I learned that anyone can become homeless, from a famous actor to a divorced woman with six children. I learned from a homeless person that some homeless people just do not care and will sit in a car and put a sign up, hoping someone will do what they should be doing. I learned that some homeless people became homeless because of some other selfish person. Homeless people are businessmen, doctors, old men and women who were laid off, teenagers who were abused, and a number of other situations.
Being homeless does not usually mean that you are just too lazy to work, but there are some homeless people who are that way. These are the homeless people that make it hard for a decent person to get by. People see these lazy people sitting in their car with a sign that says "need food", but they are not doing anything to help themselves. They sit in a car for hours with that sign and never make an attempt to look for a job when there are places hiring all around them.
Being homeless with six children is very difficult, but there were rarely times anyone sat around. Most mornings around six were spent getting ready in a very cold bathroom with no heat in 30 degree weather. In the afternoons you would see the mother teaching her children at the picnic tables and even Family Services commended her and left her alone. This homeless family, including the mother and two of the teens looked for jobs while the little ones slept in the van. Of course, this mother never left her children out of her sight and brought them inside after explaining everything to the manager. Because of her honesty, the manager fed the children a hot meal and let them sit at one of the tables of McDonalds while he interviewed the mother and her oldest teen. He later hired a second teenager after they found a temporary place to live.
I learned that a homeless person needs understanding and compassion as long as they are trying. I learned that many homeless people cannot work because of their mental state of mind. It makes it difficult for someone with a mental problem or if they were born with brain damage and they cannot help it. There are some people in this world who just do not care about the homeless and then there are those who spend their lives helping them.
Homeless people are not usually there because they want to be. Being homeless is very scary. Living in an open place can be dangerous. I learned that a mother never sleeps when they live in a park where there are wild animals. She ends up staying up all night guarding her children just as a mother bear guards her cubs. When a pack of foxes come, she throws things at them in hopes that they will run away. When a wildcat comes, she prays that he does not attack and lures him toward herself instead of her children. In order to have a chance, she acts like she is going to throw something and by the grace of God, he runs away. It is very scary when she comes face to face with a wildcat. A homeless mother never sleeps unless she finds a closed in place for them to stay. That is not so easy when she finds herself in a strange town with six kids.
I learned from a homeless person that men will try to take advantage of homeless women with children. He tells her that he wants to help her and what he really wants is to rape you and hurt you. He does not even care if her children are in the next room. Contrary to his belief, a woman will not just do anything to survive. They do still have some decency left and deserve to be respected. Just because they are homeless does not mean they do not have good morals.
I learned that sometimes when things seem dreary, singing together helps bring up the spirits when a family is homeless. Sometimes it makes people realize that she is not such a bad mother when they hear her children harmonizing and singing a beautiful gospel hymn. Sometimes other homeless people even feel safer if they are closer to her family especially when they realize that you depend on God to watch over you. She has to make sure they are not just wanting to steal what they have, but that is the way of life when someone is homeless. Even as a homeless person, that person shares what they have with others or God will not bless them.
The homeless person I learned it from was me. I am the mother of six children that was forced to live on the streets after fleeing our state and traveling thousands of miles to get away from a bad situation. Becoming homeless can happen to anyone. I was a Sunday School teacher, church nursery worker, sang in the choir, and brought my children up in a Christian home when it happened to us. If it had not been for our faith in God and good decent people, we probably would not have survived.
As I sit here in my room, finishing this story, my heart is heavy again because we may face being homeless again. But, I know somehow God will provide, but I as a human being, and now that I am disabled, I have to admit that I am afraid. I will get over that fear only because God will take this burden from me. If we do become homeless again, this time it will involve more people. There are five of my kids, three of their own, one on the way, and another family member. That would be ten people if you count the one on the way and I do. So, I hope and I pray everyday that somehow through this terrible economy, God will bring us out of this and that we will never be homeless again.