Complaint Review: Central Arizona Shelter Services

Being homeless in the Tempe AZ area I for one can honestly say that CASS is full of sh**. So is Tempe. Tempe sends money to Phoenix to cover CASS's expenses instead of building a shelter here like they were given the money to do so back in 1999.

As for how a person without a home can get internet access is possible, it is relatively simple, the public library. If you were not aware as a home dweller that the library has internet access then maybe us homeless persons who type away all day sending out resumes and filling out online applications to get denied a job so an illegal immigrant can work for 4.00 an hour. The police in the Phoenix area ARE CORRUPT.

The government is corrupt here as well. Homeless persons here go to jail for urban camping. Which means that they fell asleep in the park. Another public place that is supposed to grant access to ALL. Unfortunately, all in this state means Mexicans, Mormons and Morons.

Steve,
Out of all the posts on this particular report, I have to agree with yours the most.

I was homeless for a year and a half, and many of the homeless people I met had one kind of mental health issue or another.

It isn't that these people are bums...some of them are truly genuinely sick and need help, and it's sad.

I was homeless due to circumstances. I had it all, the job, the car, the home, and I lost it all because of the man who became the father of my child. He got locked up two weeks after I found I was pregnant.

I was alone, having no good relationship with my family, due to my own stupidity and my daughter's father's inability to stop taking things that weren't his.

Thankfully, I am with a wonderful man who I love and cherish, who loves and cherishes me and my daughter (he wants to adopt her when we marry), and my life is back on track. I have a car, a job, and a home.

But I will never forget the struggles I went through as a homeless single mother. Homeless people are just like any other people...don't judge or name-call unless you know their story. A lot of these people are mentally ill in some way or another and they need help. Kary, if you still read rebuttals to your report, please get help.

I think taking a job and getting off the street is the priority here. And, I lived in Phoenix, and they have more tolerance and assistance available for the homeless than anywhere else I have ever lived. And, you never have to worry about freezing to death. I have dealt with many Phoenix cops, and once again I have to say, they are some of the best I have ever seen in the country.

As Lori said, it must be nice for someone who is homeless to have internet access! And, she sure travels alot for being homeless. Travel costs money. Where is it coming from?

I have carefully read all of these posts and what I can determine, the OP is nearly retirement age, and is most likely suffering from various mental problems. There is a high level of paranoia here. There are definitely little green men in her trees.

Most homeless are in this category. That is why they cannot function in society anymore, and give up. Most homeless have serious mental problems and/or drug problems.
Being homeless for most is a lifestyle, and they do not want to change, and will not do anything for themselves anymore. They have given up.

Kary, turn yourself into a hospital to get the mental help you need. Get off the street.

I remember back in 1997, I went back to Florida where I had once lived for a visit. I was an active church member, so I visited my local church there, they had held a childrens program and had a manger display and a baby Jesus statue in it. After the service they held a fellowship meal and we all gathered in the lounge area had prayer and got our plate of food, then I went into the dining area to take a seat. But it seemed every time I sat down, someone would interrupt me, and tell me that that seat was taken. Finally with my plate of food I entered into the auditorium. I notices the manger display and instead of sitting in the pews, I knelt down and crawled into the manger, I look down at Jesus and said, "Ya know what, there's no room for me in there" I could about hear him say "Ya I know the feelin' This is a filty place, but I was born here. After I had my meal with Jesus, I thanked him for the fellowship and left.

I live on a fixed income myself and have 3 kids. I have also been close to homelessness a few times, but have had great friends and family that have taken me in solely because of my kids. I have also slept under a bridge before, by myself of course, so I can honestly say I have been there. I recall in one of your earlier posts that you have a physics degree. Could you elaborate on what type? I am just asking because there are a few suggestions I can think of, if you had the right degree. Teaching is one.

I live in So. Dakota and the shelters here seem to be much kinder. I would gladly offer you a hand up if you were genuine in trying to advance yourself. I live in a small town, the people here have resources for people that struggle to get on their feet. There are low income apartments, buses that charge $1 per ride which you can possibly get help with also, plus the regular public asistance. So, I guess I would try to encourage you to keep trying, but,maybe you should think of a different location other than HI.

The way it sounds, the naitives there aren't the most friendly to more homeless people moving in, especially if you DON'T plan on trying to improve your situation. I also agree with another previous poster on another point, move to a smaller town, there usually are more resources available, the people usually are more friendly, and the cost of living might be less than in a larger city.

I'm very frustrated and I've been on and off the street since about 6 months after selling my home (of 46 years) back in Oklahoma. The money is gone and I am trying to make sense of the calamity. I have had great personal loss and that has led to a great deal of emotional difficulties, including the resurgence of what I had felt 'ripped-off' about long ago.

The fact remains that I graduated with a Physics Degree. We study very complex Science and Mathematics. I graduated with honors. I am hoping that someday, maybe I'll find a way to use these skills. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN USED ONCE IN TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF JOBS. It's extremely frustrating.

