Nick Johnson has outdone every mainstream reporter covering the homeless problem in the US. This footage is moving and unfortunately very real. It’s obvious we have an untreated drug & psychiatric catastrophe occurring in this country. Thank you Nick for showing everyone the truth.
he should win a media award. this is what real news looks like. getting out there and interviewing , gaining perspective, approaching it unbiased just to get what others have to say.
@@bigt2731 No, if there is no jobs for you then you need to move to another area. These people are obviously on drugs and have issues. Normal people move and don't turn to the streets. This is also the disconnected families and friends with a single mother supporting system (I bring that up because of the statistics of the people raised by single mothers and where they end up).
he should win a media award. this is what real news looks like. getting out there and interviewing , gaining perspective, approaching it unbiased just to get what others have to say.
@@2200-au Americans don't hate Russians by the way that is another lie. Our government wants us to hate Russia but we know it's all to gain power over us.
I had a Rwandan driver taking me to the hospital when i asked him if he was enjoying the U.S. and he started crying stating he wished he would have stayed because the US was the hardest place he ever saw to survive in.
He was a " driver" in Rwanda...there's not as many vehicles..or drivers..And if you're a driver..you are held in esteem..It's a much sought after job..here..everyone is a driver..
@@8corymix8 If you aren't lazy and your luck holds up. You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone. This was nearly me, 32 years ago, and I was anything but lazy.
what a video! our society is broken both morally, spiritually and for many, financially. not every homeless person is lazy or on drugs - some folks just can't fend for themselves.
I can't believe how many people are homeless after becoming a widow or having an illness or injury. Our system is broken. Thanks for helping these people tell their stories Nick Johnson.
Clearly! Why do you think they turn to drugs? To try and cope as normally as they can until they become addicted. It’s heartbreaking. They have finally made it “okay to have mental illness “ yet when you’re living alone , mental illness and addiction how can we help them? I don’t think of places to plop them and walk away. Real solutions.
Mental health is definitely an issue but it's highly agitated and exacerbated by drugs especially meth. Everyone has 'mental health issues' after not sleeping for four days. If you go into any prison in America probably 90%+ of the crimes minimum are caused in some form by drugs.
So are addicts that have been told in grade school they won't be able to get free of any addiction if they are addicts. Then they are told no one has to work for a living, no one actually owns anything, they are entitled to what anyone else has....it's just a bunch of crimes what many teachers have indoctrinated our kids with. We were suckers not watching what teachers were teaching.
That’s a budgeting issue, balancing a budget should be taught early on in school. Every time I travel to the USA I’m amazed at how cheap everything is.
Money doesnt help. Most of these people refuse housing. Here in Ca we spent 24 billion on the homeless with nothing to show for it. The money just vanished. 24 BILLION in taxes.
As a Californian, please, please, please, everyone outside of CA please do some research about Newsom. Our country is already sinking rapidly, but if Newsom becomes POTUS, the United States is doomed. I'm not a right wing nut. I'm a man raising his children, trying to stay afloat. I can't leave CA unless my children's mother gives me permission. Even though I have full custody.
Great reporting Nick! A sickening look at the crisis going on in America. It’s humiliating knowing many of my family members fought and died for this country. Expenses for people to have a simple home outweighs the money they can make to pay for it. Many of us are a paycheck away from homelessness.
If you had made $500K on BTC as that one guy claimed, then why would you sleep in a tent with your pregnant girlfriend, next to a sketchy encampment with drugs etc going on. Sounds like an unbelievable story.
Meanwhile we send tens of billions of dollars to other countries all kinds of reasons. We need help here at home and need it now! Is this Build Back Better?
You think because there is a War in another Country that's how we keep our military industry going strong? You watch way too much news. We've NEVER had a problem with building a healthy stockpile of weapons for our military. If providing jobs to build more weapons is your focus then you've got mixed priorities. Those millions of jobs could be doing something constructive. Don't justify why War is so great for the economy. Sending weapons is only a small portion of those billions. If we wanted to spend money outside of America to benefit US I'd think there would be a better solution than paying for another Country's problems. Build a better idea.
wtf am I paying taxes for if we don't have services to help these people and give them the medical services and housing they need to live with dignity.
