Death rates for the homeless in the U.S. are wildly under-reported because many times they die in areas that are not checked or watched by the general public. Just this last week, another John Doe was found in a forest, and because the body was too degraded, it is unclear what he died of or who he was just yet, but I suspect it was exposure over the winter and then sitting out in the rain and sun over the last six months or so, which would make the total of dead homeless in our area 7 this year alone, which is about a 4% mortality rate for the homeless population in our area, if the numbers are right. I also suspect that there are more bodies out there as there are still some missing regulars that have supposedly moved on to greener pastures, but I have no way to get confirmation on that. Honestly, COVID did a huge number on the homeless population, we were seeing death rates at like 10% a year during peak COVID, but the general healthy population did a lot better, saw a lot of obvious improvement, because they were being housed by the city for that time period. The whole COVID thing is finally what convinced the city to build a huge communal bed facility, still not housing so that sucks, but at least there are now finally far more beds than people at least as long as the rate doesn't skyrocket here.
Welfare in this country is a joke. If you at least don't have relatives to stay with or get your mail, you are basically a non-person in this country, and god forbid you move more than once a year. Even guaranteed unemployment payments that your job requires you to get are an absolute hassle to receive. I am still fighting the state government over unemployment checks that I should have received 3 years ago because some dumbass at the capital was like 'well he doesn't work there now, so he never worked there" and 'I'm like, if it didn't take you morons a whole year to sort out my mandatory unemployment, I would still be at that job.' and now I am sitting through my second appeal, all for $270. I am very lucky to not actually need the money, but I am operating purely on sunk cost right now.
Death rates for the homeless in the U.S. are wildly under-reported because many times they die in areas that are not checked or watched by the general public. Just this last week, another John Doe was found in a forest, and because the body was too degraded, it is unclear what he died of or who he was just yet, but I suspect it was exposure over the winter and then sitting out in the rain and sun over the last six months or so, which would make the total of dead homeless in our area 7 this year alone, which is about a 4% mortality rate for the homeless population in our area, if the numbers are right. I also suspect that there are more bodies out there as there are still some missing regulars that have supposedly moved on to greener pastures, but I have no way to get confirmation on that. Honestly, COVID did a huge number on the homeless population, we were seeing death rates at like 10% a year during peak COVID, but the general healthy population did a lot better, saw a lot of obvious improvement, because they were being housed by the city for that time period. The whole COVID thing is finally what convinced the city to build a huge communal bed facility, still not housing so that sucks, but at least there are now finally far more beds than people at least as long as the rate doesn't skyrocket here.
Welfare in this country is a joke. If you at least don't have relatives to stay with or get your mail, you are basically a non-person in this country, and god forbid you move more than once a year. Even guaranteed unemployment payments that your job requires you to get are an absolute hassle to receive. I am still fighting the state government over unemployment checks that I should have received 3 years ago because some dumbass at the capital was like 'well he doesn't work there now, so he never worked there" and 'I'm like, if it didn't take you morons a whole year to sort out my mandatory unemployment, I would still be at that job.' and now I am sitting through my second appeal, all for $270. I am very lucky to not actually need the money, but I am operating purely on sunk cost right now.