Restoration projects are a labor of love

I've done a lot of research as I spend my days surfing the net. Besides my fascination with the different classifications of animals, or my interest in websites that support entrepreneurs, I also like to look at real estate and architecture. I think it's amazing how a designer or architect puts various pieces together like a puzzle to come up with a final design. Every choice they make in materials, style, and artistic display has a message of something from history or something modern and new. If I ruled the world, I would not let salvagable houses or buildings get demolished. I would dub them historic and set them up for reconstruction. The house pictured above, set to be demolished in South Carolina, would be restored if it was possible to do so.

While I have mentioned in previous articles that I do not endorse wiping out forests and beaches for new real estate developments, I should now explain what I believe to be a better idea. With Americans suffering from environmental and financial catastrophes (leaving them temporarily homeless) and foreigners who still see America as a place that offers more opportunity and a better standard of living, we (Americans) should always be considering the best plan of action for housing our citizens.

My research of the past four years has included data that I'm not sure can be helpful to the future unless we change our minds about the value of real estate. In Florida, the average price of a house is around $250,000. Average? Even the 3-bedroom house that I grew up in (purchased in 1983 for $50,000) is now selling at that price. Do average Americans really believe they can afford that? That price is not for a mansion or even considered a large house. As I consider what I know about math and what I know about inflation, these numbers are killing our economy and the dream of home ownership for Americans and foreigners who would like to become American.

There are so many ghost towns, abandoned buildings, abandoned malls, abandoned schools, abandoned hotels, and abandoned houses across our very large nation in many states. There is no reason for anyone here to ever be "homeless". We have plenty of land and shelter. We just have to heal from "Corona Virus". We need to open our "hearts" and let love rule again to save our country, our people, and our economy.

What is the purpose and where is the wisdom in a 3 billion dollar mansion sitting on some lot rotting away simply because no one can afford it? What is the purpose of a school building or an old mall building sitting on some lot rotting away simply because no one will invest in it again? I do not believe the answer is demolition. I believe the answer is innovation and restoration.

If jail is not a homeless shelter (and I think I agree with the police on that) then the only way we can continue as Americans to claim that our country has the best standard of living is to construct enough housing that no American would ever call themselves "homeless" upon American territory. Tents are made for camping and exploring beautiful state parks, not for a lost and forgotten American citizen who was rejected from decent shelter or housing.

Education is changing in America. I know this as an educator and a student. The factory style public schools are not popular anymore because bullying and safety issues were not solved there. Americans still love their children and do not want to risk their children's lives in a place where safety isn't gauranteed. Since smaller private schools and tutors and online education is available to any American, there will be more and more public schools closing in the future. The American economy simply can't sustain the budget of 1 million dollars per high school. Since test scores and drop out rates have not assisted in supporting the arguments for the value of public education, there isn't much hope that the system of the past will sustain or remain.

The hope that I have as I am aware that these drastic changes could be seen by my own eyes in my own lifetime, is that the buildings will be put to use to improve our country and eliminate homelessness.

I have stayed at four different homeless shelters in my adult life not including my incarcerations at the hospital mental ward or my short time in jail. I have learned a lot about what it takes to run a successful shelter and what it takes to teach people to live independently. Two of the homeless shelters I stayed at were in Clearwater, Florida. One shelter was in Norfolk, Virginia. The best homeless shelter that I stayed at was The Women's Residence in St. Petersburg, Florida. The best one is no longer there.

The safest place I ever lived was a Housing project building for disabled and retired Americans that was located in Keansburg, New Jersey. I lived there from the end of 2008 to the middle of 2010. Though I only received $900 per month in SSD income, I lived quite comfortably in my studio apartment which only cost me 30% of my income or $300 per month. Here in Clearwater and other cities in Florida, an extended stay hotel costs about $400 per week. Where are American felons or retired Americans or disabled Americans or displaced Americans supposed to live with the rents and mortgages so high and unaffordable?

Today in 2024, 14 years after I left my studio apartment in Keansburg, I have had my SSD increased and now have better healthcare benefits. Yet, I still do not see a path of home safety and independence for people like me. This tragic truth has me recalling a memory of a 10th grade student who was in my English class back in 2001. I was trying to teach them about the Mary Shelley book "Frankenstein" and she interrupted my lesson plan with a very provoking question. "How is this lesson going to help me pay my rent?" she asked me. I was silenced because I knew it was going to take me a long time to have an answer for her.

Here is my answer for that student, even though it has taken me 23 years to come up with.

The books are not going to pay your rent. The math or the poetry is not going to pay your rent. Only our belief in our system and our country can come up with an economy that can help you pay your rent.