Slum Lord or Just Plain Slow?

Broken-FurnaceThis article is for those people who might have a few questions concerning tenants rights, ethical behavior and basic human rights; as well as, what it means to have those rights violated as far as law.

My husband, daughter and I just moved into a new place at the beginning of the year, and for lack of better words the experience has been trying and draining. For one thing moving in the cold for some people would be a turn off. However, for us the cold weather has proved to be an excellent factor in our seeing the condition of the stead, that is, things that might have not been known until later were brought forward.

First, there is need to realize that ignorance plays a huge part in what property managers get away with and for how long. When I say ignorance, prospective tenants who are not aware of the ins and outs of what to look for  in their properties, or about the business of doing your own inspection of the property to look past good looks, more space, new countertops and new carpet. Hence, these, though eye-catching for renters need to be at the end of the list as far as move-in readiness of the property.

America’s constitution pronounces, “Life, Liberty and pursuit of happiness.” Therefore, most Americans have the freedom to choose where they want to live. Accordingly, no one is happy when some have spent their money to move only to find that though they want your money they do not care to spend money so that you can live happily, or at least with the liberty to be happy.

Abraham Maslow developed a theory concerning the basic of human needs saying that people are most motivated when certain needs are met.

They are: (a) physiological, (b) safety, (c) love, and (d) esteem all these which one must have and which lead to a self actualization. It is the case that without these people cannot be motivated. In this we discuss safety because we are speaking about housing.  Therefore, people feel safe and are safe when they have adequate shelter. That means, when a home is  purchased or renting of  a dwelling that the shelter is not substandard, that is, the roof is good, the air and heating is working, as well as the plumbing.

Subsequently, some have been taken aback to find that once they moved in all hell has broken loose. In our case, what happened is the heat stopped working in the dead of winter and temperatures well below 30 degrees, so that even with a fire going the place was cold. What has happened over the last few days has been a nightmare. I finally, after not being taken seriously had to call code compliance.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe that stereotypes have played a part, because nothing about my speech says education I look like a typical black female, sound like a typical black female which means that I am not well versed, or rather, pro-perrr in speech. I jest here, but my landlords may have taken that to mean uneducated, and here I set with a Bachelor degree and near finished with a Master. Big mistake for them, because needless to say I know more than what I might look like. Moreover, I have rented before but it is a far cry from housing and HUD to actually house hunting on one’s own.

For you, here are a few tips. Always make sure that the property has been properly inspected.

1. Check the attic to make sure that it is properly insulated, especially, those homes older and with cathedral ceilings.

2. If you have a fireplace, before move in ask to start a fire, or, ask for inspection of the fireplace.

3. Make sure that plumbing is working. If the water is off, ask them to turn it on to check that the toilets flush and there are no leaks. One place we had already paid our deposit when it was found that the last tenants had poured cement and cut electrical wiring.

4.Make sure the lights are working everywhere. Some places have the electric connected for tenant viewings already.

5. Water heater. One of the things that happened here is that our water heater was working but sprung a leak. Come to find upon the inspection of the heater that it  was manufactured in 1988. This is 2015 can you imagine? That water heater was tired.  Luckily it was a slow leak and thanks to our grandson’s incessant complaints about his wet socks we were spared our carpet being ruined.

6. Keep written record of events, emails, pictures and phone calls requesting maintenance

For more information concerning Tenant Rights and Landlord Responsibility you can visit your city’s Code Compliance or Enforcement site or call.

Watch:  Tenants Rights for Safety

Futuristic Analysis for War on Drugs Proves Positive for Drug Users in Texas

drug testIt’s been a long time coming to stop the rampant drug use which devastates the public welfare system in Texas; and to thwart it Senate gives thumbs up for Drug Testing for Temporary Aid to Needy Families.

TANF, as the program is known became effective July 1, 1997 to replace Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which had been in effect since 1935.

The problem is not with the program itself; although many tax payers are of the mind that some are abusing the program and with good reason. As past years dictate, changes were brought forth by former President Bill Clinton who gave a time limit of 5 years for those who received the help. Notably, many who were eligible were thus so for years under old law.

According to statistics, the new more effective program, provides poor people with money for food, clothing, housing and other basic needs, distributes about $90 million to more than 100,000 Texans annually. The amount of the payment depends on family size and income.

