Bethany's Blog ~ Day 4

Wednesday March 17th. Today was another eye-opening day. Kelly and I had spent the night last night upstairs in the shelter, so we woke the ladies up, helped them with their meds, and made sure everyone was ready and out by 7:30 am. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most all the women were very good about getting themselves ready to go, and several of them were all dressed up and on their way to work. Part of me was worried during the night that maybe the ladies would take advantage of us, since they knew there were new volunteers up there every night. I was also nervous about having to make sure everyone left by 7:30; especially since some of them didn't have anywhere to go. Many go across the street to N Street Village for the day, as they keep opposite hours as the shelter and offer meals, showers, warmth, and activities. The night went smoothly, and I learned so much about the lives of some of the women. One person's story stuck out to me. She is an older Hispanic woman from who has diabetes. She has been coming to the shelter for several months now. Before becoming homeless she lived with her sister and her husband; her only family in the US. She was forced to leave her sister's and not allowed any contact with her after she attempted to stand up for her sister when her husband repeatedly abused her. Her sister chose to stay with the abusive husband. I learned that so many of the women come from situations like this and have no family or friends to help them.

This morning we participated in a Homelessness Simulation. At first it was hard to understand what we were learning from the simulation, but we soon got a glimpse of what it's like for a person to lose their job, home, etc. and how difficult it is to navigate the system to try to get assistance. It's not difficult at all to quickly lose everything; all it might take is an injury that prevents a person from working (lost job), no health insurance (huge debt), no money saved for emergency expenses (no food, utilities, lose home). There are services available such as unemployment, housing assistance, food pantries, etc., but most of them have pages of paperwork that require certain information (many don't have their social security card, drivers license, etc.), to be completed entirely (some don't speak English well, or can't read), long waiting lists, have imcome limits (many people make just over the cut-off limit and therefore do not qualify for assistance), and send people on what seems like an impossible "wild goose chase". Many people don't have the means for transportation and have a difficult time making it to places during hours they are open. This simulation really helps me to be aware of barriers that exist for people who are or are at risk for becoming homeless. I feel people just assume the homeless are simply not trying hard enough, or somehow put themselves in the positions they are in. If something were to happen in my life, I have friends and family I can count on to help me. Many homeless come from abusive or traumatic situations. Many also deal with mental health and/or addiction problems that add yet another layer to their difficulties.