Many homeless people are in temporary straits, finding a way to get back on their feet again. Many others are chronic alcohol or drug abusers, or are mentally ill. He started a similar paper in Boston before coming to Seattle in 1994. This is happening in every big city, because wealth is becoming more polarized in this nation. There is a lot more wealth now, but a lot more poor people.
Cities reflect that.
Federal cuts in welfare assistance threaten to put even more people on the streets in the years ahead. Many could lose whatever money they have for low-income housing. Also, monthly Social Security supplemental-income checks for those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse are scheduled are to be discontinued at the end of the year. But I do believe that if we don't strategically deal with this, we could have a big problem on our hands. Rice says his best strategy is to put as many homeless people as possible to work.