How many of you have lived in your car or a shelter or a freeway underpass?

Question

I post this in the Senior Category because I want to understand why so many people seem to have no clue what it is like to be a homeless individual living in the streets & using shelters. This is a serious problem in America for seniors & the disabled (mental & physical).

Have you had any experiences that you would care to share about the emotional side of being homeless?

Did it change you for the good or not?

Did those well-intentioned volunteers who served up your meal in the soup kitchens make you feel like you were a guest at their table or like you were a plague on the face of humanity & they would dish out the food on your plate, yet NEVER dare to dine next to you or eat the same food that they were serving to the homeless?

Until a person has had first hand experience on the other side of the lunch counter at a soup kitchen, then how can they know what it is like to have the tables turned on their perception of reality? Don't just talk to the homeless. Don't just give to the homeless. LISTEN to the stories that they have to share. You will be surprised at what you hear & someday you just might need to ask them for help with something if you find yourself in the streets.

slk29406, I think you have me confused with another user. I have no intentions of writing a book. Others take my words for their own & add their name as author. I'm fine with that. It's all about the communication process & understanding one another that is the most important for this Y/A user!

Answer 1

Once,my brother nearly became homeless,but I think many people cause this on themselves.Many who are homeless are capable of having jobs and homes.Many people are just lazy and want free hand-outs,but don't get me wrong,I do feel sympathy for many of them.Also some of these people are just fakers,pretending so they can get free money.

Answer 2

In our family, we were thrilled to have a roof over our heads and firewood for a stove.

The biggest worry was the next meal.

We ALL worked, from the kids to the adults - to earn a few dollars.

My mother and I lived in a 1937 Ford for a week in about 1953..I was 13. We found a job thinning pears but had to wait a week for a paycheck.

We never accepted welfare or AFDC, as they called it then. We did accept, on occasion, the charity of others. Many charitable organizations would bring 'round boxes of food and canned goods to families in need - if they knew where you were.

But, we ALWAYS worked - no matter what it was. My mother, brother and I took a job knocking down an outhouse, filling in the hole, digging a new one and replacing the shed.

We also hauled furniture in our beat up old car - for 3 cans of Campbell's soup.

My younger brothers all sold newspapers on the street corners, cut grass, shoveled snow. There was no excuse for sitting on the sidewalk begging.....and it never happened.

Answer 3

I lived in my car (a pinto) for a few years when I was a teenager after my mom died. It was really tough. I had a job, but had a hard time getting enough money together to get a place to stay. Plus I had my dog with me and wouldn't give him up, which made it even harder to find a place.
It costs a lot of money to eat because you really have no way to store things or refridgeration. You are forever in a laundramat, coffee house or restaurant drinking cup after cup of coffee in the winter just to spend time someplace warm.
Thankfully I lived in a semi-rural area where you could go down one of the dirt roads and pull off and get a campfire going. There were a few other people I knew at that time that were also living in their cars. Sometimes we would catch up with each other at a spot on these roads and cook our dinners together, sit around the fire and talk, then retire to our cars for the night. I certainly wasn't an easy way to live. And you do learn to appreaciate a lot of things that other people take for granted. Like taking a bath at the end of the day or being able to use an indoor toilet. Or how about sleeping in a nice warm bed?
I don't think anyone realizes what its like. It was probably the worst time in my life, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Because I survived that, I know I can survive anything. I've also learned to empathize more with other people. I guess God has his reasons for everthing that happens to us, even if we don't know what they are at that time.

Answer 4

I have just returned from New York. While I was there, despite lots of advice not to do it, I spent time on a couple of nights, in two different parks talking to homeless people. I listened to their stories and know that this could happen to anyone. I have done the same thing here (London) as well, and as I work as a nurse at times, in a deprived area, I have lots of contact with homeless people who come in just to get warm at times. These are PEOPLE. No-one gets up one morning and says "Today I will become a vagrant" Everyone deserves respect and to be treated with dignity. I know I don't always get it back and have been attacked and verbally abused in my A&E Dept. but self respect comes from respecting others. For the record, not one of the people I spoke to in NY asked for money.

Answer 5

Yes, I lost my apartment, was very ill, ended up in a shelter. It was devastating to me, probably the lowest point in my life. I have always been compassionate, I was amazed at how many women with children were there, how many disabled were there. I immediately started cooking to have something to do. I played with the kids and helped the elderly women. I slept on a cot in the cafeteria since it was overcrowded. I ended up in the hospital with a serious virus. I feel compassion for anyone who has been there. I had no car at the time either making it even more difficult. While I was there, one of the women was murdered, scared the heck out of me. Most people don't realize how many people, with job loss, would be homeless.
We have spoken about this before, my friend, so I do understand your hurt and pain. I admire your courage and look forward to reading your book about the subject, send me a draft when you can. I heard amazing stores as to how these people became homeless and I know that you can teach a lot. Since I made a mistake in thinking that you would instead of could, maybe I can inspire you to write a book??????

To the people giving thumbs down, I pity you for having no compassion in your lives, you are missing out on a lot

Answer 6

Thankfully I have not been in that situation. I have to wonder about a society that lets its citizens especially its Seniors fall into such a deplorable state.
If you are in America its had to understand why one of the richest countries in the world has a problem like this.
Its true that in Australia we have homeless people too but not to the extent that the US has.
We have govt and private organisations partly funded by the govt, whose job it is to provide low rent housing for those in need.
My hubby and I are on a govt pension and we live in a house provided for us by a community housing group. We pay half the rent that we would have in a private rental.

Answer 7

Although I do have empathy for the homeless, I simply cannot even imagine what it would be like to have to live in a car, a shelter or (G-d forbid), under an overpass. I do make blankets and donate them to the local shelter here in town - and I know that they get used, especially when it is cold outside. I have one condition with my donations - they are to be given away to those who cannot be accommodated at the shelter in winter time.

Answer 8

I was diagnosed with extreme depression last year in November and had to stay in a psychiatric facility. My sister with whom I was staying didn't want me back until I was better and since I had no other place to go I was placed in a shelter. Nothing in my life could have prepared me for something like that. It sucked major di*k, I never want to do that again. I will beg one of you to take me in first.

Answer 9

By the grace of god no. I have been very fortunate in my life.
It has been tight and scary at times but always a roof over my head. I am also blessed with a great set of parents, siblings cousins, aunts etc.. if anything would happen they would be here in a flash to get me and mine as I would for them.

Answer 10

Ya....lived out of my vehicle....fortunatly it was a van. Felt lucky to have that. Fortunatly not for too long.

It was horrible, degrading, frightening...never any place you felt safe.....not even enough to crack to your windows in the summers.

For the good....made me appreciate alot of things...privacy, security, hot showers, electricity, etc
Bad side.....there are some mean people out there just waiting and watching for people to be vunerable.

Answer 11

I have been pretty close to homeless but never really there yet.