How to help poor people ?

[Michael Brown]

Hi Harry124,

Whether you are the most wealthy person on earth or the poorest of the poor you can apparently help people through including the to yours prayers every second of your life.

[~bs]

random acts of kindness can go a long way, Just a few days ago there was a man standing on the site of the street with a sign will work for food, I went to sheets and got him a few hotdogs, and a bag of chips.. not only did i feel good about what i did, he was very grateful.

That's nice that he was grateful. Many times they're simply looking for money to buy booze or cigarettes or drugs. I've tried buying food (I do not give money) for various people claiming ot be hungry, and they flat out refused and wanted cash. Understand this, in most major metropolitan areas, there really is no such thing as people going hungry. They know where all the kitchens are, shelters, churches, etc and where they can go to get meals, etc. Hell, if I wanted to, I could stand in line with them to get lunches and dinners. That easy. The people you normally see digging for food out of garbage cans tend to be mentally ill.

There are people that have truly fallen on hard times and are homeless. This is probably where money is best spent to get them off the streets because they're still motivated towards doing so (temporary help). Most of the homeless, i think, are mentally ill or people who simply don't want to be helped and want to be left alone. They don't want to go to a shelter. These types of people are the hardest to help, and most expensive since the govt. probably would have to support/monitor them for the long term

Now if you're talking about poor people on food stamps, housing, etc etc. probably a different story for me. I'm not a real big believer in entitlements because they're a reward for bad behavior. If a dog bites you, do you feed him and praise him? If you pay someone more for doing nothing than working a low level job, if you pay them more EITC, SNAP, welfare, etc, for having more kids, what do you think they're going to do? If someone wants to pump out 8 kids from 6 different fathers, there should be consequences. If that consequence is the parents and the kids all go hungry on the street, then that's the reality that they would have to deal with. And there would be much less people engaged in that type of behavior and not doing anything productive if there was no benefit towards doing so. Problem is, we've built up this huge system of entitlements, and at this point would probably be very difficult to attempt to scale back without causing a lot of hardship and riots. And they've expanded the eligibility for these programs so much, it's as if the government wants everyone on an entitlement program. In my state a family of 4 with income of $49,000 still qualifies for SNAP benefits.

And on the topic of SNAP benefits, IMO it should be eligible for basic starches only since the point the benefits is so people don't starve right? Rice or beans, take your pick. I'm pretty tired of seeing working families come through a checkout with their coupon books shopping on a mac and cheese budget. Then next up you see a SNAP recipient with the cart loaded full of junk foods, soda, steak, lobstertails, etc that look like they just rolled out of bed.

[nick__45]

I pay a lot in taxes so the government at both federal, state, and local levels can create entitlement programs to keep many people living fancier than me. It is beyond my control to make sure all bums become successful freeloaders. I just finish my taxes less than 2 minutes ago and dreading the thoughts of more taxes. The harder I work, the more is taken out. While I often go hungry during the day to save from eating out and my packed lunch isn't enough since my job requires a lot of manual labor, in addition to skilled labor in front of computer, in the harsh outdoor environment, I see freeloaders living fancifully with their new smart phones, fresh clothes and shoes, and nice automobiles.

The way I see it, if people don't want to work and are just freeloaders, they should be force to leave the country. I am sick of paying ridiculous taxes and working like crazy all the time.

[VanReb]

Help who is in need.

Here every people is poor, I mean to say everyone who is in need is poor and they need help.
If you are capable & want to help anyone,you have to serve any needy person in respect of their need.
Anyone who is hungry: Give them some food to eat.
Anyone who want to study: If you have that knowledge, share your knowledge.
One more thing I want to mention. Whenever anyone is helping anybody, don’t only help them for that particular moment. There is an old saying “don’t give only fish to poor, teach them to catch the fish”.

[elessar78]

I pay a lot in taxes so the government at both federal, state, and local levels can create entitlement programs to keep many people living fancier than me. It is beyond my control to make sure all bums become successful freeloaders. I just finish my taxes less than 2 minutes ago and dreading the thoughts of more taxes. The harder I work, the more is taken out. While I often go hungry during the day to save from eating out and my packed lunch isn't enough since my job requires a lot of manual labor, in addition to skilled labor in front of computer, in the harsh outdoor environment, I see freeloaders living fancifully with their new smart phones, fresh clothes and shoes, and nice automobiles.

The way I see it, if people don't want to work and are just freeloaders, they should be force to leave the country. I am sick of paying ridiculous taxes and working like crazy all the time.

Nick, this is from 2010 but should still be relevant for the most part. It's from the Wall St Journal, which can hardly be accused of being "liberal": http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...454547226.html

In a way, you're right. You are paying a bunch for people to have entitlement programs but it's not entirely correct.

Entitlement programs like social security and medicare pay for health care and retirement money for the elderly. Medicaid pays for health care for poor people and children.

Then it pays for a whole bunch of defense spending that, in theory, keeps the bad guys out. Then stuff like highways to keep commerce going, food stamps to help poor people eat, the CIA (to keep the bad guys out), Vets benefits to repay those that served our country, grants for people to help with college tuition, NASA (because science is a good thing), Agricultural subsidies (to keep your food costs low), various health related initiatives and "other" ways to protect our sovreignty.

I'm not really sure where in the budget freeloaders get nice cars, smart phones, and clothes—it's not a line item. And it's certainly not a big number.

[johnystrong]

How to help poor people ?

We help poor people to given education food and necessary things that can surive ourself.

[kimb]

thank you for any help. ... and I am poor... so please don't mention any solution that costs, I really am poor, I can not afford any big appliances.

[dawnwes]

We do work through other organizations.

I worked in the inner city public education system for 17 years as a school counselor. There were many ways we were able to help.

My father is a surgeon (retired now) and donated much of his service to the poor.

Our church has multiple outreach opportunities with the poor.

We give financially and of our time where we can.

[budgetingtech]

it's better to enable them to earn their livelihood rather giving them a piece of bread once, twice or even on continuous basis. If you can hire...hire them. If you can refer them for job...refer them. If you can give them some amount to start their small business...give them on easy terms. Don't charge huge interests.

[Ashcroft]

I think the most important thing is do not distinguish, money is just not all they need, they need help !

[jIM_Ohio]

Hello friends
Please give me the answer.

Education

[rennigade]

I think you're supposed to teach them how to fish so they can catch their own food...or something like that.

[hobo2]

Poor is a very relative term. What we consider poor in the U.S. is considered rich in many countries. Just because a person is poor doesn't mean they need help. The U.S. has countless resources for anyone to improve their education or situation. Maybe it's not always easy, but being poor isn't as bad in the states as many believe. People just like to whine about stuff. It's the way the country's become. And before you donate any money to any organization, do your homework on them! You'd be amazed at the salaries of some of these "non-profit" CEOs!

[Destind4]

"Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Galations 13:2

[syracusa]

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

-Matt 7:12

This.