Temporarily Homeless

Times are tough.  Unemployment in the United States still comfortably rests at 8.2%. Though many experts are confident that unemployment is on the decline, the uncomfortable situation many people find themselves in remains relatively unchanged.  Many people find themselves having to vacate their houses and apartments with no other option than homelessness.  If you are in this situation, or find that you will inevitably be in this situation, this blog is for you.


There are three basic groups of homelessness as I see it.  I'm going to talk about these levels to differentiate who you are so you don't succumb to a pattern of thinking that causes you to fall into a state of helplessness.

The first group is the saddest of the three, because while we all have equal opportunity, we don't all have equal capability.  The first group is homeless due to mental disease, which most homeless fall into this category, and the majority of them suffer from paranoid schizophrenia.  These people used to have mental hospitals where they could have shelter and food until California decided to close their mental hospitals in the 1970's, and federally funded mental health care programs in the 1980's.  This forced a lot of people to live on the streets.

The second group consists of the people who have no desire to be a productive member of society.  When I first started living without a home, I started seeing the world with a different set of eyes.  I knew that the people of the United States threw away 22,000 tons of food a day, but now I was really able to see it.  I realized the significance of trillions of dollars being spent on war, yet 50 billion would wipe out poverty.  I knew that people were living on the streets, but I had always thought that they "needed to stop being so lazy and go get a job."  Many people who become homeless see these things and become disillusioned with society.  They realize they can survive day to day by the generosity of a  few, and here in California, picking through the garbage for recyclable containers (which if you're starving I wouldn't shy away from, but I'm not going to let you get to that point).   Still others, just don't want to work for what they have.

The third group is where I have been for a little over two years now.  This group has always been around, but has become more prominent in the last 10 years.  Due to the horrible economic conditions coupled with the trend of outsourcing any and every job we possibly can, we find hard working people having no money to pay the rent.  They want to work and feel a sense of pride in that work, however, there just isn't any.  After being in this position for a while, some allow their homelessness to turn into hopelessness.  They were unable to foresee their newly found challenges and did not know how to overcome them.  They fell into despair and gave up entirely.  This is not how you want to end up, and I'm going to do my best to help you keep yourself fed, clothed, washed, and maintaining a positive mental attitude.