Have you ever been homeless?

[Thystle]

Have you ever been homeless as a child or adult?



Meaning not having a permanent address of your own, NOT of your own choice.


.

[Thystle]

I have as a child.

[CookieMonsterMommy]

As an adult (with a young child), yes I have.

[kay4]

no, never

[Theia]

I was homeless with DD (1yo at the time) last year from Jan to Nov.

eta: We lived in various shelters and stayed with family for 1 month.

[bobandjess99]

This might sound silly, but define homeless? Do you mean literally living on teh streets/in a car, or does not having a house and "crashing with friends" count? I've never not had an indoor place to sleep, but there was a short time where I lived illegally with a friend in her college dorm room when my parents literally moved out of state without me.

[Thystle]

Originally Posted by bobandjess99

This might sound silly, but define homeless? Do you mean literally living on teh streets/in a car, or does not having a house and "crashing with friends" count? I've never not had an indoor place to sleep, but there was a short time where I lived illegally with a friend in her college dorm room when my parents literally moved out of state without me.

No permanent address of your own.


Street/shelter/car/friends.. it all counts.

[lovebug]

no and i thank god everyday!

[cwat]

Yes about 3 1/2 years ago. We "ran out of time" and were evicted from where we were living (this is when Eric & I were still together, actually this event is what finally made me wake up & realize that I & the kids needed something better) and all 6 of us ended up living with a friend of ours for about 5 months.
Then I was able to find an apartment, and we moved.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by bobandjess99

This might sound silly, but define homeless? Do you mean literally living on teh streets/in a car, or does not having a house and "crashing with friends" count? I've never not had an indoor place to sleep, but there was a short time where I lived illegally with a friend in her college dorm room when my parents literally moved out of state without me.

Originally Posted by Thystle

No permanent address of your own.


Street/shelter/car/friends.. it all counts.

After I answered, I was thinking the same thing. I voted "no". However, I had some transition times when I was younger and I didn't have a permanent address of my own. I wouldn't have necessarily called myself "homeless", but by the above definition, I was.

I think there's a lot more to the question, though. Homelessness can actually be an empowering and intentional growth period for people who are trying to find themselves or it can be a desperate situation that people find themselves in unwillingly.

[sanguine_speed]

Homeless in social service terms does generally mean without a permanent address of one's own, whether that person has a shelter over her head or not.

Yes, I have been homeless, as an older teen out of foster care.

[VisionaryMom]

I do a lot of volunteer work with the homeless population, and we (and our state) consider couch-surfing to be homelessness. In fact, many, many children live without a sleeping space on people's couches or floors - probably moreso that people who sleep outdoors.

Velochic, in my experience very few people find homelessness empowering. Although some may look back on the experience as pivotal and growth-inspiring, it doesn't feel that way in the moment. Most I've known who do think it's a good experience are young, single, and childless. They tend to like the freedom and don't want responsibility, but they also skew public perception into believing all of the people who are sleeping outdoors and in shelters "choose" to be homeless. I hear that so much, and it's such a misunderstanding of the issue.

[VisionaryMom]

Oh, and to answer the question, I was homeless several times as a child. I was shuttled to different relatives and friends until I was 3 with no permanent address. Then my mother left an abusive husband, and we were homeless for a bit. At one other time, my mother had some health issues that left us homeless. We were never out in the streets but usually stayed with relatives. Still, though, it's defeating as a child to be living at someone else's house all the time without your own space, toys, rules, etc.

[FreeRangeMama]

Most I've known who do think it's a good experience are young, single, and childless. They tend to like the freedom and don't want responsibility,

This was dh and I. We hitchhiked around the country, slept in parks, and just wandered. It was fun and romantic (I was 18...) until it started getting cold, we were broke ans worn out, and we needed to figure out how to get off the streets.

That is not at all the same as people who have no choice. We met people with all sorts of reasons for being homeless. Ours was absolutely selfish in comparison.

[JamieCatheryn]

I was for a very short time when I was 18. I was in college and slept on campus several days (SAC, library, baptist student union, dorm common area), was supposed to be able to crash at my friend's dorm but she went to party all night rather than let me in.

My DH was homeless for over a month when he was 20, he lived in his car at a campground to save up money to move here. He still showered and got to work daily, and had his clothes washed too. And he got fresh produce and eggs from a farm right by there and cooked on his camp stove. One time he killed a rabbit with his sword and make stew. He sure knew how to do homeless right!

Our friend from church has been staying with us over 3 months now because he wasn't able to stay in the place he was renting (some strung out druggie moved in with the landlady) and can't afford a deposit on another place. His truck broke down too. I wouldn't *really* count him as homeless because this is a home, he has a room and bed and everything, and we're friends. But we're all looking forward to him having a home of his own.

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by FreeRangeMama

This was dh and I. We hitchhiked around the country, slept in parks, and just wandered. It was fun and romantic (I was 18...) until it started getting cold, we were broke ans worn out, and we needed to figure out how to get off the streets.

That is not at all the same as people who have no choice. We met people with all sorts of reasons for being homeless. Ours was absolutely selfish in comparison.

I have a number of friends who've done this. My brother has lived a very free spirited life (though, he has a LO on the way, so that will come to an end). My cousin and his girlfriend traveled around camping for a year and cleaning windows occasionally to make money to eat. I'm not down on that as a decision, but yes, it's very, very different from people who are homeless for all sorts of other reasons.

[feminist~mama]

I voted "other". By your definition, I technically *have* been- although I did have a PO Box, lol.

My DD and I went to South America for 5 months a few years ago and gave up our house while we were gone. Then when we came back we didn't have anywhere to live for a few weeks, so we house-sat for a friend while we looked for a place. It sounds more cush than it was- I was actually super broke and I'm really lucky that it worked out as easily as it did...

Oh, and we had a similar situation a year or so before that, we went to Mexico for a few months and then had to scramble to find a place. Although that time I think I had $$, it was just a bad time of year to be looking for housing. That time it was actually a bit rough and we stayed with assorted friends for about 6 weeks.

[Thystle]

Originally Posted by velochic

After I answered, I was thinking the same thing. I voted "no". However, I had some transition times when I was younger and I didn't have a permanent address of my own. I wouldn't have necessarily called myself "homeless", but by the above definition, I was.

I think there's a lot more to the question, though. Homelessness can actually be an empowering and intentional growth period for people who are trying to find themselves or it can be a desperate situation that people find themselves in unwillingly.

Ok I edited the question to be homeless NOT of ones own choice.

[honeybunmom]

I voted yes, as a child. And I'll be 40 next month and just now realized that I never saw it that way. We lost our home in foreclosure. My dad was the only one who knew that day that we would not be sleeping in our home that night. Truck pulled up to take our stuff and we had to leave. We went to stay with friends. Then with my paternal grandparents. Then my dad left us (mom, 7 year old, 5 year old (me) and 1 year old) there. Then my mom moved us out into an apartment and 2 or so years later into the home we lived in for the next 10 years. Now, my mom lives in a 4 bedroom home, by herself, on a golf course in a gated community and my dad lives in an efficiency.

[femalephish]

Yes, before I was married. I didn't even think of myself as 'homeless' because I had my car to sleep in. I was 21 and was drinking too much to get a job. Because we didn't have a home or jobs anyway, some friends and I decided to trek across the country. Eventually they went back to their parents and my boyfriend(ish) dumped me as soon as we got back to the East coast. (Thank God.)

That's when I sobered up and got a full time job at a gas station. (Which is where I met my DH!) So, I'm glad it worked out that way!