By DAN LAZARUS

...And we wonder why this state is going broke. This guy gets a check every month like clockwork. Maybe we should have left Awesome alone and taken old Erich instead. At least Awesome supported himself. Looks like we feed this beggar until the end. You wanna know what I am hoping for; that Erich and everyone like him, falls off the face of the earth and we can put their disability payments towards the deficit.

RAIDER wrote:

...And we wonder why this state is going broke. This guy gets a check every month like clockwork. Maybe we should have left Awesome alone and taken old Erich instead. At least Awesome supported himself. Looks like we feed this beggar until the end. You wanna know what I am hoping for; that Erich and everyone like him, falls off the face of the earth and we can put their disability payments towards the deficit.

The sad truth is he gets paid more money than some seniors on Social Security but it all goes for booze and drugs for him and his buddies. This guy is also one of the most disgusting pigs out there as far as making a mess for everyone else to clean up.

Either you get the check and spend it for food and shelter or you go to the shelter, not both. What suckers we are.

Why on earth would you state that he isn't an accurate historian then quote him on positive and negative statements about businesses?

perpetual cycle wrote:

Why on earth would you state that he isn't an accurate historian then quote him on positive and negative statements about businesses?

And we trust the current company CEO's to quote accurate information? Maybe we should start listening to these guys when it comes to business forecasting.

o.m.g, it just breaks my heart to know that people can be so cruel to homeless people! its a hard world, and if people cant help a little now and then our world is going to get harder, and one day i think were all going to need help, please just be kind and generous if you can.it really does make a diffrence in there lives!

This is a sad situation. We need to help teens understand that you can't harass people less fortunate or different then you. Imagine if the teens(and others) who harass the homeless would insted wave and say hi. I'm not saying be best friends with a total stranger, but a little compassion and courtsy goes a long way in this world!

Yikes!
We live in a house and have a wood stove for heat. We have scraped and saved and TOTALLY went/go without luxuries. I routinely wear multiple layers of clothes through out the day in order to save the fire wood for when my husband and children come home.
These homeless(POS)‘things’ have ALL KINDS OF ALTERNATIVES and choose to do 'what they do'. Which is NOTHING!
Knock off the stupid, pathetic, bleeding LIBERAL heart crap and make these useless pieces of crap be responsible for their freakin government checks!!!
You last two posters "how sad" where are you and why don't you open your home to mister 'homeless'?
You people make me SICK!
Get the Fck a job and knock it the fck off! You brought it on your self, and if not, there are a multitude of 'HELP' groups out there for you from our friendly, deluded, liberal fcks that try to take from us that DO and give to those who DON'T.
Screw you and enjoy the wet, cold freaking winter you losers!!!!!!!!!

And by the by, I live in Ukiah. Don't be an idiot and chastise me for being an 'out of towner' due to my ISP' address.
Fools, all.

anonymous wrote:

This is a sad situation. We need to help teens understand that you can't harass people less fortunate or different then you. Imagine if the teens(and others) who harass the homeless would insted wave and say hi. I'm not saying be best friends with a total stranger, but a little compassion and courtsy goes a long way in this world!

help teens? sounds like some bad seeds who need to be put down I mean burning a guys beard sounds to me like they cross the line between prank and down right cruelty.dont get me wrong this guy shouldnt get a cent if hes not willing to put forth effort snd not have booze on his breath

Time to reward the people that do it right. That means all the good loving, tax paying citizens. Personally, I could care less how he eats, what he wears, where he sleeps (as long it's not in front of my business or house) and what kind of dog he's dragging around Ukiah. Get a flippin job goofy and quit leaning on me and my neighbor.
PS: He should be arrested for stealing shopping carts and causing the lettuce to do up in price at the grocery having to pay for another stolen cart.

If you all only knew the actual burden Henke poses on society. Substance abuse is what is casuing all of this. He would have a nice an warm place to stay, but he chooses to drink instead. There are transitional housing programs available but he would have to stay sober. Most of these apartments that are used end upbeing a hang out for local homeless to party. He is homeless by choice!!! He chooses to drink and party all day and then complains about being cold and getting set on fire. Maybe he should nto drink to the point where he passes out. Look at what the homeless population has done our communit. There are people sleeping in the doors to businesses, trash and human feces everywhere. No wonder why the only people that want to move into our community are dope growers, what person in their right mind would want to bring there family here. It is time for county to stop offerring all of the services. If we cut them off they will go to another county and it will noe be our problem and then maybe the entire county workforce will not have to take days off without pay to help the budget. Tal about irony if you work for a living you get punished to make sure there is enough money for the homeless guy to buy his beer and knick knacks at teh dollar store. Is this for real????

have any of you ever met Erick? i've talked to him on numerous occasions; believe me, there's very little chance of him being able to get a job. whether it's due to mental illness or the effects of drugs &/or alcohol i don't know. that said, he's always been polite to me and seems like a soft soul.

do i agree with his choices? no

do i think there should be checks and balances in the manner in which people are given support funding? possibly

but then again, there's lots of choices i don't agree with, and i'm probably not the only one; think about that, and what you stand to lose if someone decided they weren't happy with your choices.

