Life at a homeless shelter.

Last week, I was offered full-time employment that would have paid me $13/hour.  I couldn't take the job; it was overnight, and I have nowhere to sleep during the day.  The shelter does not accommodate people who work overnight; everyone has to get up at 6:00 a.m., every morning, every day of the week, no matter what.  

The public perception that homeless people "just need to get a job" is based on a near-total ignorance of what homeless life is like.  There are homeless people who do work, and who have nowhere to keep their things during the day because the shelters don't have enough high-school-sized lockers for everyone.  A homeless person who works often uses a desk drawer at work to have a change of clothing.  The shelters often demand that a homeless person who is working provide a letter to the shelters, from the employer, that proves that the person is working, to be eligible for a saved bed.  Of course this puts a working homeless person at a disadvantage; either tell your employer that you're homeless and be stigmatized at work or don't provide proof of your employment to the shelter and potentially have nowhere to sleep after you have worked an entire day.  

I can't cook at the shelter or store food in my locker.  If I am to eat food that's cooked and that is not the breakfast or dinner provided by the shelter, it isn't food that I have cooked; I have to buy it already cooked.  That is expensive.  

When it is cold outside, there are few places to sit down that don't require that you buy something.  That is expensive.

It is also expensive to have to buy clothes that are specific to every workplace where I am hired after my employment at the last workplace was terminated because someone did a Google search of "Lena Kochman" and thought I was insane.  

It is also very depressing to be homeless, particularly when it has happened to you three times in a row for no reason and despite all of your strenuous efforts to have your rights respected so that it wouldn't happen.   



I HAVE SAID ALL OF THIS, AND THINGS LIKE IT, BEFORE.  I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT HOMELESSNESS SINCE 2011.  IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU CANNOT MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND THAT YOU HAVE A COMPULSION TO MIND MY BUSINESS, DON'T MIND ONLY THE PARTS OF IT THAT MAKE YOU THINK THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE TO VICTIM-BLAME ME FOR THE RESULTS OF YOUR ABUSE OF ME.


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