his shopping cart and all his belongings were just outside, we was struggling to stay awake but the warmth and the comfortable sounding voices around him were too much and he nodded off multiple times, one couple were laughing at him...I don't find that humor to my liking, it's inhumane.

And why there are so many homeless in los angeles

9 degrees above normal day-in day-out at night, just about.

Dry. Dry. Dry.

From what I understand, people are still swimming in S.F. Bay.

tonight. Black bean soup .

Next week, we're starting a program in which I will hold clinic at the shelter for one afternoon a week.

The rest of the week, we operate out of our dedicated, brick-and-mortar clinic opened with the homeless in mind.

I've worked in healthcare for the homeless as a Medical Assistant from 2005 to 2008, and as a Physician Assistant from 2011 to the present.

It's the most rewarding work of my life.

Ain't just for military anymore

Why aren't homeless men and women of sound mind (I realize many homeless have mental health issues) trained to be truck drivers? There is a shortage of truckers in this country and since the vast majority of long haul trucks have sleeper bunks, it would solve two things simultaneously;

Gives them gainful employment and at the same time a warm bed to sleep in every night.

Granted not everyone might want to be a truck driver, but surely there are some out there sleeping in the cold tonight that this could be a solution for.

There are two categories of homelessness (largely speaking). Short-term folks and long-term folks. The short term folks can be assisted to get back on their feet. They need a job and a place to live. Those folks usually couch serf in an emergency and do their best to get back on their feet. Often they aren't in shelters - though sometimes they are. The shelter staff will move heaven and high water to get them help. It's rewarding because they can really 'see' results with these folks.

They'd be great as truckers, though keep in mind that some folks wind up in problems because they have a hx of felonies (which makes long haul trucker problematic). Also, when you are poor - it's often true that your license is in trouble. (Can't pay fines, tickets - can't keep your car insured). That kind of thing. So, there are often impediments. Poverty itself creates barriers.

The chronic homeless folks (those are the people I cooked for yesterday at our overflow shelter) - are the second group and they are the tougher population. They present with multiple problems and they are the folks that shelters deal with 'most'. Sometimes the biggest barrier is mental illness - often it is drug addiction - or both. These are the folks who look hard-worn - and have been living rough for a long time. There are models of helping those folks, too - but mostly they are harm reduction - until they make a decision to change.