One would be tempted to believe that the goal of the testing would be more concerned with people’s drug usage, rather than people not working. It is the premise that unless people can stop drug use they might not be fit to work. However, this is not the idea of the testing with regards to those who get aid.

According to a quote by Bill sponsor Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, stating, “”Taxpayer money should not be used to subsidize someone’s drug habit,” and she states further, “”We’re not only going to help them get off drugs, “We’re going to help them get a job.”

With this thought in mind; that is, many people on drugs will be homeless, hungry, and most certainly increased employment efforts.

Consequently, a brief glimpse at crime rise; as well as, more people entering treatment facilities and shelters across the region.

It could be really a taxing situation all around.

Read More: Texas Senate approves drug testing for some welfare applicants

 

Watch: Gov. Perry, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Call for Drug Screening for TANF, UI Applicants

 

The Genocide of Black America, Hebrews

Watch: The Black Genocide (Maafa21)

Your Sunday Bread: The House of Israel

Three people in chains, probably somewhere in ...

Three people in chains, probably somewhere in East-Africa. The total number of slaves in early twentieth-century Ethiopia is estimated at between 2 and 4 million in a total population of about 11 million. “#v=onepage&q=&f=false Women and Slavery: Africa, the Indian Ocean world, and the medieval north Atlantic”. Gwyn Campbell, Suzanne Miers, Joseph Calder Miller (2007). Ohio University Press. p.219. ISBN 082141724X (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ladies and Gentlemen, some of us have been running all our lives trying to fit in with the status quo, longing to be like someone else and even taking on their customs not knowing who we are. Here we are trying to live holy and walk a righteous path mimicking people because we have no root, no stability, no justice.

Justice has come.

Yah says it’s time to come out from among them. We are walking toward newness of life, even now the weight has been lifted just knowing that now we have our identity back. To those who listen this is a powerful message to let you know that Yahweh has not forgotten one hair on your heads.

Speaking of heads…I was led to Matthew 26, where Mary came to where Yeshua was having supper and poured the ointment on his head…this is significant because in this instance…she without knowing it was anointing him for his burial.

How many know that without their HEAD people die, and so it is in this instance that she (the one accused of adultery) was THE CHOSEN to do this wonderful work for the Messiah. Praise Yah everybody your blessing has come. (v. 7, 12)

The oil once poured on the HEAD ran down to his BODY( ye are the chosen and his BODY). Moreover, in saying that ye are his body we seek a more definitive answer for body to get clear vision which notes:

“Body:is used of a (large or small) number of men closely united into one society, or family as it were; a social, ethical, mystical body” (Strongs, 2012).

In a greater translation the body can also be considered in comparison as slaves. This is interesting, because in society a slave has always been considered subservient.

English: The Hunted Slaves

English: The Hunted Slaves (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here we have in the beginning of text a women considered subservient, chosen to anoint the head; that is the Mashyach with oil which flows down to the body who for all purposes are slaves?

Here is a powerful explanation says the Most High. In Revelations 18, we see this, “And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.” (v.13).

The text is speaking of those things considered a commodity by those in gentile rule, all this that have made them rich. Slaves are among them…people and souls of men.

You are an expensive commodity but still considered subservient in the eyes of those who sold you…but God, When I look at the definition of slave…it led me to:
“that which casts a shadow as distinguished from the shadow itself” (Strongs, 2012)

That shadow found in Psalm 91, the secret place.

Watch: Let My People Alone

IS THE NATION IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY, TEXAS WORKS

English: U.S. map with counties labeled by FIP...

English: U.S. map with counties labeled by FIPS code according to the average 2008 unemployment rate at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.[ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/la/laucnty08.txt] 1.2–3% 3.1–4% 4.1–5% 5.1–6% 6.1–7% 7.1–8% 8.1–9% 9.1–10% 10.1–11% 11.1–13% 13.1–22.9% (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Unemployment is a sore subject all over the United States; however, in the state of Texas the numbers of those unemployed show a vast improvement from previous years, and while America might seem to be sinking fast as far as jobs are concerned many Texas residents are finding light at the end of a long dark tunnel.
An October 2012, press release issued by the United States Department of Labor Bureau gave evidence of the shift in unemployment.
The Press Release notes:
Unemployment rates were lower in October than a year earlier in 329 of the 372 metropolitan areas, higher in 37 areas, and unchanged in 6 areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Three areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 41 areas registered rates of less than 5.0 percent. Two hundred eighty-eight metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in non farm payroll employment, 80 reported decreases, and 4 had no change. The national unemployment rate in October was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 8.5 percent a year earlier.”
According to Bureau statistics, the number of citizens in Texas who were unemployed in 2002 was 600,000 which is 6% of the labor force. Additionally, there were 800,000 people unemployed in 2012 which records an increase of 6.5% in comparison.
Further notes indicate locally there were more than 12,000,000 people registered to work in 2012 compared to over 10,000,000 in 2002. Moreover, in 2002 the number of those employed was just over 10,000,000; while in, 2012 there was a notable increase to more than 11,000,000 people registered which conveys a marked increase for those in the job search market.
For more Statistics: Click Here

