A lot of the homeless from the shelters who end up apartments are mentally ill with a disability due to that. They get victimized in the shelters and on the streets. With mental hospitals being few and far between, they bounce from living rough, to the shelters, to group homes and subsidized housing. Quite a few of them end up back on the streets because they can't deal with the structure of living in a group home or on their own. Once they reach certain age and state of health, it's off to a rehab center to get them off of the substances of their choice and then to a nursing home for the rest of their days.
As for copper wire, that's something you cash in for a little extra food or a bottle of Mad Dog.
Yup. I've occasionally stopped to chat with folks living on the street or in the parks, rather than the designated shelters in the unofficial "homeless district." Usually they dislike the noisy, aggressive vibe of the shelters, especially the folks struggling with mental health issues.
One guy in particular gave me a run down about the daily routine for homeless folks who prefer to seek shelter downtown, or in the parks, rather than the homeless district. This guy was living in his SUV with his dog, saving his social security income to rent an apartment after a few months. He knew the schedules for the various fixed shelters and food banks, the visiting ministries and other organizations. But it involved a lot of walking, which is very difficult for some folks who are already struggling.
Over the past 20 years my apartment complex has morphed from a conventional independent living complex for able bodied seniors. The landlords started brining in more disabled tenants, despite lacking even basic ADA-compliant amenities such as wheelchair ramps, doors that are accessible to folks in wheelchairs, etc. And the landlord rents upstairs apartments to tenants who cannot get around without a power wheelchair, which basically traps them if there's a fire.
And since the 2008 economic crisis they've brought in more folks who were homeless, in shelters, group homes, etc., who were eligible for housing subsidies. This escalated rapidly after the last of the old school segregated and isolated housing projects was closed down a couple of years ago, just before the pandemic hit. Most of them are 55 and older, so the place is still pretty quiet compared with the rest of the neighborhood. But the complex gets more police calls than in previous years, often due to trouble caused by younger family or visitors, often, umm... unauthorized neighborhood entrepreneurs, shall we say.
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