Homelessness

Imagine what it is like to lose everything you have. Where would you go? How would you get there? What would you eat? Where would you sleep or take a shower or wash the few clothes that you could carry with you?

The plight of the homeless is widespread and spans many different countries. It is an epidemic with no cure visible any time soon. In fact it has gotten much worse this last decade as inflation skyrockets out of control. It affects people of every age, every gender, every race, and every religion or belief system.

There is no easy answer to the problem of homelessness. It appears in the form of people standing on street corners begging for cash or jobs, to the vast spread of tent cities springing up in almost every major city. Homeless shelters in many cities are full to capacity and the system that is in place to help those who need the help the most is failing due to financial insecurities and not enough resources to fit the rising needs of those who are living on the streets.

I was one of the majority of people who avoided looking directly at the problem. I volunteered in a soup kitchen for years, donated to my local shelters and bought a meal or a cup of coffee for the people who approached me looking for help. I didn't see it as a real issue. I was so wrapped up in my own middle class life that I turned a blind eye to the widespread suffering around me.

The issues facing the homeless didn't become a reality to me until I actually wound up being homeless myself. It happened very quickly and quietly. I was happily married, had a job, a car and a nice apartment. Life was good until it wasn't. I lost my health, which led to me losing my husband along with my car, and then my apartment.

I left all my belongings on the sidewalk when I left my home, and walked away with just a small bag of clothes. The next year was a blur of being physically and mentally ill. I was in and out of the behavioral units in a few hospitals, sleeping on friends and family couches in between. I lost almost 80 pounds and eventually wound up with nowhere to go but the shelter. The experience is one I don't care to repeat. I was one of the lucky ones that found my way out.

During my journey, I found out just how broken the system that is in place to help who can't help themselves really is. I saw entire families living in cars in the cold. There were people sleeping on the sidewalk outside the shelters because there was no more space inside. People were eating out of dumpsters. Being homeless rips away every shred of dignity you possess. And, it's not easy to climb back up.

The first step is to find a job to get income to buy a car and rent a space to live. But, employers require an address. How can you show up f0r an interview if you have no address, no car, and no suitable clothes to wear? Housing costs are a totally impossible goal.

Unfortunately, as in my case, the burden of not having a light at the end of the tunnel of homelessness creates a disposition toward addictions and mental illness. There are not any long term plans in place to deal with these issues other than brief stays in behavioral units. Many of the people I met in my travels used this option to get much needed medical help and a short respite from the daily anxieties and discomforts of being out on the streets.

It amazes me that our political system choses to address the homeless issue by literally cleaning up the problem by attempting to move the homeless camps into areas where they cannot be seen. Out of sight is out of mind. Why aren't our potential world leaders making finding homes for their homeless populations a priority? Why isnt the United States in particular finding homes for their own people before they find jobs and homes for people who are flooding our borders?