Unexpected Homelessness and How it Can Affect You

You might think that homelessness is a distant possibility, but it can happen to anyone at any time. A sudden job loss, being kicked out of where you’re staying, or sudden physical or mental health issues can make it hard to stay stable. With the rapidly rising economy and inflation pushing the cost of living up, rent may become unaffordable. Whatever the cause; it’s usually unexpected. You’re okay one moment, then the next you have no place to stay, and you’re trying to survive.

Trying to survive might not sound that bad to some people, until you realize what it really entails. When you’re homeless, you often don’t have many resources to help you out. You’d expect family and such to be there, but that’s not always the case. Your city might have resources to help, but often times they are underfunded, understaffed, and don’t really do as much as you’d think they would to help. Every single day is full of stress about where your next meal is going to come from and if you’re even going to have somewhere to lay your head at night.

I have gone multiple days without food or drink whilst walking many miles each day just to reach somewhere safe to sleep. There have been times when I had to sleep in a park to find cover from the rain, along with times where I had to sleep on the hard concrete with only my bible as support for my head. I’ve even had to put myself into dangerous situations just so that I could survive. I was constantly stressed and unable to relax in any way, even feeling like I was going to pass out either from exhaustion (from lack of sleep), lack of nutrition or hydration, or even heat exhaustion during the summer. When I finally did get some form of support, the programs didn’t have enough people or funding to make the impact I really needed. They definitely helped, but not as much as I’d hoped.

It was really tough to have to deal with all of that on top of the normal struggles one has in life. That doesn’t go away.. it just compounds on top of everything else. It can be hard to manage, but I had no choice but to keep pushing. Being homeless at 18 was not something I expected, nor was it easy. I’d have to say the worst part about being homeless wasn’t the homelessness itself, but the way I was treated by my friends and family because of it; like I was meaningless or less than human. That hurts.

Homelessness can hit you at any time. You probably won’t expect it, but it can happen to you. Remember that it might look bleak, but eventually it always works out.