When it comes to the homeless and poverty in America, some people are really uncomfortable with the topic and anything that it entails.
It's natural to not want to think about these things that make you feel uncomfortable and it's natural to not know how to react around a homeless person.
I was homeless for awhile when my two oldest children were very young (about 4 and 6).
Then we lived in a hotel in San Diego for months until saving up enough for a small apartment.
There was another family who lived there and the mother worked cleaning the hotel to earn them a free stay.
She was a bit stuck herself because she couldn't get a "real job" or she would be kicked from the hotel but she couldn't work a normal job while living on the streets with her children.
It's hard to get out of a hole like that.
I was working while we lived in the hotel but the hardest part was paying for the hotel weekly to keep us off the streets while also saving enough to get a deposit and 1st months' down on an apartment.
This is how you get stuck in a rut.
You're making an income but you're not really getting ahead because all of your income is going to stay off the streets again.
I think a lot of people who have never been in the situation don't understand how difficult the climb back up can actually be.
Poverty is an even bigger problem in the US than most people are willing to acknowledge or deal with.
It should definitely make us uncomfortable- so much so that we feel compelled to do something about it.
It's natural to not want to think about these things that make you feel uncomfortable and it's natural to not know how to react around a homeless person.
I was homeless for awhile when my two oldest children were very young (about 4 and 6).
Then we lived in a hotel in San Diego for months until saving up enough for a small apartment.
There was another family who lived there and the mother worked cleaning the hotel to earn them a free stay.
She was a bit stuck herself because she couldn't get a "real job" or she would be kicked from the hotel but she couldn't work a normal job while living on the streets with her children.
It's hard to get out of a hole like that.
I was working while we lived in the hotel but the hardest part was paying for the hotel weekly to keep us off the streets while also saving enough to get a deposit and 1st months' down on an apartment.
This is how you get stuck in a rut.
You're making an income but you're not really getting ahead because all of your income is going to stay off the streets again.
I think a lot of people who have never been in the situation don't understand how difficult the climb back up can actually be.
Poverty is an even bigger problem in the US than most people are willing to acknowledge or deal with.
It should definitely make us uncomfortable- so much so that we feel compelled to do something about it.
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