searching for the down and out story by August H Mallory

As I write this story I have the the continued compassion to continue to follow the plight of many homeless individuals in america. having to have lived amongst the homeless and being apart of the homeless community, I continue to search for the homeless and get their stories and find out what propelled them to the streets of america. it is sad though that the homeless would rather kick each other down than lift one another up. mainstream society is no more compassionate that the homeless show themselves. as I travel from state to state to get other city's prospective on how they deal with their homeless, I have to truly say that the cruelty and hatred aimed toward the homeless is nothing saddenning. across america the homeless are treated less than human even by the various nonprofit agencies that serve them. I have pointed this out many times in my past articles. as I search for the down and out. I have to think like a homeless person where would a homeless person sleep if he or she could not find a shelter to sleep in for the night. as I walk through dark alleyways and substationjs across america. I usually walk through dangerous territory. yes I do stand a chance of gettingt assaulted and killed. but to tell you the truth I am safer around homeless people than I am around the average neighborhood bullies who live in homes and work in gangs to rule their neighborhoods with fear and tyrancy. I stand a greater chance of being killed by a gang member than a homeless person. I have gotten things stolen from me by homeless people but the turnout would have been even worse if it had been a gang member. my things would not have only been stolen but I may have even been killed in the process. I go across america looking for people who are down and out. to get their stories and to tell me what could be done to better their situations. I have contacted many state representatives during my many travels. but for some reason they really don't seem to care. many times they are concerned but have no idea as to what the hell to do.
our nations police force are the worse students when being educated about homelessness, they do not want to hear why you are where you are, or even how you got to where you are they just want you to be gone from where you are or else go to jail. as if jail is going to solve the problem of you being where you are. does this make sense. as I travel the deep south, and this is where poverty is most visible.
I have never been approached by more beggars and panhandlers in my life. crime is very rampant in the south. and the most crimes are committed by people who are homeless and unemployed. I have seen so much unsightly poverty that most of the poor are barefoot, dirty and ragged and it is sad. that this is going on. especially in america where we claim to be the richest country in the world. where we claim that opportunity is available to everyone. I often wonder how true is that. when I look at all of the suffering that is going on in america. our military women and men who fought for our country are now facing the biggest challenges of their lives. and this is a slap in the faces of our veterans. I say shame on america. I have found this out as I search for the down and out in america. I have discovered people who are highly educated have now become homeless. people with college degrees, everything from an associates degree to a doctorate degree are now homeless. education is a good thing but be warned america that even education is not always the answer to a comfortable lifestyle. that safety net can always be be taken away at anytime. so what is the solution. we as americans are going to have to learn to live together and work together and end all of this racial division that separates us as a nation. and learn to accept each other as themselves. as I continue to search for the down and out. I do get responses as to how things can improve but the question is are our elected officials really listening to our concerns.