Homeless In America

Thanks to the housing crisis, the economy, the unemployment rate, etc...in the United States in the past few years, more and more people are ending up homeless.

I ended up homeless after leaving an abusive marriage almost 2 years ago and only recently started getting back on my feet again. I lived in an RV for almost a year and was surprised to find than nearly half of all the people I met on the road were also homeless due to job loss, foreclosure, etc... Many of the people I met who had been displaced and had ended up in campers had children.

My experience with being homeless these last 2 years has shown me that there is a whole invisible homeless population that most people aren't even aware of. We all think of the homeless as street people, runaway teens, bums, etc...but those people only comprise a portion of the total homeless population in America.

A large number of homeless families live in shelters, RVs, their cars, tents or squatting with family or friends until they wear out their welcome. We don't see this homeless population, they are invisible, but they do exist.

During the time I was homeless I lived out of my car, stayed with family members, lived in an RV and even exchanged childcare for a free room to sleep in. The hardest part about being homeless is the constant worry about security. Never knowing where your next meal is coming from, or how long before you wear out your welcome someplace and get asked to leave. Hoping you can find another place to stay before that happens.

I lived out of plastic bins that never got completely unpacked, hoarded food for emergencies and lived in a constant state of depression. As someone who is disabled and as chronic health issues as well as Autism, I have a very limited disability income that just isn't enough to afford to rent even a studio apartment in Minnesota where I live. Rent for even a tiny studio apartment would eat up my entire monthly income and the waiting lists in Minnesota for low income or public housing is years long.

Luckily, I recently moved into a 3 bedroom duplex with my youngest son, his spouse & my grand daughter. I still am paying more than I can really afford for rent, but it is worth it to have some stability in my life again.

Still, I struggle financially. Yesterday my beater car broke down, so now it's in the shop, but I have no idea how I will afford to get it fixed. After years of working good paying jobs with benefits and living in a house in a good neighborhood, my transition into poverty hasn't been easy. Thankfully my kids were adults by the time I lost my job and fell into hard times. I can't even imagine how hard it is for parents with small children who end up homeless.

There is a stigma to being poor and/or homeless in America. People tend to blame you for the events beyond your control that caused you to end up in financial crisis. The government safety nets that used to help people, no longer exist and the few that are left require you to jump through hoops, humiliate & degrade yourself just to get barely enough help to stay poor, but not even close to enough help to climb back out of poverty.

50% of the population of the United States is currently low income or living in poverty with no real hope to ever climb out of it. When will we as a Nation stop blaming the poor for being poor and start actually helping each other succeed?