Checking in: Health Reform across the country

Checking in: Health Reform across the country

Real stories of someone who needed the help

Watch:

9th Ward: Minimal Media Help, Maximum Tourism Coverage

Hurricane Katrina, was perhaps, the most devastating and deadly natural occurrence known to the United States at least to those who suffered through it and who lived to tell about it. Who can forget the lines of people waiting for relief to come?

The infants without milk; or the elderly without medical attention, those who died waiting, those who slept in a stadium with without proper sanitation for such a large amount of people, and those relieving themselves wherever and whenever possible; a stench so horrid, the stench of rape, the stench of a people seemingly forgotten.

In my neighborhood even though there are leash laws which protect animals from harm, and while there is protection for these animals facing neglect there is even less help when it comes to media attention on some issues troubling man. Hence, the way I see it; the media is a “Watchdog” chained.

When I say chained; I mean, although they are supposed to put an eye out for wrongdoing in the government which is designed to help the citizens they do for some, but for others they turn a blind eye. Although, Katrina was a national, even worldwide disaster; what people still ask, and what people still wonder is what took the government so long to help those people?

Perhaps, there is something shady going on within the news industry, because one executive said of his station that news is what he says it is. I say, if this thinking is embedded in the industry as a whole it is no wonder; then that, issues go unnoticed, unheard, and ignored by the media.

The media as the Fourth Estate was originally included with the three class statuses: upper, middle and lower. I believe they were originally called the First, Second, and Third Estate; all, which were government intertwined. In other words, the government ran them and decided who got what and where they got it from; if anything during the Medieval Period. Probably, they included the media because they could stir trouble for an ill or poorly run country. With that in mind, the U.S., established the “Fourth Branch” of government and set the media as watchdog to guard them and keep them honest; however, the media is a “watch dog chained.”

New Orleans was hard hit and ravished by what we thought was Hurricane Katrina. However, evidence and eye witnesses have determined that this is not the case. News updates first reported that the levees which held waters to the great Mississippi River collapsed, but someone living nearby called the news stations to report hearing a series of explosions before the flood came, and after the storm had passed.

In the article “Levees Blown Say Eyewitnesses – Media Ignores Them,” Greg Szymanski says this:

“Eye witnesses are starting to come forward, some only a block away from the 17th St Canal levee break, saying they heard a loud, powerful explosion right before water starting gushing in, as they ended up in a matter of minutes floating downstream on their rooftops.”

“Terry Adams, who lives one block away from the 17th St. break, remembers hearing what sounded “like a bomb going off” from where the levee gave-way before rushing water forced him to his rooftop. “Everything was calm, it was late at night, and the storm had passed. I thought we had dodged a bullet and there was no water in my house and I was only a block away from the 17 th St. break,” said Adams, a lower 9th Ward resident, in an extended conversation this week from New Orleans.

“Then I heard what sounded like a bomb go off from the direction of where the levee gave-way and within a matter of minutes I was forced up on my roof where I floated for about a mile into town before somehow getting to safety.”

“Asked if he was sure he heard an explosion, he added: “Water breaking a levee isn’t going to make the noise I heard and besides, the levee should have broke before or during the storm, not afterward. “I heard an explosion and so did a lot of other people. It came right from where the levee broke. What else could it have been but somebody blowing up the levee?”

None of this was ever reported on the news; despite repeated calls to news stations, and it should be noted that today, although some residents still have not been given the call to go home; city officials allow tours through the ruins of what once was someone’s home.

