What would it be like to be homeless?

I was stopped yesterday and asked to spare some change for food. What struck me about this encounter was that until the young man spoke to me, I had no inkling that he might have been in such need. It got me thinking.

Its relatively easy to separate myself from the homeless that look…well, homeless. Either from acute desperation or from mental illness, their appearance belies a lack of care and a state of poverty that I have difficulty imagining for myself.

But what if I fell on hard times? I probably wouldn’t let it get to the point where I was out on the street before I sought help. And I’m lucky to have family that would step in if necessary. But what if neither of those things were in place? What if, through some turn of circumstance, I found myself without a place to stay, and without family or friends to call on? What would I do?

What if this was me?

I know some people decline to help panhandlers and such because there are services available that provide assistance. But if I were to suddenly find myself on the street, I would have no idea how to find those resources. I might stop in at a police station and ask – but I’m sure there are fears that prevent many from doing so. Perhaps a library? I don’t know if librarians have that information. Even so, the sheer number of resources I would have to access seems overwhelming. I’d need a safe place to sleep at night (shelters?), food to eat (can people access soup kitchens every day? more than once a day?), a place to bathe and the basic utensils to groom myself with, clothes and a way to clean them, access to computers and printers for putting together job search materials (I understand accessing libraries is tricky without an address), and so on.

I can’t imagine how I would cope. I understand why many turn to drugs or alcohol to make it all go away. Would I end up asking for a few coins from strangers on the street? Or a bus ticket to wherever my family might be? Would I be desperately wishing for someone who would set aside the stereotypes and assumptions to help me out or at least point me in the right direction?

I want to have compassion and understanding. I want to help when my help would not turn into enablement. But how and when? I have no answers. Only questions.