Would You Give A Homeless Man A Place To Stay

“A Watkinsville man staying at a motel near downtown Athens offered a homeless man a place to stay Sunday night but wouldn't allow him to leave the next morning, Athens-Clarke police said.

Officers responded to a 4 a.m. disturbance call at Days Inn, 230 N. Finley St., and heard one man in Room 120 saying, "I am trying to help you; we are still going to Paris," police said, and another man pleading to be allowed to leave.

Officer entered the room and found 43-year-old John Paul Thomas completely naked and pinning down the 26-year-old homeless man, police said.

The alleged victim said he'd met Thomas a couple times downtown, and on Sunday night accepted his offer of a place to stay, police said.

Thomas and the other man watched television in the motel room, police said, but when the man started to leave while Thomas was showering, Thomas ran from the shower and shut the door on his guest, police said.

Thomas punched an officer in the face as he was handcuffed, according to police.

He was charged with false imprisonment and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer, and simple battery on a law enforcement officer, police said.

http://onlineathens.com/stories/012908/cops_20080129028.shtml”

“I gave an urban outdoorsman a place to stay on night years ago.

We were on a scene and he was trying to walk off with one of the axes on the truck. He first got a chance to spend the night at the ER getting patched up...then he got a chance to spend the next month or so in the county lockup waiting for a public defender to come and try his case.”

“I let some young guy stay in a church once......once........”

“I let folks stay at my place all the time...I have plenty of room in my basement. Right IceTea?”

“watch it folks...she locks em in the basement and makes 'meat pies' for the local bakery....”

“Well you got to admit...that does solve the homeless problem.....”

“They made a movie about that

”

“I was thinking "Sweeney Todd, Demon Barber of FLeet Street".......”

“I'd watch out for Spirit's Basement...”

“yeah Simer knows all about it too!!!”

“they dont have basements in trailer courts! they have tornadoes”

“"Meat's meat, and we all gotta eat!"

”

“I am thinking of doing a cross country trip. Who wants to put me up for a few nights?”

“Meat pies?? I'd heard that Spirit makes 'em put on lotion, or they get the hose again.

LOL XL!! Minish axt if we'd give ONE night to a homeless person, and you gave that dude a whole MONTH, now that's hospitality!!”

“LOL...the best part about emergency services is WINTER. Invariably we will get an urban outdoorsman who crawls in a Dumpster for a snooze...only to be loaded into a dump truck. Then you have to rig a system to drop into the truck, stabalize the UO and pull him out for a trip to the ER.”

“LMAO, dayum!”

“XL lets em stay for a month cause it takes 25 days to fatten em up for the kill........”

“nope..wouldn't give him a place to stay...and not a chance he'd hitch to Paris around these parts.”

“You know we have been dealing with the homeless situation in Augusta by identifying an area of worthless properties (Harrisburg) and allowing many without shelter access to the abandoned homes. Hey its a roof, and walls and frequently you can get heat etc.

Now we have "activitsts" trying to drive the homeless out...its pretty rough. The worst part is it is being driven by a Slum Lord who really wants to be able to get more property for his own "benefit". The easiest way will be for the property owners to sell cheap (kinda like the old Carpetbaggers of Post War of Northern Aggresion) so he can throw his usual two bucks into it and rent it for his usual exhorbitant rates.”

“Good for you, Dan.”

“Were the property owners aware and OK with the squatters before the slum lord guy tried to get them evicted?”

“silly capitalists”

“homeless = silly libbies”

“Indiana guys=feckless

You have no feck!”

“T*lt and his mama wouldn't happen to own those houses, would they?”

“What would some worthless fvcking Texas #&%!$head know anything about Harrisburg? (unless he's working for the slumlord) I'm surprised he figured out how to spell it. (LOL)

Did they run his sorry ass out of McDuffie County now? (LOL)”

“And the melt down continues...(LOL).

tilty you know Harrisburg was built to house the "indentured servants" who worked in the mills. Come on its only good for the drug dealers and elements who live there. At least they don't get out enough to bother the rest of the community.”

