When people think of homeless, certain stereotypes quickly come to mind. The dirty bums sleeping in downtown doorways at night, the beggars in parks that smell of alcohol, the leftovers of society.
That used to be true. Those definitions need to be changed and updated. A homeless person could be the worker in the next cubical or student at school. The federal official definition of “Homeless person, child or youth” is an individual who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime place of abode.
Homeless covers a wide range of living conditions nowadays. That person couch surfing at your neighbors is homeless. So is that person living in their car, even if by choice. Homeless is not just those on living on the streets or in a shelter.
They say the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That statement nowadays is pretty close to the truth. Middle class seems to be fading away. As a nation we are falling more and more into debt with spending out of control. Goods and services get more expensive and our culture pushes us into craving what we don’t have. Come on do you really need that DVD entertainment system in your SUV? Or that SUV? The average time people keep a car is three years and time for a new one.
Meanwhile you lost your job. After a few months the bills are still there but the income is not. Now you are in danger of being homeless. That is unless you are really well off. The common belief is to save 10% of your income for a rainy day. Most cannot. Suze Orman says to have eight months saved. Again, most cannot. But even the more well off are in danger now. It just may take a little longer. You go to friends and they are helpful at first but they soon start to shun you. You start to become stressed and worried.
There are two basic reasons society does not like the homeless. One as mentioned above is we are scared because we are close to it ourselves and to acknowledge it would be accepting its possibility. Secondly, the numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. It does not show our society in a real good light. It shows our failure as a society in a whole.
Being homeless is a real problem for our culture. Homeless breeds being invisible, your existence is ignored in droves. You become isolated and cut off from most social activities of housed people and worse there is an implied age regression. Many of the people the homeless have to deal with to get out of homelessness treat you as a child, and probably a rather slow child.
There are many faces of homelessness now. The mentally ill that for no fault of their own have been dumped there for lack of resources. The alcoholics and drug users who cannot keep a home and resist trying to get better. The people who, for various reasons, as a life choice prefer to be homeless.
Lastly are the transitionally homeless, whether it is a few days or years. Even some of our favorite movie stars have fallen into this category. These are people who become homeless due to various situations and will eventually work their way out. If they are allowed. The majority are too long out of a job or just getting back on their feet. Some of the working poor are in this category. There are lots of reasons people become homeless, these are just a few.
Transitional homeless is hard enough by itself without the added pain of self esteem loss. If you are truly homeless, that is long term with no prospects of getting out; you can get different kinds of aid and shelters if you want. If you work, have a decent car or have a future you are left to the wolves. Imagine working but not able to get a place to stay. Since you work you probably make more money than agencies cutoffs so you can’t get assistance. And down your esteem goes faster than the Titanic.
Case in point. Susan was laid off her job then became ill. The bills ran up and the money ran out so she soon put her stuff in storage and moved into her car. She discovered along the way that there were numerous people in her storage building doing the same. They use storage as their closets. When the weather became cold she went to the place in the city that gives homeless women a place to sleep for the night. She had to be there at 6 pm to wait her turn. There were limited beds available so she had a meal they always had and sat to wait her turn. There was only one shower and a chance for six women to have one. There was up to 60 or 70 women there each night. But 9:30 pm either all were given a place to stay or were turned away.
Susan was lucky; a church in the city let around 20 women stay there at night. A pad on the floor and two blankets for each. Finally asleep at 11 pm, it was a quick sleep until out the door after 6 in the morning. Since she had a car she went to an out of the way place for a little more sleep. Spent the day looking for a job and a meal somewhere.
Other women aren’t so lucky, back on the street before most get up for work they look for a place to keep warm until some day shelters open up. This goes on every day. Soon you get tired from the stress of being homeless. You can’t relax.
Susan got on a waiting list for a semi-permanent shelter. She could stay up to six months. This was very rare she later found out. You could come in at 7 pm but had to leave by 10 am. There was always snack food to eat and sometimes light meals were served.
She needed this shelter very bad. She had gotten a stressful job in an industry she was good at. A career job, similar to her previous work. Susan was always tired at work. At the church she had to get up at 4:30 am to get to work. Lack of sleep quickly took its tool. After work she would sleep in her car until she had to be in line at 6 pm. Very rarely was she able to take a shower so she would show up at work and clean up in the bathroom. After moving into the shelter, she could finally sleep and shower daily.
Due to the need for a security clearance her job soon ended because she was she had no home. She lived in a shelter, she was considered a security risk.
She eventually worked her way out but the damage to her credit, her self-esteem and her career were permanent. In retrospect, she had wished the agencies could have helped more but their hands were tied because she wasn’t totally destitute at the time.
She is just one story out of many. This needs to end.