I know right? It’s sad they don’t give a dime. I hope someone can take a lead and help protect them and stand up for them for the services they need. I hope everyone in this video healthy and safe.
Just don't understand why we can't emulate countries like Finland that have mostly solved the problem. Oh yeah, the US is somehow morally opposed to providing any sort of social safety net.
Got billions to give to wars and other countries (Ukraine)...but BIG F to our own. Even if the homeless citizen is lazy and on drugs, I'd rather take care of them than the political interests around the globe. Politian crooks would love us all to be down and out.
@@DinoCon No, it's not. Illegal immigrants bring value to this country unlike these drug addicts. I don't see them doing farm work or contributing in any other way.
В каком то смысле народ в США стал заложником американской мечты.В России в одном многоквартирном доме живет 1000 человек, бок о бок учителя, врачи, продавец, кассир, предприниматель, алкоголик, пенсионер.Дом на общем балансе, квартиры выкуплены
Every time I see someone on the side of the road I give money and drive away crying. I was almost homeless and scared to death. I got a better job. Bless your heart and God help the USA.🇺🇸
Don't give money or drive away crying. I knew a man that was homeless pretty well. He received SSI benefits. Every day, he would go to a freeway exit and spend about 2 hours with a sign. He would come back with $60 on average. Then he would go to local restaurants at closing time and they'd sell him cheap plates. For example, the Mexican food place would give him a huge plate of rice and beans and a protein for $2. He had plenty of money. Just enjoyed being "homeless" and not having any responsibility. You have a beautiful heart and soul. At the same time, you are being taken advantage of.
I've been screamed at for doing the same thing. Been told the same story about people faking poverty while living like kings. I hope I never lose my humanity for others.
What would really help in this situation.. is to get the cost of rent down.. the rental industry has lost its mind.. and is completely out of touch with reality in our current economic situation.. also the real estate companies.. everything and I mean everything is overpriced and overvalued,.
I respect You Nick! You are doing good work. People need to see this, and understand we need to stop helping the world when we are bad shape here at home.🙏
Our country is in very very deep trouble… we send billions of dollars overseas to people that probably wish we didn’t… and a Few that do. We have American citizens living like wild raccoons. This is the new world order playing out. God Bless our country and peace to the people
I read through many of the comments from Nick’s videos-and, one MAJOR thing that sticks out when people from other countries comment is that this does not happen in many modernized countries outside the US. What are we doing wrong????
Plenty of poverty and homelessness in the world. The people who comment are immature, sheltered, and ill informed. US does plenty for the needy, but some people are beyond helping. Surely you will find some bad cases in a country with 325 million population. Don't be too quick to judge the state and the government. Some of the blame belongs to the homeless themselves.
Can you think of other causes of homelessness besides addiction, mental illness, criminal record, lack of family support, lack of education, low employment rate, trauma?
Can't stop addiction or mental illness and they need records for there crimes. There family has given up for a good reason most likely it's why they have no friends to help them to or they came from a single mother and the statistics they produce. You really don't have a educational excuse in America because the availability is there for all children they just have to Want to work at it. All my family has work and my aunts kids in there 20's all 7 have jobs, Are you saying they can't get the Exact job they want? Trama is sad but to let it stop you from going on with life is crazy.
USA government should construct tiny houses for poor and homeless people because they do have rights to live as human beings. Who will voice for these helpless people. US government is responsible for this miserable living conditions.
This is sad, I never thought there were places like this in America, what we see on TV is totally different. I thought it's only us here in Africa who experience this kind of poverty.
I will admit I haven’t watched all your videos, yet all the ones you posted on this one, I remember watching. I guess they really are memorable. 👍🏼 👍🏼👍🏼
My man @Nick Johnson, the thing that blows my mind is most of these people use to be like you and myself. Unfortunately due to life decisions most of these people will never be like us again. But they are they're still trying to share their stories knowing how bad it looks. Knowing they likely will never know anything different again. . It's up to people like us to educate and stop this cycle. Keep doing what you do. Just remember they didn't start life like this. . If they did even . . Respect the fact that they reached back to you for an interview.. Be safe nick and thank you for the things you bring to the light.
