Monthly Dumpster Fund - $150 Goal

When I think about what homeless people need first and foremost, there are a few fundamental needs that come to mind:

• A place to put a shelter of some sort
• Water
• A toilet
• Trash disposal

We can talk all we want about a utopian dream where everyone gets a free house, and they have "wrap-around" services where social workers stop by regularly to see how the person is doing and ensure they have all their needs met. But in the meantime, can we get some water for these humans? How about some damn toilet paper?

I live by the principle that Perfect is the enemy of Good Enough. I see a lot of well-meaning homeless supporters fighting against tents and tiny houses because they want everyone to have a full apartment with a private bathroom and private kitchen. Meanwhile, I'm taking my friends to the ER to get their toes cut off because they have no shelter in the middle of a bitter winter. 

I'm not asking the government to pay for these things. All I'm asking is for homeless haters and homeless supporters to stop getting in my way to make this happen. You do your thing, and let me do my thing. "But Sage, you are enabling these people." 

I'm enabling them not to live a tortured existence of neglect and withholding love, respect, and dignity. That's the only thing I'm enabling.

It's hard for me not to get worked up about this catastrophic and insane situation we live in today IN THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY.

So, yeah, what was I saying? Oh, that's right. If I had to pick one thing, which would I start with?

• A place to put a shelter of some sort
• Water
• A toilet
• Trash disposal

You would think we could actually get all these things for the love of common human decency. But we can't. We can't get ANY of them. 

I think I might pick trash disposal. 

Look at this picture:

This is our houseless cleanup crew working on cleaning up the trash pile at a houseless camp here in Akron. 

You might ask yourself, how did it get this bad? Well, look at this picture:

That's what New York looked like after 9 days of The Great Garbage Strike of 1968.

If you don't have trash service, trash piles up. It's simple. 

I'm not really sure what the city thinks should happen with the trash. Do they want homeless people to illegally dump their trash in local businesses' dumpsters? We barely have room for our own trash in our dumpsters because everyone is already throwing all their trash in our dumpsters. Now you want us to take homeless people's trash too?

Do they want them to burn it? That's a rich idea coming from Democratic liberals who supposedly care about the environment. 

I think they are doing that thing where they plug their ears, close their eyes, and yell, "la la la" as loud as they can so they don't have to listen to the reality of America's cities.

Well, I have an idea. I'm paying homeless people to clean it up.

And I am getting dumpster service from this guy:

That's Herb. He owns HB Rubbish and Hauling.

He's the only person willing to come get my dumpster on my land. Republic says my street has too many potholes to get my trash. I'm super happy to be working with Herb. He's amazing.

And this is our dumpster:

I get in it every week to stomp down as much trash as I possibly can. I'd love to have more dumper space, but this is more than I can afford as it is.

This dumpster costs us $150/month. 

It allows us to keep our area clean and also go out and clean other areas in Akron. Right now, we are focusing on these houseless camps. It's just too tragic and painful to see our friends have to live in squalor and disease and rotting smell.

Would you help cover this monthly fee? Maybe someday we can afford more pickups or a bigger dumpster. But this is what we'd like to try to afford right now. 

Help us keep our community clean by contributing to our monthly dumpster rental. We need $150 each month to cover the costs. Your recurring donation ensures we can maintain a clean and safe environment for our houseless neighbors and Akron as a whole.