappoint ourselves when God does not respond like a Gene in a bottle to do things our way. Because our way makes a mess out of things. That is why we need to seek God to follow His plan and purpose for us and our life. David tells us in Psalm 139:16 that God writes the book of our life before we are even born. The angels assigned to us can read our book to help us to become the person God intended and created us to be. So we can develop all of our gifts, talents and abilities to bring Him Praise, Honor and Glory.
I know this is well-intentioned, but it's basically the equivalent of the old Southern Baptist preacher's joke: "If you ever find yourself without a roof over your head ... without a shirt on your back ... without food to eat, knock on my door and I'll pray for you."

The organizations the OP is talking about exist to provide the roof, shirt and food as well as to pray for him. Based on experience, I agree with what someone else said - such organizations are often so overwhelmed with trying to meet immediate needs or save souls that they can seem somewhat brusque at the individual level.

Surely, OP, there must be somewhere you can find a landing spot? Have you tried volunteering yourself? Perhaps this might lead to a bed, a small room, and some real relationships. Or even a small job where a room and meals are part of the arrangement? "Better opportunities" seem far more likely to come your way via something like that than living on the streets. (I'm obviously just thinking out loud since I don't know you or your situation.)
 
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joshua 1 9

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I know this is well-intentioned, but it's basically the equivalent of the old Southern Baptist preacher's joke: "If you ever find yourself without a roof over your head ... without a shirt on your back ... without food to eat, knock on my door and I'll pray for you."
I use to wonder about the teachings of Jesus when He said: "sell all you have and give to the poor". I understood when I went to a third world nation. If someone needs something more than we do then of course we should share what we have with others because of our love for them. So if I am eating a meal then I am not going to take more food then I need if there are others that need that food more then me. IN the real world they would not take my food if I was still hungery. They would wait until I had eaten all I wanted to eat and then they would eat was was left. The problem is when people keep to themselves what they should share with others.
 
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