Anyone who's ever stayed in a homeless shelter or contemplated doing so knows that there are certain characteristic often seen in such places. One of those characteristics is that people are often expected to take all of their earthly possessions with them each morning when they leave for the day.
Did you arrive with two suitcases? Then you are expected to take both of those suitcases with you each and every morning.
There are some exceptions, depending on where one is staying. At the Dallas Texas shelter known at The Bridge, where I stayed last month, one was allowed to store up to two large bags in what they called "bins". The time I spent there would have been truly miserable if I had not been fortunate enough to snag a bin for myself (thanks to the recommendation of a young man who could see that I was really struggling with the quantities of luggage I had brought with me).
They did a pretty good job of assigning bin numbers to individuals who got them, but the bins were not perfectly secure against theft, and even though my time there was relatively brief, I know of several items which were lost (or more likely, stolen) while stored in my bin. That's in addition to items I lost prior to moving into the Bridge. I lost: A nice blue blanket which had been given to me just the previous day; a Band of Brothers cap with alpha and omega embroidery; a sports jacket which would have been useful for job interviews; and I think one or two other items as well. That's in addition to the most devestating loss, which occurred when I was forced to put my Toshiba laptop computer into a Dallas pawn shop just to raise a few dollars. In theory, I may still be able to get the Toshiba back, if I can repay the pawn shop loan with interest by the specified deadline. But I may need help in order to do that. In a future blog post here, I plan to offer more specific information, particularly in relation to my good reason for wanting to get that laptop computer back.
Back to The Bridge: Pretty much anyone was eligible to get his or her own bin, it was just a matter of good timing. Bins were not always available, since there were more people than the total number of available bins.
Imagine going to a job interview and carrying all of your worldly possessions into the interviewer's office. Perceptions are very important when seeking employment, and I find it hard to imagine that one would not be enormously handicapped when applying for work under such circumstances.
Of course, being homeless does not necessarily mean that one cannot afford to rent a storage facility elsewhere. (Apartments tend to cost a lot more than storage units.) Or one may have a kind and generous friend who will agree to store one's most important personal items for a while, even if that person has no room for one to sleep at night. But it's easy to see how a person can experience great difficulty as a result of such storage issues.
At the Lighthouse Mission where I am currently staying in Bellingham, they handle the storage issue by assigning lockers to people they designate as "residents" as opposed to "guests" (for whom they offer virtually no storage at all).
Currently still I'm considered to be a Lighthouse Mission "guest", so I'm not yet eligible for my own locker, or for my own bunk bed either for that matter.
It should to without saying that I want to go from being a guest to being a resident. Residents are expected to do certain chores from which guests seem to be exempt. I don't mind that idea, as long as my chores are in line with my current physical limitations. I would most likely do well with chores pertaining to the kitchen, or to office work, which is the type of work I have most often done in the past.
The distinction between residents and guests appears to be an accomodation to the limits inherent in the fact that The Lighthouse Mission doesn't have enough physical and material resources to accomodate each person equally.
I would prefer a situation where all who stay there are treated equally, and given equal access to facilities and services, but that would require additional funds and related fund raising efforts, so I am glad at least that they allow me and other newcomers to sleep there at night. Even so, I have heard the phrase "transitional housing" there, and inasmuch as that phrase seems to refer to a more normal situation which would be more comparable to having a home or room or apartment of one's own, that's what I am hoping to get soon. It may be that I can get one through the Opportunity Council here in Bellingham (since I have been on that waiting list for about 9 to 10 years now), or that I can get such housing via disability insurance. To some extent, however, things are still up in the area in that regard.
Meanwhile, I do rent a storage facility nearby in Bellingham, and although I was worried that I would lose it as a result of falling behind on my monthly payments, I met a man yesterday, and he generously offered me some financial help which would at least keep me in that storage room until the end of January 2012. Here's hoping and praying that his offer was sincere. If so, I may survive this experience with minimal personal loss.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Hospital Woes
Recently I went to the Bellingham hospital which treated me after my June 2011 stroke, seeking a place to stay and receive treatment for the scabies I'd picked up at the Lighthouse Mission. To say that they had very little help to offer is an understatement. They kept me long enough to engage in "evaluation" but no longer.Then they sent me back to the Lighthouse Mission. The problems I acquired there remain, and they are getting worse daily. I was not lying when I told them I was feeling suicidal. But I'm not sure that I even have the means with which to implement those "ideations". Economically or physically. I have almost no money left in the bank, and no idea when I can expect any more.
This morning I had to spend almost $2 just for a coffee at The Woods just so I could pee in their restroom. Homeless peole are treated very badly here in America. Try it sometime if you don't believe me.
This morning I had to spend almost $2 just for a coffee at The Woods just so I could pee in their restroom. Homeless peole are treated very badly here in America. Try it sometime if you don't believe me.
Physical Problems
In June 2011, I had a small stroke or "mini stroke" which put me in the hospital for a long weekend here in Bellingham. It was the result of very high blood pressure.
