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I was very close to this last summer. Thankfully I have a very very loving and supportive family. I had to shrink down bills, foreclosed on, lost 2 vehicles. I am married with 3 little girls, 2 years old and 6 and 7. This is my most trying time as a father this far. My father invested in some properties for rentals and are letting us stay in one, and work on it, until we are back on our feet, and he gave us his 04 minivan when he bought a new one. I will be back to work soon.
May god bless these families and fathers on fathers day.
I felt like starting a thread about this tonight...but did a search first....
I was homeless once...for about 11 months...but it was by choice...I gave up a house...and land, to pursue what I thought was a dream...
I learned a lot in those 11 months in two differrent vans...a lot about myself and society...
Fast forward to today...
As i contrast my homeless experience with the hussle and bussle of my current job, traffic, industry...believe it or not...I can actually look back at that time with fond memories...
Why or how?
Mainly due to the 'peace' you had...knowing you were at the absolute bottom...knowing you had nothing else to loose...took a lot of pressure off of me...
And there was a certain peace that came with it...the nights were so quiete...peace and freedom...
Although I did work while homeless...sometimes I didn't...and I felt so free knowing that when I awoke, I had no place I had to go...
Believe it or not I was homeless while in school...(the first time)...and then I was homeless while unemployed, in a major metropolitian area...
I lived in my van...I refused to ever stay in a shelter...why?
Cause most people at the shelters had given up...had no more dreams...and accepted their plight...
Being around people like that will suck the life energy out of you real fast...
Also...at homeless shelters, the staff are often real 'indifferent'...they don't make distinctions between those who want to succeed and those who don't...and so they, the staff, kinda treat everyone in a very generic manner...like cattle...
I gave up a lot...but I wasn't willing to give up my dignity...
Being homeless is not as bad as it seems...it's like a 'reset' button of sorts in your life...it gives you a lot of time to think, to ponder, to explore...
And you realize how much stuff you really don't need in day to day life, how much people are held hostage too....
You realize and observe how much time people spend running around, buzzing around, just for the sake of...and in the end, really have no more than you...
They just think they do...
If your homeless and employed...the best part is getting a check and not having to pay anyone anything...it's all yours...
Unless of course you have a cell phone and or storage....
I also met a lot of interesting souls...some good, some bad, some devious...being homeless puts you up and close with people you normally would avoid...and then you realize some of those people are wiser than you...
And if you have a vehicle...it's all about knowing where to park, where you will be left alone...
Cops can be a nuisance...'Knock knock knock!!'...with the bright lights shining....
Usually they only respond when someone reports a 'suspicious vehicle in area'....
When your homeless...you become keenly aware of all sounds around you...like a deer...and you learn to recognize or distinguise a cop car sound vs a drug dealer car sound vs normal traffic...
You become like a deer...your survival depends on it...
I was homeless...and survived it...cause I always had hope.
I would like to continue this on the next post....
It's one thing to go "homeless" by choice and "live the dream", it's a whole 'nother issue to become homeless when you've lost everthing and it's not by choice.
While I enjoy the outdoors, I happen to live in NE GA and we have had a particularly brutal summer with over 60 days above 90 with horrific humidity. I'm currently hanging on by a thread and becoming homeless at 60 after a lifetime of working hard for my little corner of the world is not attractive it's frightening.
It's one thing to go "homeless" by choice and "live the dream", it's a whole 'nother issue to become homeless when you've lost everthing and it's not by choice.
While I enjoy the outdoors, I happen to live in NE GA and we have had a particularly brutal summer with over 60 days above 90 with horrific humidity. I'm currently hanging on by a thread and becoming homeless at 60 after a lifetime of working hard for my little corner of the world is not attractive it's frightening.
No kidding ReturningWest. I am also in the south where humidity is like a solid wall that threatens to choke you.
I can't imagine what it is like to be homeless in the humid south in the summer. Even in the Appalachian mountains when I went camping in July it was still horribly hot and humid in the tent.
I was homeless in San Jose for 6 weeks, living in my car, in October and November. I also can look back on the experience now with gratefulness. Not only for what I learned, but for what I have now (which is not much! But more than then....)
It is a very scary thing, no doubt. I managed to make it to age 51 without ever being homeless for even one day. Then bam. Unemployment. It's hard but ya gotta be strong and look for the best. And don't ever, ever, ever give up.
Time and space nice post.I too had a homeless by choice adventure, sort of.The lack of jobs did factor in but if I wanted to do a fastfood job I could have.You are soo right about shelters.My biggest gripe is that they need to do much more in helping people get jobs and focus on the people who truly want help.I was on foot with a tent and other supplies.If and probably when I do it again I now know the right equipment you need.The wrong equipment can make it very uncomfortable.I like the van idea alot but that takes more funds than I have.
I was homeless in San Jose for 6 weeks, living in my car, in October and November. I also can look back on the experience now with gratefulness. Not only for what I learned, but for what I have now (which is not much! But more than then....)
It is a very scary thing, no doubt. I managed to make it to age 51 without ever being homeless for even one day. Then bam. Unemployment. It's hard but ya gotta be strong and look for the best. And don't ever, ever, ever give up.
Ye, that's the key, is not giving up...and hanging around people of similuar circumstances...
In other words, some are homeless due to drugs or alcohol, mental illness or crime record...
And some are homeless due to unemployment or maybe their house just burnt down...ect ect
It's important to be around those who share a similuar vision of rebuilding their lives...otherwise you could easily get pulled down into a street underworld which few return from...
