Check out what this homeless guy did with $100 given to him!

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing that video! It's a shame if it is staged...

However, not everyone is homeless because of drugs... there can be other reasons. I've given money to homeless charities in the past, because I can imagine how tough it must be if you find yourself homeless. For homeless people, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to shower... to have clean clothes. And it's hard to get a job when you reek... That's just the facts of being homeless...

I'll probably donate some more to a charity that helps the homeless, just thinking about this... That wouldn't be a bad way to start off 2015!

Best wishes!

Dien

You’re right Dien, Starting off 2015 by paying a little something forward by helping the homeless wouldn’t be a bad way to start off the new year!

This afternoon after a big new years day lunch, I was getting kind of sleepy but after reading your thoughts about donating to a homeless charity earlier in the day, I kept thinking how the homeless guy in the video was probably telling the truth about how he ended up on the streets.

His father got cancer, and his elderly mom couldn't handle things on her own so Thomas became their carer. When his dad past away, two weeks later his mother
died of kidney failure.

Then he got evicted from the condo his parents had lived in.

Thomas pointed out that a lot of men get divorced, they become depressed, and I’m sure some start to drink and feel sorry for themselves… thinking that life just happens to them and they have little or no control over the situation and they buy into a victim mentality.

But like you said not all homeless people became homeless from drugs and alcohol.

A year or so ago I read an article that my little town had a homeless problem to. Bundaberg got flooded twice in the last 5 years and the water may have contributed to some people living on the streets.

What would you do if you suddenly became homeless? I think most people who hang out in the Seeds of Wisdom forum would find a way to pull themselves up by the bootstraps.

One of my favourite charities is www.kiva.org

With Kiva you get to give people a hand up instead of a hand out.

I hadn’t logged into Kiva for a while so I checked in today and one of the mirco loans I had made in 2014 was repaid to my account. So I can keep it circulating by choosing another person or group of people to help fund their dreams.

Lately I’ve been thinking of how lucky I am that I wasn't in the flood. But I've had a taste of the challenges of what a homeless person faces this past year due to a cancer scare of my own.

In 2014 I had a Cat Scan, then a MIR, then a biopsy, then a Pet Scan, then a second biopsy and finally an operation on my right ear. All of the medical treatments except for the Cat Scan took place in Brisbane which is a good 5 to 6 hour drive for me if I was in a hurry.

But for each appointment I would leave several days in advance so I could do some marketing and photography in towns between my home and the hospital. or just spend a few days at one of the many beaches. Now I always enjoyed camping and fishing with my parents when I was a kid so I don’t mind pitching a tent in a beach side campsite once in a while.

But having to live in one would really suck.

Now my fitness center membership gives me 24/7 hours access at over 250 locations scattered across Australia. One is only 4k away from the hospital. The only parking you are going to find near the hospital is paid parking, so I park my van in front of this gym.

Saves me about $50 on parking plus I get to walk 8ks and workout and shower at the fitness centre. A few times I even slept in my van overnight while parked at the fitness club.

Now this is no where close to how…. truly homeless people live… Thinking about it feels me grateful for things I normally take for granted.

During these trips I was approached multiple times by panhandles asking for money. Some had good stories to tell but most would just ask for change and when you turn them down they walk away and go approach someone else.

And most of the times when I do make a donation (because of being entertained by a BS story) the person would take the money and quickly walk away without even saying thank you.

Now the newspaper article I had read mentioned a charity that helps the homeless with Australian Swag Bags. http://swags.org.au/ http://www.streetswags.org I took a look at them today and thought… not bad for a homeless person. Could save their life.

So today I decided to overcome my sleepiness by bicycling over to the gym to do some weight lifting but I took my time and started to take notice of everyone walking around town.

Within 20 minutes I spotted several people who I suspected were homeless. I took notice of one in particular as I had seen him around for the last few years. Always walking barefoot carrying a bucket.

I always assumed he was going down to the river to do some fishing. After my workout today I decided to take the bike trail along the river instead of the street and I see this guy stretched out on the ground.

So, I went up to him and asked… are you homeless? He was, been living on the streets for the last 4 years. All he had was the clothes on his back, a dirty old olive green blanket and a 5 gallon plastic bucket with $5 written on it. In the bucket were some kind of games… Xbox or play station, I’m not sure.

He asked if I could give him a couple of dollars so he could get something to eat. I told him I would but first, I wanted to hear his story of how he became homeless.

He was kind of evasive, only saying that his mother had become violent and kicked him out. He seemed fairly intelligent so I suspected he drank and took drugs. He told me he does drink and smokes tobacco and claims no drugs.

I asked him how much a pack of cigarettes sold for now a days… $15 a pack.

Asked if he was getting anything assistance from the Centre Link office. He said yes but only 3 times a week. $60 on Mondays, Wednesday and Friday/ $180 a week.

I spend at least $150 a week on food alone and I have two refrigerators and a deep freezer so little goes to waste… plus a small container garden.

I had a $10 note and a $20 on me. So I said to this homeless guy… wait a minute,,, today is Thursday so that means you just got $60 yesterday. You have no rent to pay. Why do you not have any money?

He said he spent it on food. I decided to give him the $10 and keep my $20

As I got back on my bike to pedal home, another bloke riding on one of those electric carts for the elderly stopped and asked if there was any safe places around to camp. I glanced down at the electric bike he was on and saw that he had one of those Street Swags on the floor of it.

So I asked to hear his story. Been homeless now for 4 months. Has lung cancer and a bad leg. I asked each how they showered because both looked fairly clean-shaven (they shower at a local church) and I was curios as to how the guy on the bike got it charged up each day. Turns out there are electrical power outlets at a nearby park where he usually camps.

Michael the bloke who I gave the money to told Dave the other homeless person that he could camp with him and said… I’ll buy you something to eat… I got money.

Then Michael asked David if he had any tobacco or grog. Dave hands him a smoke and from the basket on his bike and pulls out of bottle of beer. Michael says to him… are you sure? I’ll share it with you. Dave says… no, I don’t drink, you can have it.

I excused myself and went home. But I’m thinking, now that I know where these guys camp at night… maybe I could capture their stories on video and set up a indiegogo gig for them.

One of the rooms I usually rent out to Backpackers just became vacant. I’m thinking I could rent it out to one of these blokes as CenterLink will give them extra money if they could find a place to rent.

But I don’t know…. Don’t want them dragging me down and I know you can’t drag anyone across the finish line if they are not success motivated.

My wife knows I’m a Robert Kiyosaki fan and on Christmas she gave what I think is his latest book Title is: “Second Chance”. In 2002, in Rich Dad Prophecy, he predicted that the biggest stock market crash in history was due to arrive around 2016. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9autu6OldQ

So far his prediction is on track to come true. I’m considering offering my spare room to one of these guys to give them a second chance. Only it will be Steve’s Bootcamp. No drinking, No Smoking, Out the door at 6:00am and the doors are locked at10:00pm and no 3rd chance. Screw up once – I’ll give them the boot.

Cheers,
Steve Shulenski

This "Freedom Business" is everything you could ever want in an opportunity!