I know Erik personally and he is a very sweet and caring man. His mental issues are his main problem, which are not helped by Mendocino Counties failing mental health system. I've shared a drink with him on multiple occasions and he can have the most intelligent, insightful conversations and then switch to anger and babble.

Erik is one of many homeless individual who are caught in the trap of "beyond poverty". They have no address, no place to bath, sleep, eat and no where near enough money to get one, even with his monthly check, which by the way, isn't that much, because he didn't work enough in his life.

People like him should not be put down for their circumstances, even if they choose to drink. Many people out there drink...to excess...but they are lucky enough to have a home to go to and a job to support their habit.

Anyone who wants to put him down should try and walk a mile in his shoes....I bet you couldn't or more honestly, wouldn't want to.

Judge not, lest you be judged.

Why is it Erik can't make it on the "free" money he gets and yet many seniors live off it each month and manage to make ends meet? My heart goes out to the seniors who have worked hard all their lives and then get very little to live on but they struggle and manage as best they can. They have their priorities in order, home, food, heat, medical care. If Erik chooses drinking over the comforts of a place to live and warm food that is his choice, don't cry for more when "we the working people" are being taxed to death to support many just like Erik. Mendocino County is a "Welfare Wonderland" and these people know it. What is really disturbing is going into the Dr. office or hospital and having to pay a deductible and co-pay because you work and have insurance and then have one of these people come in and get the same service for free. The same applies to the people migrating here from across the border, and it again is "us the working people" who pay.I don't have the answers on how or what to do to fix this mess but the working person can not be expected to support these people when the majority of them won't help themselves.

I don't know Eric. I have served him dinner at Plowshares. He is polite and thankful. This man is a Vet. we owe him for his service. He probably became drug addicted and a little dingy serving his nation.
I would rather live in an area with a needy, crazy homeless man than with some of the cold-hearted posters on this thread.
Teach your teenagers to be kind.
There but for the grace of god goes you or I.

Works for a living wrote:

Why is it Erik can't make it on the "free" money he gets and yet many seniors live off it each month and manage to make ends meet? My heart goes out to the seniors who have worked hard all their lives and then get very little to live on but they struggle and manage as best they can. They have their priorities in order, home, food, heat, medical care. If Erik chooses drinking over the comforts of a place to live and warm food that is his choice, don't cry for more when "we the working people" are being taxed to death to support many just like Erik. Mendocino County is a "Welfare Wonderland" and these people know it. What is really disturbing is going into the Dr. office or hospital and having to pay a deductible and co-pay because you work and have insurance and then have one of these people come in and get the same service for free. The same applies to the people migrating here from across the border, and it again is "us the working people" who pay.I don't have the answers on how or what to do to fix this mess but the working person can not be expected to support these people when the majority of them won't help themselves.

please refer to the several posts prior to yours indicating that Erick suffers from mental illness; i can't imagine he could even get a job, much less hold one, and his condition/history/problems would likely preclude him from any sort of rental housing. i agree his choices are poor, but he is suffering from more than his poor choices

T don't know what sort of disability he collects. If it's social security disability the dollars awarded are based on what is paid into it over a workers lifetime. So it isn't your tax money. It's much easier to judge, condem, and flush those with less than you than be judged yourself. It's ok to be sick if it doesn't have to do with the the organ you think with. Many of those posting in here have compassion until it spoils the view while driving down the streets. I cut this guy more slack than than the wall street greed weasels who are way too smart for you to formulate any meaningful judgement. Who costs you more in this life, this guy or one of those guys?

to tell the truth wrote:

I don't know Eric. I have served him dinner at Plowshares. He is polite and thankful. This man is a Vet. we owe him for his service. He probably became drug addicted and a little dingy serving his nation.
I would rather live in an area with a needy, crazy homeless man than with some of the cold-hearted posters on this thread.
Teach your teenagers to be kind.
There but for the grace of god goes you or I.

I have relatives and friends who have served our country in every war since the Korean War. They are Vets. In my opinion, 4 months in the Navy doesn't give you much credibility with the "Vet Card".

If he's such a good guy and some of you are "friends", why isn't he staying with you. Oh that's right, he's one of those friends from far away. Let someone else deal with him.
I know plenty of real "vets" and I wouldn't qualify him as one.

Downsth wrote:

If he's such a good guy and some of you are "friends", why isn't he staying with you. Oh that's right, he's one of those friends from far away. Let someone else deal with him.
I know plenty of real "vets" and I wouldn't qualify him as one.

Hope he's not reading this....Oh wait, he's not.