It Couldn't Happen in My Family,It Couldn't Happen in My Family

I asked online friends if they had ever been homeless or knew anyone who had this experience. Here is a response from one of my friends from the momwriters list. Bea Sheftel ___________________________________________________

Have you ever thought homelessness could happen to someone in your immediate family? Like everything else that can go wrong, people always tend to think, "That can not happen to me." If it happens to someone in your family, you will feel the effects of homelessness, too.

"Dirk" (not his real name) was always a hard worker, but with no high school diploma or high school equivalency certification, he always has had lower income jobs. But his wife and daughter receive disability benefits so he was able to keep his family going, albeit with difficulty. The family lost their home and filed bankruptcy because of high medical bills, so they had to rent homes thereafter. But last spring, they were evicted because the owner of the house was getting married and he and his bride wanted to live in this house.

It was difficult to find rental housing that permits pets. The family has two miniature collies the family has had for a number of years. The dogs were like members of the family. They could not give them away.

Dirk found someplace to store their freezer, packed up most of their belongings and placed them in storage and began to live in their battered motor home, moving from one campground to another until their money was exhausted and they had nowhere to go. They parked the motor home in the back parking lot at the county fairgrounds, until the fair board found it and sent the police department to have the motor home removed. They had nowhere to go, causing embarrassment and frustration to their family and closest friends. How had it all come to this?

Dirk asked to park his motor home at the home of his parents for a day, but the day turned into weeks, then months. He did not have a job and was becoming depressed. He did not take care of himself. What was the use? His wife kept after him to find a place for them to live. She thought she was going to lose her mind over all of it. His daughter has a toddler of her own who she was at risk of losing to child protective services if they did not have a safe, dry home.

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