According to the article, “Katrina victims take on hurricane tour operators”, a Fox8 News reporter says this: “About 9 million people visit New Orleans each year, mostly to see its stately homes along oak-lined avenues, dine at its renowned restaurants and take in the jazz and ribaldry of Bourbon Street. But Katrina’s devastation in August 2005 unleashed an unexpected cottage tourism industry, drawing a daily parade of rubbernecking tourists for a close-up look at the city’s hard-hit Lower 9th Ward.”

The article states further that officials “Worried that a flood of tour buses and vans would interfere with clean-up efforts, the City Council approved an ordinance in 2006 banning them from crossing the prominent Industrial Canal entering the neighborhood that received Katrina’s fury.” “Now, tour operators are crying foul, claiming the ordinance had been thinly enforced until recently.” They say a business that is bringing them and the city tourist dollars is being hurt.”

To see more on the tours: Click Here

To read more of the Levee Explosions: Click Here 

  • Watch:Hurricane Katrina: The Drive: New Orleans Lower 9th Ward

Something Else the Government Can’t Fix, Welfare Reform Starts in the Mind

I want to scream, because of the anguish I feel inside right now for my people; not only in America, but in Africa as well. I often find myself wondering what life would have been like for me had not I been born in America; if my ancestors had not been kidnapped from their homes and villages. What; I think, would be my name?

I would undoubtedly be somebody totally different had I been born there; had slavery never taken place. However, this thought is wishful thinking. Dreams and visions of a forest life, far away from life in a nation which can sometimes be so callous towards their own.

Black people have had a rough time here and still do, but now some of it is our own fault; because we have become beggars in our right. Instead of  kings and queens we have become paupers, beggars and borrowers waiting a on a handout; it is time to move on from that, but some of us are too heavy to carry and too paralyzed to carry ourselves.

Can we continue to blame it on the white people? The answer might surprise those who feel as if they too carry a burden too hard. It is difficult to comprehend when you have not the experience of being there. I cannot remember a time in life that someone I know has not needed help at some point in life; however, it is the thought that although help might be needed, is it really the case that we stay there?

This post is more for my brothers and sisters who want out than for anyone else reading now. It is not the case that all do not need to break free, but that all are not ready yet. There are people, both men and women who are praying for a better way of life other than government issued benefits and those are the ones who need this encouragement.

I want to say that it is not the case that prayers have not been answered, but it is that prayers might have been hindered. I cannot say that help is not available; I cannot say that people don’t care, because they do. Maybe not in the way of taking people by the hand but by offering the programs in the first place, and we must understand that no one is going to do any more than they have already put it out there. It is up to us to go get it.

More than going to get it, because some have gotten and continue to get and are in the same frame of mind as at the start; so, what is the problem?

The problem is that:

1) Someone doesn’t know any better, because their parents lived this way, and so do they; hence there is no exposure to something new.

2) Someone sees this thing as a way to get what they can get “free,” doesn’t matter what it is they want it, and will put in a day’s work to get those things which are free. This includes long lines, the drudgery of monthly forms, people prying into your personal life asking very personal questions about everyone in the house. It is not the case that this person will not lie to get that thing free.

3) Someone is lazy, don’t want anything.

4) Someone wants out, has the exposure, but its taking time so they still receive the help. They are educating themselves and taking advantage of every means available to them to move to another level in their mind and circumstance.

5) Someone works but doesn’t make enough money still, but even here there is a tendency not to reach for better.

Notably, #1, 4, can be helped if they reach out, but sadly, when someone hasn’t gotten up to go seek someone will not find it. In the case of all the above examples the government; along with the benefits offers help for school and daycare, jobs, now phones, but if there is no seeking, no asking then there is no help. In reality it requires an awakening. The fourth individual is at the place in their mind where they take “advantage” of the programs offered with the mind of self-empowerment. It’s all in the mind.

I was on a class field trip once and on the van I was riding with a bunch of guys; not only guys but young white guys, a Hawaiian, and my professor who my age. There were other women, but somehow I was the only female with all these men. At 48 years old, here I was, as old as my instructor and on bus full of kids just out of high school; or not far from it.

Somehow the conversation went to the discussion of women on welfare. I know now that it was the place I needed to be, because I had no clue to what people really thought about the women who receive help. Mind you this was no short trip so what I heard I could not run from it; nor could I turn it off. I was forced to sit there and listen to their version of how  Women on Welfare give me the blues.

