My Friend Was Once Homeless
felt sorry for them and let them go. Linda knew it was time to take drastic action even though it broke her heart. She went to the welfare office and confessed her situation. Her daughter was put into a foster care group home. Linda had lived on the streets to keep her daughters with her, but they were too damaged by what their father had done to them. Even when the oldest daughter was released, she was not reformed and was arrested several times again. The youngest girl ran away to be with her boyfriend. Linda found her but by then the girl was pregnant. She was sixteen years old.
My friend and her daughters fell between the cracks in the system. At the time there were no shelters for families in our town. In fact, up until recently, mothers and children were put up in a big room separated from the men by only a curtain. There was one or two people on duty at night. Not enough to keep the men from wondering over and bothering the women. Our town finally donated enough money to convert a second floor into small private rooms for homeless families.
Linda's life changed when she met a man about ten years older than her. He was a kindly bachelor who offered her a place to stay until she got on her feet. Later on they married and he offered a home to her girls also. The state had custody of them. Linda lived with this man until he died of a heart attack. Her girls were grown, and mothers themselves by then. She worked as a waitress and made enough money to support herself, but she never forgot those years as a homeless person. That's why when I met her she carried that heavy backpack with her cameras and clothes and things. Even though she was living with her boyfriend, she feared being out on the street. So she kept her most valuable possessions with her.
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