“once i gave a homeless girl a place to stay for a week. she stole a pretty neglige and a sweet pair of fvck me pumps with sexy ankle straps. i'll never do that again.
last edited: 10/12/09 3:55:06 PM”

“Give an urban outdoorsman/woman a place to stay or let them play "dress up"?”

“The real parasites are the people who b!tch about the poor getting help while they line up to cash in on government grants. Putting that HUD experience to good use, I bet.

And yes, I think you did enjoy beating up suspects. At least that's what you said.”

“cash Government grants? like Teachers and ACORN?”

“I found this story on Yahoo:


Homeless veteran who saved 5 in fire laid to rest

By BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press Writer Brett Zongker, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jan 23, 3:29 pm ET
ARLINGTON, Va. – Ray Vivier had been an adventurer, a Marine veteran who explored the country from South Carolina to Alaska, the father of five children.

The 61-year-old also was a man starting to get his life back together after living for years in a shanty beneath a Cleveland bridge. He had struggled with alcoholism, but by November he had a welding job, friends and a place to stay at a boarding house.

He rescued five people from that house when arsonists set it ablaze — but Vivier couldn't save himself. He and three others died, and two people have been charged in their deaths. Vivier's body, unclaimed and unidentified for weeks, seemed destined for an anonymous, modest burial.

However, Jody Fesco — who met Vivier while she was volunteering at a soup kitchen and had even invited him to her wedding — heard that Vivier may have died. Fesco and her husband contacted their friend Haraz Ghanbari, an Associated Press photographer, about the situation. Ghanbari took the lead to make sure Vivier wasn't forgotten, tracking down the family members and arranging a proper funeral.

On Friday, Vivier's ashes were inurned at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

"You can see from what he did that he definitely had a good heart," said Mercedes Cruz, Vivier's ex-wife of 23 years, who attended the funeral with the couple's children. "No matter what our difficulties were in our marriage, I'm very proud of what's happened."

For his grown children — who now are scattered around the country — Vivier had been gone for about 15 years. They know of his heroism now — but they don't know much about the man he was trying to become. They remember their dad's struggles with alcohol and other troubles.

"What I'm trying to get out of this is to have one good, concrete memory that I can have of him for what he did to save those people," said his oldest daughter, Elisha Vivier. "I'm proud of the man that he was becoming."

Vivier was a private in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1965 and 1966, though he didn't see combat. He was stationed at Parris Island, S.C., Cruz said.

After his discharge, Vivier spent years working as a machinist, welder, iron worker and other tough jobs. He loved the outdoors and moved his family from Alaska to Oregon.

"He was just adventurous," Cruz said. "He loved to see different places and see what it was like to live there."

When he was homeless in Cleveland, he was proud to have one of the best shanties around, said Fesco, 29, who met Vivier at a soup kitchen.

"We hit if off right away," she said.

She took Vivier home for Christmas one year and later invited him to her wedding. Vivier was genuine, she said, "a real gentle spirit.

"He was trying to get himself out of some struggles — some struggles with alcohol — and just do better for himself, and he was, which was fantastic," Fesco said.

Ghanbari, who is an ensign in the U.S. Navy, helped arrange for Vivier's remains to be placed in a columbarium wall at Arlington National Cemetery. The site overlooks the Pentagon with the National Cathedral and Washington Monument in the distance.

At the military service, seven Marines fired three rifle shots, and a bugler played taps. Elisha Vivier carried a gold urn with her father's ashes to the wall and placed them inside, alongside the remains of thousands of veterans.

Ray Vivier was quiet, friends said, but people knew who he was. Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman met Vivier years ago while working as a social worker. He said Vivier was quiet, yet kind and compassionate. More than 125 people attended a memorial service weeks after the fire in Cleveland.

"It was a huge blow for the community. This was one of our neighbors who people cared about and knew," Cimperman said. "We're less because he's gone."”