How does one know what's really going on?

Mar 14, 2018 9:10:52 GMT -5 robeiae said:

Here's a human interest piece at the LA Times about a UC Berkeley student (Ismael Chamu) who--along with his family--is close to being homeless, from a few days ago:

www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-uc-berkeley-homeless-student-20180311-htmlstory.html

The family is living in a crappy mobile home they are apparently renting (more on that),  largely because housing is so unaffordable in the Bay area. It seems like a pretty good piece about a young man doing whatever he has to do to make it. 

But shortly after the piece came out, this happened: abc7news.com/realestate/uc-berkeley-student-evicted-from-hayward-trailer/3208429/

As of Wednesday morning, the family is without even the sub-par roof over their heads.

The homeowners are evicting them. They didn't want to be identified, but the so-called landlords told ABC7 News they agreed to let Chamu live in their trailer for two weeks as a favor to a friend at church.

They said it's been nearly three months and he's never paid rent.

Chamu claims he is paying rent, the owners say he is not. Who to believe? It's tough, because after the initial piece went up, it had to be edited to note Chamu's trouble with the law: www.berkeleyside.com/2017/07/14/uc-berkeley-student-arrested-suspicion-hate-crime-vandalism

So again, who to believe? Is this guy just doing what he has to do to survive, or is he actively using people, is he also a criminal?

The internet, of course, can go to both extremes with ease--from a saint to a villain--and with respect to the former, there is this: www.dailycal.org/2018/03/13/youcaring-page-homeless-uc-berkeley-student-raises-75k/

Chamu, whose story was reported by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, has struggled with his family to make ends meet in recent months. After the article was published, a YouCaring page called “Help Ish’s Family Find a Home” was created with a $75,000 goal to raise money to buy food, secure housing and obtain school supplies for his family.

The page has been shared more than 3,000 times on social media and has received $77,765 as of press time.

Thoughts?

Very hard to say in this particular instance. Maybe he's paying the landlords something, but not what they want for rent. Dude has to eat. Maybe he was arrested but that doesn't mean he's guilty.

I think most people would be surprised at how many kids are homeless yet still go to school, even get great grades. My foster kids have been homeless. The oldest one that lives with us graduated in top ten % of her class and got into a top 50 school with full scholarship. Technically, because they're unofficial foster kids (Not placed through the state) her status is probably considered homeless by the school. Her older sister doesn't live with us, but her school allows her to stay in the dorm between semesters. She stays with us here and there.

There's a program through out local high school that deals with this. We went to a ceremony over the summer. About a dozen kids considered homeless, yet maintain averages of 80% or better. My 2 foster daughters are much higher. like 99%. Foster son hovers between 80-90%, but we're on him about that.)

So it wouldn't surprise me that a young person might get into a school like Berkley and yet be in such a position at all.

I mean, Hannah maintained her GPA despite everything she went through, was shelters at some point, was in a trailer at the end, no water or electricity. (That's when they ended up with us) Early years spent in a religious cult. Grades never fell below 95%. She's freaking awesome.

So it doesn't surprise me at all. And even if the kid did something he shouldn't have done, that doesn't mean the rest is untrue.