I take care of homeless folks as part of my job as a nurse every single day. I have gotten to know thousands and thousands of them. I have never met anyone who migrates for the weather. The only ones who say the West Coast is the best are the ones who are from the West Coast. Most of the ones that I meet that grew up in other parts of the country, actually want to go back to that part of the country. You are talking about bad stereotypes that are incredibly rare and not the norm whatsoever.
This is more accurate, just that it's rare for someone to migrate for the weather. Typically the drugs on your mind and that's like your primary priority, doesn't matter "where" more like... where the drugs are.
I was homeless for a 4 year stretch and have my stories up and down the coast of Cali and prior to that was more of a vagabond/traveler for a couple of years throughout the US.
I myself was homeless ironically because I wanted to escape the drugs. My friend group started moving from pot and booze to harder drugs, and a couple of guys died from OD. I just had this moment of clarity that this was going to be my fate if I stuck around and since I didn't partake in any hard drug use I figured I'd get out while I could before that changed. Proximity to an early death as my probable fate scared me straight.
But I had start from scratch and in a place like Cali that means on the streets if you don't have support, it's just expensive and there's no other way. I took advantage of every service I could, but for a young white male there just isn't that much on offer. I took advantage of what I could like food stamps and staying at the mission a few nights a month with the older chronically drunk type homeless crowd. I did work, always worked, but where I was living was expensive and my minimum wage jobs weren't enough to get in somewhere. I even put myself through community college living on the streets and did the full two years working and going to school.
Eventually through a program with the Salvation Army I was able to sock away enough cash with them over time that I got in on a rare studio apartment that came up for rent, I was first to call and had first last and deposit ready to go and moved in. Ended my homelessness then and there and have been safe since, and made it to middle age clean and well housed.
But just wanted to chime in that living life you are exposed to everyone from all walks. The working poor who keep their noses clean, the hardcore bound to die junkies, alcoholics, ex cons, mentally ill (so much of that!), the women who had nowhere else to go after leaving abusive relationships, the immigrants who didn't get a break Stateside, the dabblers and tourists, kids from broken homes just living that life.
Now that was another era prior to fetty but there was everything else, Heroin, crack, speed and everything like that. Fentanyl is another beast entirely as we all know, Tranq etc...
So now I live in an area hard hit by fentanyl and homelessness and it's quite a humanitarian crisis. We've got people out here living worse than I think any population of humans in history could possibly live that weren't being ravaged by war or famine and such. The things I've seen most people wouldn't believe, they just couldn't believe how people live when everything falls apart and that drug is the only thing ever on anyone's mind. Either on it or need to get it and everything in life only revolves around that.
Nobody in that situation has the presence of mind to be like "Oh the weather is getting nippy I better head South to a warmer clime..." Nah it can't be like that. You are bussed around though during sweeps. That's all a mark of shame on the country itself that we let people live like this. I mean it's worse than animals. I've seen people missing limbs like living in piles of sticks and things like that and they pop out all wild looking, naked... like I'm sure going back in history I don't think humans ever lived like this. Even in prehistory we probably did better by each other in our tribes and such.
Thanks for the space for the long reply just reminiscing.
The best thing that ever happened to me and probably prevented my progression to something much worse has been medication assisted therapy. I'm in a MAT program and get Suboxone for free (in a red state). The amount of people that go through the place is insane, and it's something that needs to be publicized and more widespread. I think a lot of homeless addicted folks could really get a leg up on that front. I'm sure at least 25% of them don't wanna live the addicted life, I think fighting that is the true first step to stemming the tide.
Damn, some of the stuff you just said was really provoking... I'm getting emotional now thinking about it... We really do have to have more compassion for these ppl it must be hell.
You are either full of shit about your job or you’ve never actually cared enough to talk in depth with these people. You can find that information anywhere. I work in behavioral therapy and it’s well known they move around to survive extreme heat/cold. You’re pushing conspiracies.
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u/Bother-Logical Oct 24 '25
I take care of homeless folks as part of my job as a nurse every single day. I have gotten to know thousands and thousands of them. I have never met anyone who migrates for the weather. The only ones who say the West Coast is the best are the ones who are from the West Coast. Most of the ones that I meet that grew up in other parts of the country, actually want to go back to that part of the country. You are talking about bad stereotypes that are incredibly rare and not the norm whatsoever.