Growing up Audhild

Warning! this post is a little political. This is my opinion based on my personal experience. If you don’t like it that is okay.

I have noticed lately that people are angry with other people for simply trying to survive. People just minding their own business are getting attacked? Why are we attacking people?

This is a concept I have never understood! Why do we have to hurt and hate other people. The reasons are small. They include how they live and how they parent their children. It also includes who they love, what they look like, and what they believe.

I saw a few Facebook posts angry at homeless people for simply trying to survive. These parents were angry that some homeless people were in the park. The post judged them for being homeless like they have all the control. I understand the concern for the safety of the children and I agree. But I don’t understand being mad at the person without a home?

I know it’s a stigma that ALL homeless people are on drugs. That simply is not true, especially in America today. The cost of living in comparison to the minimum wage is mind boggling. Most homeless people today can not afford housing. Believe it or not there is also not a lot of help and support for the homeless. In my town we have three homeless shelters, only one allows families. The housing authority has a three year waiting list along with all low income housing. The two other shelters do not allow the people to stay inside all day. The homeless people are kicked out at 7:30 in the morning. They are not allowed to return until 4:30 in the evening.

Not all homeless shelters are what they are made out to be. Most facilities get donated food with a small budget. The donated food is rotten most of the time. Sometimes, staff takes some of the donations home. The rules are strict for good reason, but it makes it hard on the people in the shelter. There are hundreds of different people with diverse backgrounds crammed into a small space. Arguments, fights and misunderstanding are daily. Some places embezzle the money from the government instead of putting it into the facilities its meant for. Part of that money also has only specific places and things its meant to be used for. That leaves needs in areas that are neglected.

Let’s revisit the cost of living. I will give the numbers I found from the town I live in. I was offered a job that was to pay me $25 an hour for full time. Before taxes That’s $4,000 in one month. Rent for a family my size is easily over $2,000 a month that’s already more then half my income. Now we add in utilities that is typically over $200 on average. Car payment and insurance are about $500 together. I don’t know about anyone else but when it comes to food my kids put away over $1,000 every month. After all that I’m left with $300 that goes to gas, medications, and any other things that come up. These are not exact numbers, but they come close.

My point is we are angry with these people for being homeless like it is all their fault. Yes, a part of it is their fault. There are people who do drugs and are homeless. There are also people who quit a job without another one lined up. Along with people who got really sick and can not work. But it is not just on them. Why do we still have drugs in the U.S? Why do we not have supports for good education on good jobs? How about not having toxic work environments created by the employer? What about acceptable help for disabled people? Or places for elderly to go who can no longer take care of themselves? There are so many reasons other than drugs for people to be homeless.

Why do we let the government put all the blame on individuals? Why do they take little responsibility to help them? Why are there countries in Europe who have little to no homeless? What are those countries doing that we are not? Do we just need to be reminded to not judge people who are living in crisis?

These factors need to be considered when feeling anger toward the homeless people. They are in the park, on the corner, or in the woods. No story has a straight A and B line. Again we need to make the cost of living lower or give people more money to have a home. I struggle to survive on $25 an hour for a three-bedroom house. I can’t imagine anyone being capable of affording a home on $15 an hour. At the end of the day just be kind you do not know what other people are facing everyday.