My last job was "fixing home network problems". These jobs are just call rooms and frankly, even the people who have worked there for years admit how simple these things are technically. THEY REALLY ARE SIMPLE. The only 'trick' to these jobs is doing it very fast, say about 10 minutes or less and saying what the company wants you to say. It is not at all the way I wanted to go. You take these jobs because they are there.

Well. as Mr. Spock said, "MAYBE, BECAUSE IT IS THERE IS NOT SUFFICIENT REASON". :) By the way, any records in the call rooms are in no danger of being broken by me. I prefer to take my time.

OK. I hope everyone will accept my apologies for being too emotional here at rip off report. I didn't used to be that way. I'm trying to get back to the more 'logical' person I thought I was in Physics School. So it's going to take me some time to go back to the past when I was a very marketable Physics Graduate (BUT HAD NO IDEA THAT I REALLY WAS EXTREMELY MARKETABLE). Apparently the world has gone through this cycle too, thinking we aren't when we are more marketable than almost any other degree. We can do anything. You can teach us anything if we want to do it. We are smart people in a world that has a lot of really boring jobs. That's very frustrating and that's the thing I want to beat more than anything else I've talked about here.

So I hope everyone realizes that while I have not intentionally lied here on rip off report, I may have exaggerated myself at times because of my extreme frustration in being homeless. It makes one feel pretty low sometimes.

Live Long and Prosper....

Kary

P.S. I apologize for ignoring anyone who posted here, but I have to ignore it just in case it gets me upset. I probably have got some good out of this as a sort of therapy, but I don't need any more arguments. I'll work them out by myself. That's what I'll have to do anyway. Thanks for those who helped and for those who are really enemies, well, I don't know why.

According to the Book of Matthew, it is required that I forgive. I'm doing this because I want to hear from God. So that's the end of this. I don't have the time for this anymore.

Thanks,

The bottom line at this point is:

At the Phoenix Rescue Mission, I was being harassed by an individual there; he also harasssed on the 35 bus a couple of days earlier. He's able to hide it from the Religious People there, but where he shoved me in the forced chapel service, I had all I could take. I don't need this so I left.

Now I called CONTAC and they say the only bed is at the FILTHY CASS overflow. GAG ME WILL A DIRTY RAG. IT'S THE FILTHIEST PLACE ON EARTH! You can't force me to go there.

I've found myseslf a good computer job but I need a decent place to be.

I'M NOT A BUM! I'M NOT A LIAR!

I'VE BEEN RIPPED OFF GALORE FOR YEARS AND I AM GLAD TO HAVE A PLACE TO GRIPE ABOUT IT!

Religion or not! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

I Got all my music stolen near 24th street and Indianola the day after they refused me at CASS OVERFLOW. I WAS MAD. Fortunately, after yelling and chasing the thief, he dropped the bag and he didn't take my last album.

I had to hide the album in my jacket at Phoenix Rescue Mission because I have to keep it and protect it. It's all I've got. I'm doing the best anyone could do under these conditions.

True, this does affect the mind. If I've made an error, I apologize, but I won't hold back from griping about what has happened.

I'll make it one way or the other.

You know, I think Honolulu is probably an excellent place to be except for the guy that rebutted me and called me a bum. He has no idea what it's like or how hard I've tried.

Martin Schiel, when I was planning a Master's Degree in Computer Science said and I quote, "It Doesn't Apply" He is TOTALLY WRONG! Oracle Professionals need to know a lot about computers including the courses I wanted to take.

Another idiotic statement he made about Oracle was and I quote "It's all point and click!" He doesn't deserve to work in the U.S. Government. It's hard to believe that the entire Government is really as stupid as this.

I've had it with FOOLS! I'll gripe till I drop and Christianity won't change things. You get the Government you deserve!

BYE!!!!!!

To be homeless (no rent, elec, phone, heat bills), but still be able to access internet services to write this report. Me? I pay a mortgage, elec bill, heat bill, phone and cable bill, insurance and taxes.... I must be doing something wrong!

Kary, get a job, find a place to rent (outside of the city where things are cheaper), and start paying for the things you obviously take for granted (hmmmm, which, by the way, the rest of us PAY for!).

Homeless shelters generally are underfunded, understaffed and there are less available beds/mats than are needed. Those running the shelter also have an obligation to stay within a maximum occupancy limit set by the Fire Marshall. This is likely the reason the OP was turned away.

By the way, Madonna was homeless when she was in New York. So, as bad as all this is, I have someone to relate to.

Take that, nay sayers!

:)

I think the Phoenix Police are harassing me.
I think they go around running their sirens to scare me and there were 3 of them on 16th street last night doing it.

I don't care about Honolulu, the Police will do it there to.

They do it in Gilroy California too.

They did it in Oklahoma City.

How do you stop the Police from abusing whatever it is they really do?

I have had enough of this!

I don't need Honolulu, I need a DECENT COUNTRY!

The US IS NOT IT!

BYE BYE BABY!!!


:)

We are overloaded with bums of our own. Even the churches are fed up and withdrawing services. The local bums also take a very harsh view of mainland bums coming in and syphoning off "their" resources, and you will stand alone in a crowd of pretty violent people that don't like whites or blacks unless you're a female that will give it up.