What it’s like to be homeless

There are many reasons why a person could end up on the streets.

By David Lanier Special To The Daily Record

Posted: May 17, 2009 at 6 a.m.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

You can call them hoboes. You can call them paupers. You can call them Ill-fated campers. But it’s wrong to call them homeless. They’re houseless. Their home may be a tent. Or a cardboard box. Or the back seat of an automobile. But to them, that’s their sleeping arrangements: That’s home. What causes houselessness? According to sociologist Nels Anderson, a homeless person is “a destitute man, woman or youth, either a resident or a transient, who is without a domicile at enumeration voluntary or involuntary.” Due to a myriad of dire circumstances, houseless individuals fall through the cracks of fortune and end up without a domicile. “The difference between a homeless person is that they’ve lost their support system,” concluded Jon Woodward, executive director of Seven Hills Homeless Shelter in Fayetteville. “Most people rely on family members or friends to help them out when adversity strikes.”

Kenneth Kusmer, author of “Down and Out, On the Road, the Homeless in American History,” surmised, “Destitute people living in the streets and in homeless shelters are not so different from the rest of us. They never have been.”

Likewise, George Orwell purposely lived in lodging that housed the less fortunate to try to understand what causes homelessness.

In his scholarly tome “Down and Out in London and Paris,” Orwell wrote, “I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, nor pawn my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal at a smart restaurant.”

Orwell prefaced those conclusions by pondering what makes a poverty-stricken individual tick: “I should like to understand what really goes on in the souls of plongeurs and tramps and embankment sleepers.”

What are the root causes of domicilelessness?

Sometimes, after a divorce, men sacrifice their homesteads and savings to pacify their exes.

Once a friend wisecracked, “I’ve been married five times, and all my wives were great housekeepers. They all kept the house when we separated.”

Another financial ramification of divorce — child support — leads to wage garnishment, which depletes pocketbooks and deters houseless folks from ascending back into prosperity.

Depression after a series of misfortunes can contribute to the disappearance of one’s haven of safety.

Other potential volatile scenarios for destitution:

• Running away to escape the reality of troubles inherent with breaking the law;

• Alcoholism;

• Drug addiction;

• Mental instability;

• The I-don’t-want-towork-on-Maggie’s-farm syndrome; and

• Veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Personally, from what I’ve seen, homelessness is a very complex issue,” Woodward sagely opined. “The general population may look at homeless people in a disdainful outlook. They think they’re all bad people who deserve to be where they are.”

Most commoners prefer to classify homeless individuals as lazy drunks or drug addicts who have lost the requisite work ethic to live comfortable lives with a roof over their heads.

Stereotyping houseless individuals isn’t accurate, though.

Every unfortunate soul who ends up sleeping in the woods or in the back seat of an automobile has his own unique fatalistic story.

“Some homeless people have unresolved grief and loss,” Woodward said. “They suffer depression and lose everything that’s important in life. They get out of sync and have a feeling that they can’t get back to where they once were.”

Some caring Christians desire to help, so they strive to provide that missing support network.

The first reaction most individuals pose when trying to comprehend a homeless individual’s plight initially ask, “Why don’t you go to The Salvation Army?”

That’s a very temporary resolution to a more permanent dilemma.

Every chapter of “The Sally” has different rules and regulations. The Salvation Army provides free lodging for a month in Fayetteville; those staying there must seek employment during the weekdays.

While some seek that environment and succeed in transitioning back to a more secure future, others choose to face life outdoors.

And that brings no set routine. Author Jack London lived that lifestyle and encapsulated the trauma drama inflicted on the mindset of those who desire a less-structured existence.

In his book “Hobo Land,” London noted that a hobo’s lifestyle consisted of “the face of life is protean — an everchanging phantasmagoria — where the impossible happens and the unexpected jumps out of the bushes.

“My life was always uncertain. I never knew what was going to happen. No plan did I ever have. Circumstances were the only plans I ever have.”

Indeed, circumstances for every homeless person implode a once-comfortable existence.

What was once a normal everyday great-day experience becomes a daily struggle to simply survive.

Outdistancing all of the obstacles one faces includes finding adequate shelter, procuring nourishment, seeking employment and establishing a mailing address.

Is homelessness voluntary or involuntary?

“I’m the reason I’m homeless,” Kyle Bowen, a 23-yearold native of Fayetteville, remarked in 2008.

Bowen endured the slings and arrows of his misfortune for four years. For a time, Bowen and a friend slept in the baseball dugouts at Walker Park in southeast Fayetteville.

Finally, Bowen received his Social Security disability benefits; he now resides in the Seven Hills assisted-living quarters off Huntsville Road in Fayetteville.

Aaron Tubbs, who has provided temporary assistance to homeless individuals and proudly advertises “free bread” outside his residence in south Fayetteville, categorizes homeless individuals into three general categories:

• Those who choose to be homeless, mainly as a result of alcoholism or drug addiction;

• Those who end up homeless and struggle to persevere and dig their way out; and

• Those who end up homeless and have no clue what to do.

Sometimes just showing people you care can make a world of difference in their lives and in their attitudes toward their plights.

“People don’t care what you know until they know you care,” Loretta Spiece sagely observed. Spiece and her husband, Roy, altruistically donate a meal — along with a spiritual devotional — on Saturday mornings at the College Avenue Baptist Church in southeast Fayetteville.

In 380 — as in year 380 — St. John Chrysostom wrote, “When you see a man who has encountered the shipwreck of poverty, do not judge him, do not seek an account of his life, but free him from his misfortune.”

What can one do to aid houseless people?

Caring and sharing coalesce around the holidays, as Christians feel obligated to feed the less fortunate during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But as Mac Childs, the son of Loretta Spiece and a spiritual mentor to the homeless, observed, just helping someone eat once or twice a year really doesn’t address the real obstacles houseless individuals must endure 24-7-365.

Coming Monday: Being homeless is a “psychological dilemma a person’s ego must contend with on a 24-7 basis.”

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.