Homeless Recovery  

In my first topic "Are you Homeless" I illustrated some of the challenges presented by homeless folk and also related from some of my experiences. By far the most challenging aspect of hitting rock bottom is the mental hardship. You have taken the hardest hits to your pride, you feel shame and you know you are better than your situation! It makes you angry, so angry at times you can see nothing else. After all, you deserve to have a home and job but circumstances have dumped on you. Sooner or later we all realize that it's not fair but that's the way it is! The next step is to deal with it.

I established a baseline in my last topic which has me living day to day in the woods or squatting in an abandoned building. Struggling daily to eat and squirrel away a few dollars. I used to pass pennies on the sidewalk but now they are cherished as another small step toward the goal. This continuing struggle to survive may have been going on for days, weeks or months but I know, despite my feelings of worthlessnes, that I am working toward something better. I try not to think about what others have as it leaves me bitter.

So here we are, some time later, our cash is growing slowly and we have established a kind of route where we work each day. Today I wash dishes for our supper and tomorrow I am over at the construction site cleaning up for a few dollars. My wife has been working a few hours a day at several motels doing housekeeping and has also found a doctors office where she goes each day at lunch to cover the phones for the receptionist.

They realize she is much more than her position in life and I have been parting with some cash so she can shop at the goodwill for more presentable clothes. They see her improving her circumstances and hinted at a possible position. The construction people also realize that I am a carpenter and have told me to talk to them when I have my own tools. I am loathe to part with any cash but I know if I can just get some basic hand tools, I could make a little more, maybe even enough to get a weekly motel. Wow, a real address with a hot shower!

This seems like a pipe dream as I sit by the campfire with my wife this evening, actually a barrel burning whatever we could find. But there is hope and it all depends on us overcoming our negative feelings and continuing on. Sometimes I don't even want to wake up and face the day ahead but I must go on, must survive.

I have tried to give a feel for what it is like there and also to give some idea on how to improve oneself. While I had my experience as a carpenter and my wife with her medical experience there are, sadly, folks out there with very little skills they could use to get back on their feet. Some went straight to the streets from the time they left home and others held menial job which don't translate easily and are further challenged.

Everyone has some skill or passion, no matter what they know or do. Everyone is capable of cleaning and washing, doing menial tasks for survival but to find the way out, one must find a way to use what they have to get ahead. One person I know, used their hour per day at the library to make web pages for people who paid him. Eventually he was able to get into a cheap rental and get a job in a warehouse. Today he is a manager who tries to help others coming from where he once was.

What kind of things could you suggest to help others get out of this situation?