How many of us have a loved one who is or could be homeless?

[yardwork]

Homeless people are the latest target of the Republicans. This leads me to wonder how many of us have relatives or loved ones who are or could be homeless. And, I know that some DUers are homeless.

I have several loved ones who are at risk for being homeless due to economic difficulties, mental health issues, and the high cost of housing.

I want to speak out against this latest vilification of people who have done nothing wrong, but are targets of authoritarian propaganda.

16 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	I have a loved one who is homeless
	2 (13%)
	I have a loved one who is at risk for being homeless
	6 (38%)
	I have loved ones who are homeless and those who are at risk
	1 (6%)
	Nobody close to me is homeless now
	0 (0%)
	Nobody close to me is or could be homeless
	0 (0%)
	I am homeless myself
	0 (0%)
	I am at risk for being homeless
	5 (31%)
	Other - explain in thread
	2 (13%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[lapucelle]

1. For any DU'er who checked "I am at risk"...

[yardwork]

2. Yes!

[Wounded Bear]

3. I voted "have been at risk" although I was actually homeless for a stretch...

I just had relatives in the area willing to let me couch surf so I didn't have to sleep outdoors.

The old saying goes, if your name isn't on the lease, technically you're homeless.

[Doreen]

4. I can not necessarily call the person a loved one

but I have a friend who is homeless. It's odd when at one time they had a family, a two income household and owned their house.

I am also at risk simply because I am on SSDI, have subsidized housing, recieve a food card, and am on Medicare. I am unable to work and would have no way to house myself if I lost that ( except the food card.)

There are a lot more people who are at risk of being homeless but they just refuse to see that reality.

[2naSalit]

7. That's all I have going on

and I just got all that recently. I have had 1.5 years of comfort knowing I can pay the rent/eat and I don't have to try and work anymore. I did spend ten+ months living in my car during the past three years, though.

[TexasBushwhacker]

5. I have a brother who was living in his car for several months

Couldn't get in touch with him. It was nerve wracking.

[JonLP24]

6. I chose other

I & and a loved one used to be homeless after a foreclosure in the aftermath of the 2008 great recession.

I got help several months into it in my second homeless shelter which had a section for Veterans and learned about HUD VASH which the first homeless shelter wasn't aware of. The first one only had a rapid rehousing program which was drying up in funding. Eventually after a few years living in a home partially subsidized by VA & HUD I have a VA Disability so no longer need HUD VASH anymore.

[hunter]

8. At my worst I am unemployable and impossible to live with.

The world went sideways for me in late adolescence.

I've been homeless but that was a long time ago. I was kicked out of college twice but I eventually managed to graduate.

One of my brothers is currently unemployable and impossible to live with. He's living out in the desert somewhere.

One of our grandmothers was crazy but she managed to keep herself employed long enough to retire with a pension, which is the only reason she didn't end upon the streets as a bag lady cussing at people passing by. She eventually had to be removed from the home she owned because she was a danger to herself and others. She fought off the police and paramedics for hours, and was still cussing up a storm strapped to a gurney and trying to bite people as they wheeled her to the ambulance.

No nursing or assisted living home would keep her once they got to know her, so she'd end up at my parents house, where she could be just as horrible. She could also be sweet and witty, even grandmotherly, but that was rare.

When I was growing up my family's way of coping with mental illness was to pretend it didn't exist. That wasn't unusual for the time. Before modern antidepressants and antipsychotics were developed I really didn't have any real insights about my own troubles or anyone else's. All the talking in the world wasn't going to change anything.

[pnwmom]

9. As long as I'm around, none of my loved ones could end up homeless because they could always

come live with me.

We have had relatives live with us for months at a time, and one of our children's friends did for several years.

But I do understand that many people have no options, due to circumstances beyond their control, and I would never blame homeless people for their problems.

[Demsrule86]

10. My family and friends are always welcome here too...we have housed homeless teens more than once...

kids who came out and were kicked out of their homes...some for a few days...some permanently. I would say any of us are at risk for being homeless under the right circumstances...we came close in 2008 when we nearly lost our house as both hubs and I were unemployed...my sis would have taken me and my family in though.

[Polybius]

11. My sister

Before anyone asks, no I won't take her in. She's a chronic thief, she would steal my stuff and sell it off the moment I left for work.

It's a sad situation that I won't go into detail here, but she doesn't wanna be helped. Anyone who doesn't take her in is "cruel and heartless", and if you do take her in, she'll rob you blind. I have seen her do it multiple times, and then she says "What was I supposed to do? I'm poor." It's everyone's fault but her own.

[yardwork]

14. Caring for yourself is essential.

I have family members with personality disorders. After years of therapy and reading, I'm learning to care for myself. We are not responsible for other adults. We can offer kindness, but we aren't obligated to sacrifice ourselves for people who won't help themselves.

[Polybius]

16. Every now and then she finds a landlord who doesn't perform a background check

She somehow saves for rent/security from her SSI and other government checks. She gives it to the landlord, and never pays again. It takes 6 months to a year to throw her out, legally. She has bankrupted a lot of poor landlords. She views them as expendable, and her and her 24 year old son (who also never worked) both think I'm the devil for not taking them in.

[mahina]

12. I have a loved one living with me for a year plus now

Can’t afford their own housing. They chip in here and there.

It’s not a big house.

I’m grateful that I can help but concerned about the future.

[yardwork]

13. Thank you for all the replies, and blessings to all.

[ismnotwasm]

15. Got a drug addled crazy sister

My Mom lets her live in this detached mother in law apartment behind her house. She has completely destroyed it. Meth addict, can’t stop taking things apart, including floor tile, also thinks the government is out to get her as a “targeted individual” so she has almost destroyed the electricity. It’s bad. Like, really bad.

My sister gets kicked out of homeless camps. She is not impaired enough for institutionalization.
She literally will have no where to go. She will inherit some money eventually and still has her pension, so she’s not destitute, but I have no idea how her story will end. (this was a high functioning woman at one time) Part of her mental illness includes not taking medication because it put trackers in the blood stream so the government can find you. Or something like that. People who try to tell her her delusions aren’t real are part of “them”

https://www.wired.com/story/mind-games-the-tortured-lives-of-targeted-individuals/

[Recursion]

17. A lot of homeless people don't realize they are homeless

Until I started volunteering, I didn't realize that I had spent several years of my childhood and several more in my twenties homeless. Couch surfing, extended hotel stays paid daily, staying without tenancy with relatives or friends: these are all examples of homelessness.