The Hawaiian guy was very passionate about his lack of desire to put money in the pot for women who don’t choose carefully their children’s fathers. What he said was an eye opener for me because he felt that these women sleep with bums, losers who have no intention of doing anything; except use the women. Moreover, he asks, why does he have to continue to pay for children who are not his? He goes on to say that it; literally pisses him off when he gets his check and he doesn’t have enough money to buy groceries and he sees women loading their baskets with junk, or the baby daddy, boyfriends putting food in and when they get to the register out comes the old EBT card. Conversely, he stated, that he has to suffer when he is sick because there is little money for doctor’s visits and then he has to pay for children; again, not his.

“It’s not fair,” he added,” that me and my wife have no children but have to pay out for someone else’s”.

Wow! I sat there and could barely breath, what could I say to that; isn’t he right? That some of us, Ladies, just keep having baby after baby without a thought of how we will take care of them. Or with the thought that this is more money on my check? I nearly cried when I heard it from someone else.

Now, the intention of this note is not to bash, but to bring awareness of how this thing looks to some people.

Are you really trying to help yourself out of poverty; or, laying down day after day with no way to feed yourself, no plan of action. If you’re not there yet, haven’t even thought about your life; please consider what this means for you. Ask yourself: What if tomorrow or even a year from now they stop all this; what will I do? This should be a consideration the next time a letter comes from the food stamp office or the welfare office sends you a letter to go to find work, or attend a class. Go to school; learn so that your kids can at least know that they can do better. If you don’t know how to read, learn now.

If you just can’t do better that’s one thing, but if you are manipulating, and lying; nobody will suffer more in the end than you. It’s not too late get up! You can do it!

I hope this has helped someone; at least I am encouraged. I want those who feel bad about what’s being said on the news and who watched that video with the woman excited about the free phone to know that you are more valuable than “250 minutes a month”. At least I think so.

Take courage.

Watch: Obama phone Lady

Victimless Crimes? No Seat Belt Rules

 Texas Government can require and enforce that all its citizen “click it or ticket” and they mean it! During a Thanksgiving holiday my husband, daughter, and I were on our way to the store to shop, and we were pulled over for what appeared to be our not wearing seat belts.

My husband has a 1975 GMC truck which doesn’t have shoulder straps, they are lap belts; and needless to say that we have gotten pulled over on other occasions as well, one being the night before our wedding.

Can they force us to wear them? No, but they can force a hefty fine if we are found to be guilty of not wearing them, but in our case we were not; although our being stopped is not fun. I can imagine that all those tickets are a good incentive to wear them. “Living in a state that requires you to buckle up evidently has a positive impact.

Adults who live in states where a cop can pull you over if he sees you’re not wearing a seat belt are about 10% more likely to do so (88% compliance according to the CDC report), than those living in states that don’t have such a law on the books.”

The argument for the enforcement of seat belts says, “that it is for the good of everyone, but “House Bill 99-1212, which makes driving or riding in a car without a seat belt into quote: primary quote: traffic offense, is yet another attempt to control peoples decisions about risk taking.”

Compliance of the car seat law then can be seen as the same as me wearing a seat belt, I feel that the kids need to be safe from harm as well. Why would I be in a belt and the baby bouncing around about the car and risk harm of being killed while I live?

In May I was at making a right turn when  my car was struck by another vehicle; my daughter, grandson and I were less than a mile from home. I always wear my seat belt and make anyone in the car wear theirs. Fortunately, we lived; however, others are not so fortunate.

Life is too precious to place it in the hands of chance. Seat belts save lives.

Buckle Up!
Source:

CDC: Adult seat belt use at all-time high

Mandatory Seat Belt Laws Cause Dangerous Driving, and Invade Privacy

Public and Mental Health: Alcohol and the Family

The ideal of successful achievement as alleged by worldview says, that if a person has an education then he is worthy and acceptable. Moreover, people would say of  the man or woman who graduated from high school, or who has earned a degree are successful. Joe is a man who lives on the street, and one would wonder how it is that he came to be in that place.

The eyes of society would gather that he is good-for-nothing, lazy, or the scum of the earth. However, they would be surprised to know that Joe was reared by a Christian family, and went to one of the finest private learning institutions in the city. When he graduated high school he attended a prominent college to earn a Degree in Business, and from there went on to work making good money with a reputable company. His future was bright, or so it seemed, because for most he had everything he needed. As society dictates he got married, bought a house and had children. Hence, Joe was living the American Dream. Sadly, life as he once knew it ended years ago, because when I first saw Joe he was one of the people who stand outside the corner store asking for money.

