How long....

Many people have been caught making a living by doing this. People have been caught dressing like a homeless person to make money by begging on a corner. A well known investigative reporting show such as Dateline NBC or 60 minutes has reported on this before. Unfortunately I can't remember which show or network it was broadcast on. I would like to research this and see if I can dig up any interesting facts or statistics in their archives.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. These are the ways in which the good intentions of the state and the taxpayers’ money are exploited by unscrupulous people the world over. They also deny many other rightful claimants of aid and also turn away other prospective aid-givers. But the funnies part is that such people also get sponsors all the while they are carrying on with their ‘cheating’. Funny world this.

I think I agree with you. I think that if it's a necessity (clothes, food, water, electric) and they can't take care of themselves for NECESSITY's, then yes, help them. But, come on now-- they can go to a laundromat for their clothes just like millions of others do. There are people out there that HAVEN"T had a natural disaster that still need stuff and can't get help. I think a one time thing of getting them on their feet with shelter, food, clothes, things like that is okay-- but now they are asking for big ticket items, and that's not really the point of charity.

I have no idea how to really respond to this. I pretty much lost everything but a TV in Hurricane Katrina. People lost EVERYTHING. Someone who has never experienced this kind of devastation will never know how that feels. The $7000 we got from FEMA did not even BEGIN to cover what we lost. People not only lost their houses, household posessions, and cars...many lost their jobs as well. How about the people who lived in no flood zones, had no flood insurance because of it? The insurance guys come out and say "NOPE, we're not covering your $200,000 house because you didn't have the right insurance." Now, they have a house that is destroyed, no cars, no anything...but they STILL have all the same bills! Drive down in Biloxi, Mississippi. Years later there is wreckage, years. If you want I will take pictures for you. I will be there next month. It takes years to recover sometimes. I am not saying that nobody takes advantage of the system, because they obviously do. But you (general "you") didn't see the people living under tarps attached to what used to be their house. I did and it will haunt me forever. I won't be able to just pass judgement on someone I don't know who lost everything in a natural disaster.

Its really sad to think about but I dont think we can ever imigine how hard it would be to go thru what they went thru. Course there will always be people who scam.

I am in the middle here, a lot of people do completely abuse the generosity of others, however others really need it. I almost want to say from the sounds of that post she needed it for normal reasons and just through the flood thing in for pitty, but I can't say that for sure. There is a possibility it was still effecting them. If you think about it if they did lose a lot of things, and as many people now with the economy so bad the job they have was just barely allowing them to make it to begin with it could take years to replace the items lost.

Thats a hard question to answer only because I don't really know of their situation and how much damage the flood did in terms of "losing everything". Some people recover quickly, while others take longer and sometimes may never recover fully. I have never been in a situation like that at all but when we were living in Samoa, it took my husband and I two years to come up with our own $$ to buy a washing machine and that was a long time. Now that they are moving into their own place, thats a milestone in itself and maybe they were putting all their hard earned $$ into getting themselves their own place to live, and now they still need a helping hand with the furnishings. It may seem like they are taking advantage and using the excuse of a flood a long time ago to get what they need, but sometimes people do what they gotta do to get what they want. I am not saying that I condone that behavior but I am not in their shoes so i dont know what they are going through. If the items are free and there is someone willing to give it to them, then good for them.

It all depends on the financial situation of the family before the flood occurred. Were they working or not? How much debt did they have before? Did they lose their job as well as their home in the flood. A year and a half does seem like a long time, but it all depends on how good the pieces were held together before the flood occurred.

We have a lot of that going on in Florida. I can't believe those people get free places to live for over a year and didn't save any money. I would have one heck of a new house if I didn't have any bills for a year.

Everyone needs help after a disaster, but, I think a person's own pride and will to do more for themselves and their family is a testament to the type of person they are. I think it is important(at least for me) to stand and look in the mirror and look at myself with pride, as I have and I do try to make the most of all opportunuities, good or bad. I know someone who sponsored a family this christmas and they were appalled by the gift list present. On it were items like Xbox3, color TV for kids bedroom and lots of other items costing hundreds of dollars. I think that is wrong.