Friday, May 10, 2019

It's a Hard Knock Life

I have a friend who has found herself homeless at 53 years old. She has multiple health issues. She has the amazing superpower of always being hired. She has made her way through life with a variety of professions. She most recently lost a job as a server. She disappeared. She had lost consciousness and found herself in the hospital with none of her belongings except her social security card and driver's license that she had tucked in her bosom.

Locally, many shelters are geared toward men or families. Many shelters turn away those with health issues. Many shelters are for those with addiction issues. If you are clean, you are not welcomed.

She became homeless on a Saturday morning. Shelters each have their own admission policies: call each morning between 6 & 6:30am to see if there will be space; get to the shelter before 7am on Tuesday morning; all admissions are on Thursdays. Some said they had wait lists, one as long as 6 months. She couldn't find one anywhere on a weekend. She doesn't have a phone.

It's bad enough she has co-morbidity health concerns, this is too much.

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