Why I’m so Passionate on this Topic

Many times I have stated that shedding light upon the plight of the financially insecure is important to me because I have experienced this personally. I want to share my story so that on one hand, my readers can understand why I’m so passionate about the topic and can be comfortable that I’m knowledgeable about the fact. On the other hand, I want people to know that it isn’t pitying that these people want, rather for there to be enlightenment on the part of the public. Open your eyes to the struggles of the people in your own community.

Shelters

Even before graduating 5th grade my family was no longer in our home. My sister and I lived with my grandmother, my brother with my eldest brother (who had already moved out on his own years prior) and my mother out wherever she could lay her head at the moment. Having already having to house my cousins as well that summer, my grandmother was at her wit’s end. First finding a reason to kick out my sister, and then a few days later: me. After a week, it was decided that we would have to go to a shelter so we could get back on our feet. My mother, sister, and I first shelter was First Light, there was so much overflow we didn’t even have a room.

We slept on mats in the dayroom for a week until we were moved to The Salvation Army where there was space. It was rough conditioning: having to share a room with another family, having to wake up every morning at six in the morning, having to leave during the day and not being able to come back till the afternoon because the time was supposed to be used for “searching for jobs” which is pretty hard to do when it’s the middle of Alabama summer: 90 degrees, with two teen daughters, and no car. However, it was still a place to lay our heads.

Finally, after some months, we’ve moved to the nicest place of them all: Pathways, where the motto is “A woman’s way home”I felt most at home here. While it is inevitable that you have to share a room wherever you go, the staff was the nicest and there were no more ridiculous mandatory things such as waking up before you have to or kicking people out during the day. These people helped my mother find a job and eventually find a new place for us to call home. I feel passionate about this because it is right in the neighborhood. From 6th-grade- homeless me jumping off the bus to go to the shelter, from University me hopping out the car to go to classes, it is within walking distance of UAB and I often feel nostalgic and grateful whenever I pass by the building.

Future

I hope this small chunk of my history can inspire people to help others. At the end of the day, you never know what a person could be going through. It is important to care about your family, and friends, as well as your community. You never know, one day the closest people to you could turn their back on you in a time of need and you’ll have to use resources you never thought you’d have to. I’m writing this to make sure everyone in need will have access to said resources. If we never used them, there’s no telling where me or my family would be today.

What is it to be Homeless?

Homeless – when a person lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, also if said person sleeps in a shelter designated for temporary living accommodations or in places not designated for human habitation.

Having read the definition above, you may already have a clue of where I’m going with this blog post. Often times than not, my thoughts revolve around the trials and tribulations of the less fortunate. The topic of being without a home and at the end of your rope is very important to me, from the perspective that I–myself have walked a mile in these shoes and have seen rough times.

The Statistics

Being poverty stricken isn’t anything shocking or new. There are about 1.6 billion homeless people in the world, and according to endhomlessness.org “A total of 552,830 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2018. This number represents 17 out of every 10,000 people in the United States. HUD’s Annual Point-in-Time Count, the only nation-wide survey of homeless people, provides this data and other useful statistics. Most people experiencing homelessness are individuals (67 percent). The remainder (33 percent) are people in families with children.”

To narrow it down, I will talk about the percentage in the state I reside in: Alabama. 3, 434 homeless people statewide, and 901 in Birmingham alone. The main reason I’m giving this information is to hopefully spread awareness on poverty. While it’s impossible to change poverty overnight on the global level, we as a community can definitely help change things on the local level within the community.This being said, it raises the question: What causes homelessness?

The Causes

There are many different reasoning’s behind why a person can end up on the streets. The most common being a lack of housing that low income people can afford. Without housing options, people face eviction, instability and homelessness. There are also cases of running away from domestic abuse, or racial inequality, with minorities not being given the same opportunities at housing and work as others.

The Homeless in Plain Sight

City of Mirrors

Birmingham, much like any city, is bustling Metro business during the day and swift ever-present nightlife once the sun goes down. I often like to think of it as the City of Mirrors. No, not because of the architecture. Nor because we are vain, (though, there are lots of eye-candy wandering the south). No, I say City of Mirrors because a mirror itself physically shows symmetry. Everything is the same, just flipped.

The mirror correlates to city life; the day time being normal whereas the nighttime is flipped. Often times at night, there is a suspension on reality, everything seems just a little bit off. Now, you may be wondering what I’m going on about and how can mirrors possibly correlate to the topic of homelessness. Well, mirrors represent how there are two sides to a coin, in the city, there’s always a second use of places that citizens don’t primarily see.

Homeless Hotspots

Having been homeless in the past, especially with the added mandatory rule of having to leave the shelter for a specific amount of time during the day, I know many of what I refer to as the “Homeless Hotspots.” The very first place I think of when referring to the downtown area would be the Birmingham Public Library (Central Branch.) For the obvious reasons, homeless loitered here. In the raging summer heat, people could stay in the air-conditioned building, drink water, and rest in a pleasant atmosphere. Although it was against the rules, people often washed up in the bathrooms and took naps in the chairs. It was also an ideal place to fill job applications with the free use of computers and wifi.

The second biggest place would be The The BJCC. The large concert building sat along many restaurants and stores. My mother, sister, and I often walked through the center to get to the store. When it was a particularly hot day, we would sit in the shade on the edge of the fountain and look at the waterfall of water. We weren’t the only ones, there were dozens of homeless people and families roaming around, just trying to get through the day.

I believe it is important to point out these hotspots. Although I only pointed out two, there are hundreds of these places around Birmingham. While the public may not see these “icognito” places such as the library, it is no secret that the homeless problem is out of control because there are many places where the homeless are seen in plain sight, like under bridges and near the bus station.