Regardless of how you end up being homeless...once homeless...it's the same survival...
At times you will be or feel humiliated..
At times you will doubt or question your self worth...
Then at other times you will feel a since of joy and triumph...in that your like 'If I can survive this...bring it on!!'
Location has a lot to do with your experience to...
Some are 'shelter' homeless...where you stay in various shelters with rules, rooms, bunk mates, common area...like a dormitory for adults...
And then there's the 'sleep in the alley, street, under a bridge, in the woods'
Homeless...their a bit more rugged, and more street keen...they live that way by choice...they don't like rules...and prefer the freedom of the open sky...and often band together in small packs...(for safety)
And then there's the 'living in car or small RV' homeless'...
Their homeless...but still got a foot in the mainstream...in other words...their just temporarily down...usually still have employment and other associations that keep them tied into the active fiscal community...
Their usually the ones with the 'vision' and determined to turn things around as soon as possible...
And their more likely to be the type who don't disclose that their homeless to co-workers or classmates or even some family...
I fell in the latter catogory...many didn't know my status...nor did I want them too...I stayed clean, so they had no reason to suspect....
To be continued....
Last edited by Time and Space; 09-02-2010 at 11:30 AM..
No kidding ReturningWest. I am also in the south where humidity is like a solid wall that threatens to choke you.
I can't imagine what it is like to be homeless in the humid south in the summer. Even in the Appalachian mountains when I went camping in July it was still horribly hot and humid in the tent.
I did it in the SE...the the summer, fall and winter...and spring...
People don't realize that winters in the SE can get pretty brutal...maybe not snow, but the temps can get pretty cold...below freezing...
Believe it or not...I prefer the winters...the cold...cause I could always dress up to the occasion...get a extra sleeping bag...which are insulated...so keeping warm is never a problem....it's just trying to change that snaps you in the butt...
So, as a homeless person you learn to adapt...like sleeping with your clothes your going to wear the next day, in your sleeping bag...that way their warm...you may even at times dress inside your sleeping bag...everything accept shoes of course...
I was in a van though...being out on the raw streets is a who other ball game...
Summer heat....
In the SE summer weather can indeed be a pain...mainly due to misquitoes...
I would often park in wooded areas...and turn engine off...well in the SE...even at night it's 'hot' 'warm' and 'humid'...and no breeze...unless your on the coast...
So I'd open the side windows for ventilation, and here come the misquitoes in for dinner...they become your worst enemies...that dreaded sound...buzzzz....
Like miniture vampires with wings....
In the summer heat, you will be pushed to your breaking point...not by man, or lack of resolve...but by insects that want to feed on you...
Shelters aside...in the summer it's probablly better to sleep in a tent or out doors...where at least you can have a slight breeze....
My vehicle did not have working a/c...so it could become like a oven...so you learned to park in the shade, always...to help regulate the heat...
When your in a vehicle it's a constant task or challenge of finding places to park where people will leave you alone...you often stake out several locations and rotate...
And once you park, you never move or turn on a light, to let anyone know your in there...as such...you end up observing a lot at night...
The stillness of the night brings out a lot of activity...whether animal life or human mischief...you observe it all...and their never aware of your presence...but your always aware of thiers...cause again, your survival depends on it...
Your senses become very keen on the streets...like I mentioned above...you become like a deer, of sorts...
One time...where I was parked, one of my spots, I actually witnessed a guy running away from the police...but at the time I did not know it...until the cops showed up and interviewed me...
I told them I was homeless, living in van, and indeed did observe some guy fitting such a such description walking that way into the field...
That's why you will always here cops say that the best information comes from the streets...for it is people living there that observe everything...and is often how crime is solved or leads generated..is from eye witness accounts of those on the streets, those willing to talk anyways...
Ok, I'm drifting away from original summer heat emphasis...
It was finally the summer heat that drove me to move into a shared living rental arraingment...which began a whole other series of wild adventures...
Time and space nice post.I too had a homeless by choice adventure, sort of.The lack of jobs did factor in but if I wanted to do a fastfood job I could have.You are soo right about shelters.My biggest gripe is that they need to do much more in helping people get jobs and focus on the people who truly want help.I was on foot with a tent and other supplies.If and probably when I do it again I now know the right equipment you need.The wrong equipment can make it very uncomfortable.I like the van idea alot but that takes more funds than I have.
If I had to go homeless again...I'd might do it the tent way...there were 'tent cities' in one location I was at...but I never joined the community...believe it or not...these were working class people...and their tent city had self regulated rules...and many of those residents had good money, for they had no bills...
But of course...the city regulators, pressured by greedy landlords who want to drain you of your money by charging your $800-1400 a month for rent, got upset...the idea of these people living for 'free' upset a lot of business people...
And they tried to ban that tent city...how sad...not sure of the out come...
But ye, in cooler fall weather, living in a tent would be awesome...but the kind I would get and or want is like this..
Stealth is the key to survival when your homeless and not living in a shelter...the trick is to live, without people knowing your there...
If no one knows your there, your fine, but as soon as someone becomes aware of your presence...things become very uncertain...because on the streets, you never know peoples intentions...expecially if your solo...
And when you sleep, is when your most vunerable.
So stealth, is always my most primary concern when I'm homeless...
There are many wooded areas within large cities in which to hide...some places are quiet beautiful...hidden oasis that most never know exist...
Little creeks and streams, ponds, rivers....it's like a wildlife preserve within a city....
The things you discover when homeless are amazing...
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