I work as a helper for an old lady in Germany. She has her pension ( retirement income ) and she can afford to pay me decently. She is in a wheel chair since 1996 year, as post polio patient. All this years she had her monthly income and all of her medical needs are covered by the state. This is SOCIAL SECURITY at its best. In America - she will be dead in a few months.
My father had a stroke when I was 14. In order for him to get social security and food stamp the government forced my brother to move out because he was 18. He became homeless for a while. The American dream for us.
This is a consequence of freedom bozo. People have the freedom to make their own decisions . People have the freedom to do drugs , have the freedom to ignore family wishes . Ignore societal standards . In Afghanistan there are no homeless because the Taliban will beat you and force you into a mosque to be a monk . You can’t have freedom and then be upset at poor choices
Everyone says what we need is free public housing , we did that before in the 70s . Was called the projects and it was a disaster . What these people need is forced rehab
@ci6516 its not freedom. it's laws not being enforced. freedom doesn't mean what you think it does. we have a govermwnt that's supposed to enforce laws. but they don't enforce anything. the border is wide the F open and drugs pouring across the border. drugs ruin lives. drugs lead to homelessness. if we want to help these ppl....build the wall. stop the pouring of drugs. death sentence for all drug dealers deal hard narcotics. that is what Trump will do once elected. this mess will get cleaned up by the government enforcing the law. You're truly homeless ppl... ive met vets. that want to be homeless and not have the responsibility ...I'm fine with that. but that's not most homeless. most homeless are homeless because of drugs
Thanks for covering this what MSM doesn't touch, even though this is the worst result in the entire western world. And as a German, I'm shocked, not by this topic alone, the other topics you present to us are shocking too, because we don't have this in Germany at all because we care about the community.
I love how you talk to these folks. A few clearly are mentally unstable; you just skip on through and ask another question. And then the ones who you can tell are intelligent. And how about a vet, homeless, now wtf is up with that! Sad.
Good video thank you for documenting this I hope all these people the best of luck its emotionally draining just seeing it I cant imagine being out there.
This is important , bravo and thanks ...we have a Soviet attitude twords...poverty....its unciviliz ...housing and some grub ..what could it possibly cost ?
Nick, thank you so very much for this in depth video on our homeless people. The problems are very individual, and if we do not approach each situation one-on-one, we will never find a solution. I do not believe that everyone will eventually have a home because many of the drug addicts have a home, and they remain on the street "living the life." But, for the people who are mentally ill: they need care, and the state of mental health care in the US is terrible even for those who have insurance, a job, and loving support from friends and family. The people who want to work: they need to be hired. Hiring the homeless is also a challenge. As that gentleman in Oakland by the freeway stated, if they get hired, they will need showers, clean clothing, and transportation to and from work. Gee, instead of hiring 87,000 IRS workers, perhaps the President should have hired an army of social workers, counselors, and volunteers. Having said that, let me also say that the federal and state governments are the worst administrators of programs and normally make things worse. Look at the ridiculous wait times some of these folks told us they had. What the feds and states can do is fund local organizations that have proven programs that work. Like any grant program, the recipient organizations should submit a full account of the budget expenditures, their failures/success to the granting agency in order to receive further funding. Honestly, the best help for these people should come from local grassroots organizations such as churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, etc. Soup kitchens are OK, but all they do is keep people alive without getting them out of their circumstances.
The programs encourage the homeless to do nothing to improve their lot in life since they get everything they need for free from them. They live on the streets because the shelters stay full. Those that can and do work tend to have their own safe areas for their tents and parked vehicles. The police don't mind them if they keep their location free of trash and stay sober. Most of them are saving up as much money as possible to relocate elsewhere to work where the cost of living is much less.