His downfall began; I was told when he started going to happy hour after work with friends. First it was a few drinks to relieve the stress of the day, and then came a day when anything was a reason to drink. Fifteen years have passed and Joe has no job, no wife or family and no hope. Why? Well, Joe is now an alcoholic; however, he is not alone. Many people suffer from the disease of Alcoholism for which the world knows no cure, except when they find a Power Greater than themselves. (as cited by Griffin, 2011)

There are many people like Joe who frequent the streets of America in the throes of Alcoholism. “The drug alcohol is the leader of all drugs found in the United States.” (Mogul, 2012)  The numbers of those who partake of the most coveted of beverages reaches 12 million. Accordingly, there are “three-fourths of all adults who drink which is an average 6 percent of Americans who go on to become fully fledged alcoholics.” (Mogul, 2012) This information is troubling, because to see Joe who looks almost skeletal in appearance one has to wonder where America went wrong. Joe is not the only person who has become a statistic; further estimates show that the youth are at risk which says that those ages 12-20 are binge drinkers. (Mogul, 2012). This assumption adds up considering that Joe was just a little over that age when he graduated college. “Three-fourths of high school seniors report that they have been drunk at least once” which is astounding. (Mogul, 2012)

I was curious about the man I saw there, because contrary to how he looked he had a dash of sophistication about him. It was the way he held his hand to say thank you, and the slight tilt of his head as smiled that drew my attention. I asked around for anyone who knew his plight not wanting to seem disrespectful. Who would believe that this scraggly bearded man with the ragged clothes hanging around corner store asking for coins was once a successful gentlemen, husband and father?  Statistical data is of particular interest here, because it denotes that people with higher education are more likely to drink, and those who have higher income tend to be most affected. Figures show those 5-10 % males, and 3-6% females may be considered alcoholic, according to the National Institutes of Health (as cited by MNT, 2009).

What happened to Joe’s family? Once he started drinking which began as early as 9 a.m. there was no turning back for Joe. He would hide bottles everywhere in the house so that no one would find all them. Thus, when his family thought they had a reign on the illness it seems that the illness got an reign over them once again; Alcoholism is a family disease, and has claimed about seventy more than 70 million Americans. Accordingly,  sources say that the alcoholic family tends to step into roles where the family conveys “the perfect family” to the outside world.

Generally, each member of the family plays a part as in a theater act:

  • “The Caretaker. Usually a parent, this person tends to everyone’s needs in order to maintain appropriate appearances to the outside world.  This person tends to ignore his or her own needs and others cannot bond to the caretaker in the midst of constant bustles of activity.”
  • The Hero.  This role is usually bestowed to the child who excels in academics, arts or athletics.  The hero raises the esteem of the family to compensate for the alcoholic’s behavior.”
  • The Scapegoat.  “The scapegoat is blamed for the family’s problems, deflecting the spotlight from the real problem – the alcoholic.”
  • The Mascot.  This child is the class clown and the most popular member of the family.  His or her role is to provide laughter to a humorless state of affairs.
  • The Lost Child.  “This child disappears from family activities, spending a lot of time watching television or alone in his or her bedroom.  His or her purpose is to be low maintenance and not place any demands on an already taxed family system.”  No role is entirely owned by any particular member of the family. Unfortunately, Joe has not seen his family for years.

Is there help available for the Alcoholic who suffers?

According to Alcoholics Anonymous, the disease is a spiritual one, and is coined by professionals as a “Spiritual Disease.” The authors denotes that the disease characterizes the loss of self with the victim “wasting away, physically, and isolation.”  Help for the Alcoholic is seen in self-help groups, and church where the focus is taken away for self and placed in a Power Greater. The need for a humbled spirit of surrender is foremost for those successful. Hence, finding hope, finding oneself can be seen in giving back, and paying forward to mend shattered and broken relationships.”

There is hope for Joe and others if they believe.

Read: Yo Scapegoat Ain’t Me

Watch: There is hope & life after Alcohol Addiction & Drug Addiction.

Source:

What is an Alcoholic? What is Alcoholism? What is Alcohol Abuse (2009).   

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction a Spirtual Disease. 

Is Alcoholism and Drug Addiction a Spiritual Disease? 

Is Alcoholism Hereditary? 

Learn-About- Alcoholism. 

Alcoholism in the Family.

Signs of Alcoholism.