How to help my homeless son?

What do I do to help my son? He lives under the I-80 bridge near Elkhorn Blvd. in the Sacramento area. He is hungry and wants a way out, but he just doesn't know what to do and I can't even think what to tell him. I live 1,800 miles away in Oklahoma. And I am out of work and poor to boot. But I know he needs help. He has some mental issues. He is severely bi-polar with psychotic paranoia. He has never held down a job. He is 28 years old. He has had maybe 4 jobs in his life but can't handle the pressure of working at a public job. The jobs never lasted beyond 2 weeks. Before you say anything, you should know that he is NOT lazy. He is the hardest worker I have ever seen. He works all the time for other homeless people, helping to build shelters. He even does yard work for people. He will see some older person mowing the yard and he will finish the job for them. He won't accept money for it either. He just likes to help. He was always my hardest working kid. He just doesn't do well with a public job. He freaks out, thinking that he is going to get fired or that other employees are out to get him. He even thinks the cops and the FBI are watching him. He moves his campsite frequently, because he is sure that they will want to kill him. The thing is, he is not on any government assistance or on any medications. He doesn't understand how to even get help for himself. He lives on squirels and has admited that he ate stray cats. He had to eat something. When you are hungry enough, you do what you do. He won't go to a shelter because they won't let him bring his dog. He has a dog that someone gave him, and he says that if it wasn't for his dog he would have froze to death. He is probably right about that. Sacramento isn't as cold as some places but it did snow there just a few weeks back. My son needs help and I don't know who or where to call. Do you?How to help my homeless son?
If you are willing to take him in, he can get to you for free. There's a place called Francis House that will provide him a one way Greyhound bus ticket to your city. It's called a ';return to residence'; ticket. He will need to provide your address and phone number so they can call and confirm. The ticket is usually available the next day. He should get there very early in the morning and get in line, take a number and wait. They can only provide so much per day. Their website is here -----%26gt; http://www.francishouse.info/



Loaves and Fishes will provide him with food as they provide lunch every day for the homeless and very poor. He should ask one of the other homeless folks to walk him through it. It's quite simple, really. He shows up, gets his free lunch ticket and then waits for his number group to be called. If he's number 356, he'd eat when they called 350-400. Works like that. They'll ask him if he has a TB card when he gets his lunch ticket and if he doesn't, they'll just tell him where to go to get one and write his name in, but they won't force the issue. Francis House is only a few blocks from Loaves and Fishes. The Loaves and Fishes website is here -----%26gt; http://www.sacloaves.org/ He can also shower and shave there and swap out his dirty clothing for clean clothing in the men's shower area. They also have a kennel area where they will look after and feed his dog while he showers, eats and does all the other stuff he needs to do. If he needs pet food for the dog to take to camp with him, they'll give him some of that as well. It's definitely worth it for him to acquaint himself with L%26amp;F and their services. Oh, and he should ask them for a ';street sheet'; while he's there so he can see where other services that may aid him are located and what they offer.



Your son is eligible for food stamps and general assistance. GA, or any cash welfare grant in the US now, is a LOAN and needs to be repaid. He needs to be aware of that. Food stamps are not and he would be eligible for emergency approval. He would receive an appointment within three days and then his food stamps on an EBT card the same day. He should wait until the middle of the month if he doesn't like being around a lot of people, though. He also needs to apply for Social Security disability when he gets to OK if he goes there, if not, he should do it immediately. The feds are absolute pukes, so he should get a lawyer the minute he gets his denial letter - and he will get one. Any lawyer he gets should be one willing to send him to their own doctors at their own expense. If he collects GA in the interim, the county will get his lump sum check so they are paid back the money they paid out then forward the remainder to him.



While it didn't snow here a few weeks back (that is very, very rare) we did have a nasty hailstorm that lingered on the ground. I was very worried for our homeless folks that day. It's also been exceptionally cold this winter, so if there's any way you CAN take him, please do so. My Kindred (it's like a church group for Nordic Heathens) and I do a lot of outreach with the very poor and homeless in Sacramento and we are simply overwhelmed. The Catholic church is also feeling the strain (they run L%26amp;F and Francis house) and they number in the thousands. There's only a bit over 100 of us in my Kindred so I'm amazed we are still able to do some of the things we do. There's a very good chance if I saw your son we would recognize each other. If not, he'd most likely recognize another member of my Kindred as we don't limit ourselves to the downtown area around L%26amp;F. We do tromp around looking for those more isolated camps. The vast majority of people we interact with just don't know they're dealing with Nordic/Germanic Heathens or that we're even an organized group. *shrug*



Do push him to help himself this way if you can. He does need to be persistent and I know that is hard for people with severe mental illness, but it really is the only way for him to even start taking those first steps to get himself the help he needs.



Oh, and (((hugz))). You probably needed one, no?How to help my homeless son?
Why don't YOU take him in?
You have a couple of good answers already. Will he go to mental health at all? They also have a social services part that can possibly help. Is he a veteran? VA also offers help. Besides Loaves and Fishes California Emergency Foodlink Sacramento, CA Phone: 916-387-9000 toll free: 1-800-283-9000 http://www.foodlink.org/ (there is an email contact form on the site too) can help him find other places to get food. If he will come where you are and the return to residence can help him would it be possible for him to stay at a shelter near you and dog stay at your place if his staying with you is not an option? That way you could help him get mental health services and possibly a place to stay through Metal Health. That would also mean that you could be his ';substitute payee'; when he does get a disability check. Another option would be to seek a gas voucher from Salvation Army, any church you attend or a friend attends, or other help place there where you are and in CA so you or someone there could o get him. That way dog can come too and I have a feeling that that may be the only way he would come even w/out the pressure and confusion of a bus trip. It may also be that a humane society there would help pay to ship dog to OK or that a relay of volunteers could be set up to help. This group may have some ideas for doing that too http://www.cesarsway.com.



Here are some links to help for homeless people in Sacramento in case you and he do not fnd coming to OK a possibility at this time.

http://www.sacdhhs.com/article.asp?conte

http://dhaweb.saccounty.net/Homeless/

http://www.voa-sac.org/Services/Homeless



There are more links at http://www.altavista.com/web/results?ita



It is very hard to help someone long distance and even more so when they have the kinds of problems you describe. Thank youn for reaching out and not giving up. I will pray for you and for your son.
In my opinion he needs help. There is little chance that he can function and get his life together until he gets the help he needs. That would mean getting some sort of assistance for health insurance and having him see a doctor/psychologist so he can get medication. I would say that is the first thing you need to focus on though is his mental health. Once he has established some stability, then he will be able to hold a job and get things in order. See if he can get medicaid.



http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/medi-cal



I really hope everything works out. I know the heartache of seeing someone you love being homeless. I will say a prayer for your family. :]