How Homeless People Become Homeless- An Invisible People Report

[Lady Freedom Returns]

Kayla Robbins

Common life events that can cause homelessness
You’ve heard it before: the root cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing.

That’s still true. However, anyone can become homeless. Setting aside the structural factors and systemic failures, here are the most common individual causes of homelessness.

Because this is a more personal look at the subject, I’ve included examples of someone who became homeless in these various ways.

Read the whole article @ https://invisiblepeople.tv/how-homeless-people-become-homeless/

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[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[Wellstone ruled]

2. So many things can

contribute to being Homeless. Mental Health,Bankruptcy,Foreclosure,loss of a Job,Corrupt Employers,and as we found out two days ago,Family Dispute. The later happened to a close friend who died in Hospice Care and we did not know he was homeless.

All those Pious People that are preaching some BS quick fix,well I got news for those persons.

It is Friggin Complicated!!!!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

5. When it comes to me...

You're preaching to the choir. ☹️

[Doreen]

3. I know a guy who years ago he had a wife, two boys,

owned a house, and had a job. He got divorced, moved and still had his job. Then the place he worked for closed and in the county we live in jobs are not plentiful. It is disheartening to see that happen to someone you know.

EVERYONE is at risk of being homeless. I really hate it when people say you need to put a savings aside to prepare to survive if I lose my place. WTF!!! I do not have the money to save. I need it for the present not the future ( whatever that may be. )

I know damn well I am at high risk of becoming homeless and I do not have the resources to prevent it. I know a lot of people who are in the same situation as I am.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

4. This whole site is awesome.

[delisen]

6. Thanks for posting. Just said goodnight to woman bedded down in shopping

center. E. sleeps outdoors on a pallet on the concrete in a quiet nook near the supermarket.The space is in a walkway in front of shops that are closed for the night and it has a roof. There are raised planting beds between her and the parking lot. She is able to park her shopping cart with her possessions nearby. It will go down to low forties tonight. She has two warm blankets. Sometimes there are a few other people who bed down nearby.

The supermarket is open until 1 am and then closes until 6 am-so there is about a 5 hour period where safety might be a concern. The supermarket does have people working all night and delivery trucks come and go-so she is not completely isolated.

Sometimes one or two other people are sleeping nearby--and there is always one or two persons asleep in their cars.

The ability to lay down to sleep is important for a person's health. Most of the homeless people who relate to this shopping center sleep sitting up. There are chairs and benches throughout the center and even some tables and chairs in front of a few restaurants that homeless people can use at night.

Security for the center have orders to not let people sleep in the chairs when businesses are open-but at night when almost all shops are closed they do not bother anyone.(In the daytime if they pass by and notice someone sleeping they tap the person on the shoulder gently to waken them and say "No sleeping when the shops are open" and continue walking their rounds.

Health hazards for homeless people who sleep in chairs include swollen lower legs, ankles, and feet-circulatory issues. Diabetes may be an issue because of not being able to cook nutritious meals. Another is that tit is difficult to reach deep stages of sleep, and some people suffer chronic tiredness. Being outdoors in close proximity to so many polluting vehicles may also take a toll on health

One person I have come to know often falls asleep sitting up in the deli sections of the two supermarkets and then, after closing time moves he moves outdoors to sit at a table and chairs setup on the walkway in front of a specialty foods shop. (He had a car to sleep in until several months age when it no longer could run and he had to junk it. Since then his health has been deteriorating. He has come to know the women who own the shop and they let him stash his stuff behind their shop when he needs to go somewhere. Recently he had been hospitalized for several days with leg problems and they are letting him sleep in their delivery truck until the weather improves.

[Recursion]

7. Part of the problem is we mentally conflate homelessness with rough sleeping

Rough sleepers are only the tip of the iceberg. The much larger part of the homeless population are people crashing on friends' or relatives' couches or living in short-term hotels. When I used to give talks about homelessness for the American Legion I would ask "how many people here have been homeless?" and nobody would raise their hand. Then I asked how many people have lived in an "unstable or non-permanent situation with no legally recognized tenancy" or been "forced to stay with a series of friends and/or extended family members" (which is the HHS definition) and a lot of hands went up, including mine. A lot of people have been homeless and don't even process that fact.

[ansible]

8. Most of the ones I've met are mentally ill, can't fix homelessness without fixing healthcare first

Their minds and souls have just been completely broken by the crushing drive of modern life.

[JonLP24]

9. Lack of affordable housing is indeed the cause

I was homeless because we were foreclosed on during the aftermath of the great recession.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

10. That's one of many reasons.