Herein lies part of the problem; if you are a landlord who gets paid by the government, you can get exorbitant amounts of rent, and that in turn helps you keep up with regulations. A landlord who gets paid by private citizens often falls behind on upkeep especially to 'code' (gov standards) and end up folding. The fewer private pay landlords there are, the higher the rent for gov regulated housing - even if their tenants aren't gov subsidized, and more people are pushed into homelessness - waiting for the gov to help. It's a vicious cycle. My heart goes out to all these people. Please note i'm only highlighting part of the problem, we all know it's much more complex than that. Thanks Nick
Your brave putting yourself out there like you did. I hope all get help as well, and even for those of us that are not homeless, knowing how close it could be now days is unsettling to say the least.
I wanted to make some extra money when I moved to a new city. So on my days off I went to the day labor places. Met a lot of interesting people. Not all were drug addicts, many were Veterans with some mental health challenges that couldn’t maintain full time employment. I worked some interesting and horrible/dangerous jobs though. So I can see how many don’t even want to do that after a while.
Good afternoon Nick I finally had a spare moment to watch this one. I remembered some of these beautiful souls others I didnt,. They are all such interesting people with stories that given the chance seem only to happy to share. I wish them all the best you can see some really are trying to better themselves an get somewhere better, Well others have accepted their current fate and are just getting by. Have a blessed week ahead.
They didn’t help, they drugged them up and left them inside (so you couldn’t see them and sadly 50 years later some are fine with that broken system. That’s not the answer. We have so many more resources today yet they don’t have the answers other than drug them and forget them. ❤️🙏🇺🇸. If you had a family of mental illness that’s where you would slam them and walk away. Love and patience.
They just need a lot more actual oversight than they did back then. And better hiring procedures so the folks that are supposed to be helping the insane are not ones who should be patients themselves. All of that is easier to pull off now with advances in technology.
No way that 90% of homeless plan on personally earning their own way out of their situation!! It’s “Societies fault”!! If most of them saved up $100, where would they spend it!!? Let’s cut the BS.
I was homeless 3 times in my life but I didn't get help from anyone. I wasn't homeless due to drugs, alcohol, or money I was homeless because there were no Apts available. Imagine that 😂😂😂😂 Being American in America 🇺🇸 the only place where our people live on the streets and give everything to the undocumented
I lived a good life. Lost it all because of drinking. Spent two nights on the streets at Myrtle Beach in February and it was miserable. No resources, no friends. By the grace of God, i was accepted back by my family. But being out there, i was hopeless and couldn't stop drinking because of the stress. These people live very difficult lives. I don't know why anyone would choose to live on the streets. My experience was brief but it nearly drove me to suicide. Life is much better three months later. But i know i am so close to ending up back in Hell
You're watching from a country with a tiny population. You might not have too many homeless, but Russia can invade your entire country within a few days and that will be very sad too.
@@tonnymiller123 no one cares where you're watching from. If you're so sad maybe send them some money. Otherwise keep your empty sentiments to yourself.
What the heck is wrong with this country. I keep hearing the stories of the homeless, and after hearing them talk about their situation I discover that many of them, are smart and did everything right. That could be any of us. No politician is even talking about the 2 things that most people worry about. Housing and transportation.
Not just computers, but artificial intelligence Is going to make it worse. And, it started with outsourcing our jobs to other countries. I work for a fortune 100 company with 24,000 employees and there’s probably only about 1500 in the United States because they outsourced every position they could to Costa Rica, Philippines, China, and Mexico.
I live in Albuquerque and right in the middle of downtown I deal with homeless people on a daily basis and some have drug problems but most are good people that life situations be it of their making or situations beyond their control have put them on the streets. Here rents doubled after covid in some places and me and my wife pay more rent for a one bedroom duplex than our kids pay for a three bedroom house or our other daughter pays for a two bedroom apartment so if you had a place before COVID than likely you are much better off . Some of the elderly homeless simply can not afford rent , utilities , food etc By the grace of god although retired and disabled we manage to keep a roof over our heads.
"COVID" it's government policy that causes all the inflation.. they are the only onew that can print money and the politicians closed all the business .. thousands of restaurants closed during thier power trips im in Santa Fe new Mexico
