1 in 5 poor pewople in Buffalo, NY area living in homes without utilities.

[TheMightyFavog]

http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/393840.html

Nearly one in five poor people surveyed in Erie County in January said they were living in a home without running water, electricity or heat, according to a report released today by the Homeless Alliance of Western New York.

Sixty percent of the more than 1,000 people interviewed on Jan. 24 indicated they had been without a home at least once in their lives.

But the startling finding about utilities suggested that some people who did not report being homeless were nonetheless living in untenable situations, the survey's conductors said.

The finding could point to what is believed among human service workers to be a large squatter population in Buffalo, said William T. O'Connell, executive director of the Homeles Alliance.

"It just barely touches the surface of that issue," O'Connell said, acknowledeging the limitations of the survey. "We can only reach them when they're accessing services."

[rpannier]

1. But if you listen to capt oxycotin he'll remind you that

4 in 5 have running water, etc.

rush is a moron, but I wouldn't be surprised if that will be a talking point he'll use.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

2. NOTHING HERE, MOVE ON

WE NEED TO BLOW UP COUNTRIES

[tishaLA]

3. I was in that situation myself

two years ago, right before I became homeless. First I lost my phone. Then I lost my electricity--I remember going to a pay phone in my neighborhood, calling a friend (her husband had given me $100 in phone cards because they wanted me to call everyday--I was suicidal), and crying hysterically because I thought it was the worst day of my life.

It actually got worse by the beginning of August. And now, after a couple tough years, I have a place again, and it has utilities, but I understand too well what it's like to live in those untenable situations.

Sigh. And too few people give a shit.

[TheDebbieDee]

4. I'm glad you made it and are back with us.

[tishaLA]

5. Thanks. Before I faced that situation, I lacked sufficient compassion

I hate to admit that. I used to pass homeless people on the street without much thought--after all, they are kind of ubiquitous in large cities--and many of the people I came to know were people I would never have spoken to had I not had a personal crisis. Losing your electricity, and then your apartment, was profoundly dehumanizing, but somehow it managed to bring out an empathy (and a humanity) I didn't think I could muster.

Frankly, I'm still too close to the situation to address it in the way I should. With time, I suppose.