Please note that this article is not written by me, however is published to this site with the authors consent. All comments will be directly forwarded to the author.
Normally, my weekly blog concerns the homeless. This week it's about me, however, who isn't homeless but came very close to it last week.
I had been rooming with a "friend" from work for about four months. I originally moved in because the housing cost in Grand Junction has skyrocketed. For example, a 3-bedroom townhouse rents for around $1500 monthly. My goal to moving in with this friend was to save money, and to buy a home in Denver soon.
My son and I moved in with this friend and her family in early November. My roommate had three daughters living with her, one of whom had a small baby herself, and a live-in teenage boyfriend. It was definitely a full household. We shared a room, sleeping on bunkbeds, thinking that it was great because I would save a fortune and, at the same time, help my friend who was having financial difficulties at the time (her husband had been incarcerated).
Within this time, my roommate found the "love of her life" and has since decided to move him in and kick me out. She gave me nine days notice, knowing that I had been living paycheck to paycheck. She also knew that I had not saved any money due to the huge grocery bill (half of which I inanely paid for her kids to eat). I was essentially supporting not just myself and my son while living there, but the eating habits of her three children, and the teenage boyfriend. I was paying anywhere between 30%-50% of the grocery bill, which was way too much. I was also giving her a portion of the rent she paid and a percentage of the utilities. Paying off old bills to improve my credit (to buy my house) was not feasible during this time, and I had less money than when I was paying full rent before in my townhouse.
In a panic, I wasn't sure how I was going to come up with $3000 in nine days to find a place to live. I found it very ironic that others were joking, "Well, maybe she can live on the Point with the rest of her new friends," meaning the homeless. True, I had made some new and interesting homeless friends, but was not looking to join the ranks.
I was really scared. I had never been in a place where I thought I wouldn't have a home. Thankfully, I found who my true friends were and have since moved. I only purchase groceries for myself and my son, and the rent is even cheaper than it was with her. I have also been able to pay off some bills and have actively renewed my goal of buying my own home.
I wrote this for all of you who think that being homeless is a black-and-white issue. Statements like "They just dont want to work" or "They could find a job if they really wanted to" are just ignorant when you look at my situation. I am educated, work, have a decent wage, and come from a very comfortable background. Yet, there I was, almost in the same situation as the people I have been profiling, with no roof over my head, wondering how this could've happened. I have learned valuable lessons from this, ones of friendship, independence, and compassion.
Thank you to those that have shown these to me. You know who you are.
Edited by Kristin N.
All Comments Welcome
1 comment:
They say that any civilization is three meals from a revolution- and I suppose it could also be true that 80% of the population here in the U.S. is one unexpected expense from homelessness. I don't believe it's something people care to think about too much, but the fact is that many (probably most) of us in the lower middle class and below are living on such a shoestring budget that it doesn't take much to fall right over the edge. And as your case shows, it doesn't always have to be purely financial. I think we're seeing what happens when the economy is completely out of all proportion like it is here in the area- it's completely broken when you have a mix of a) some of the highest housing costs in the state, and b) some of the lowest wages in the state. A grand example of just how poor a job our political "leaders" do on every level, from the mayor all th eway to the top. None of these issues ever touch them, so as far as they're concerned, there is no problem. But I will NOT get started on that subject.
And, just a small item in my own defense: I don't think I ever suggested you should go live at the Point. I would have just recommended hiding in the building and sleeping here :)
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