I am still dealing with those problems. It is affecting my sense of balance in a negative way, especially when I try to tote luggage; but also it's affecting my typing, which has always been fast and accurate in the past. I managed to type the preceding sentence only after a great deal of struggle just now. I am starting to realize that it is approaching the level of a physical disability which affects my ability to do my work for employers. Dittto for the kind of physical work I might do for the kind of jobs one might get from Ready Temp and the like. It's a most distressing realization. It seem to have a lot to do with finger strength and also with accuracy of placement. I am noticing it on the computers here at the Bellingham library. There is a very noticeable numbness in my fingers.
If I had to be disabled, I would rather be disabled in a way which wouldn't affect my ability to blog and do other things online. But I may not have a choice in the matter.
Other issues, such as the fact that I now have a serious case of scabies thanks to sleeping at the Lighthouse Mission in Bellingham for the past week or so, compound the difficulty. Regarding my hand, being put out in the cold this morning created a bit of minor frostbite in my hands. That may be affecting the typing too.
I really need some serious ongoing help, probably in the form of monetary disability insurance payments.
I am still dealing with those problems. It is affecting my sense of balance in a negative way, especially when I try to tote luggage; but also it's affecting my typing, which has always been fast and accurate in the past. I managed to type the preceding sentence only after a great deal of struggle just now. I am starting to realize that it is approaching the level of a physical disability which affects my ability to do my work for employers. Dittto for the kind of physical work I might do for the kind of jobs one might get from Ready Temp and the like. It's a most distressing realization. It seem to have a lot to do with finger strength and also with accuracy of placement. I am noticing it on the computers here at the Bellingham library. There is a very noticeable numbness in my fingers.
If I had to be disabled, I would rather be disabled in a way which wouldn't affect my ability to blog and do other things online. But I may not have a choice in the matter.
Other issues, such as the fact that I now have a serious case of scabies thanks to sleeping at the Lighthouse Mission in Bellingham for the past week or so, compound the difficulty. Regarding my hand, being put out in the cold this morning created a bit of minor frostbite in my hands. That may be affecting the typing too.
I really need some serious ongoing help, probably in the form of monetary disability insurance payments.
Monday, December 5, 2011
My Current Situation
The last time I entered a blog post here, I was down in Dallas Texas, and I was kind of stuck there as a result of financial problems. I had not yet managed to make it down to Italy, TX in order to visit with the folks at the Monolithic factory.
Since that time, I have managed to take the Greyhound bus to Waxahachie, TX, from which I took a cab ride to that factory, where I met with a person named Gary Clark. The meeting failed to produce the results for which I was hoping, but Gary was a nice guy, and he paid for one night's stay at a motel there, so that I wouldn't end up even more broke than I already was, and so that I would not end up having to sleep outside that night. He also gave me $200 so that I'd have money with which to partially purchase a bus ticket back to Bellingham, WA. I still had to wait until my next direct deposit payment of unemployment insurance into my Chase account before I'd have the rest of what I'd need for that return trip on Greyhound, which is why I had to stop over in Dallas instead of buying a ticket directly from Waxahachie to Bellingham, but fortunately, by the time I'd returned to Dallas, that payment to my Chase account had been made.
Of course, the return trip was almost as tiring as the trip down there had been, and once I found myself in Bellingham, I still faced housing problems comparable to the one which had sent me on that trip to Texas in the first place. Everett Barton, the Bellingham resident with whom I'd been staying earlier, was no longer in his house, so staying with him was no longer an option, so I ended up having to move into the Lighthouse Mission, a homeless shelter on Holly Street in downtown Bellingham. My first night there would be a blog post in itself, and while my second night there wasn't quite as bad, it's clear to me that my priority list has got to include addressing the financial situation quickly so that I can move into a more normal place of abode. Suffice it to say that it was a long walk to the Lighthouse Mission, during which I ended up urinating on myself because most places with public restrooms were closed; and I spent the evening listening to the guy sleeping on the mat next to mine as he vomited on himself two or three times. Not my idea of fun, and probably not yours, either! But I survived.
The trip to Texas was costly for me in some respects. I ended up having to pawn my laptop PC just so that I'd have a little money while in the Dallas area. I am hoping to be able to quickly earn enough money to pay off that loan in its entirety, and to pay the pawn shop to ship the laptop PC back to me in Washington. If I can't raise that money, I will very likely lose the data I had on that laptop PC, since I had so little advance notice about the need for the money from the pawn shop that I wasn't able to use the normal procedures in order to back up that data prior to putting it into the pawn shop. (They basically hold one's product hostage when using it as a means of assuring that the loan will be repaid, so they can't give one the loan money and then let one temporarily use that product in order to back up the data or go online.) It wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't care about the data files on that computer, but I do, because I was hoping to sell prints made from those graphic files in order to raise additional needed funds. The data means more to me than the computer or the software on it. Both of those things can be easily replaced (albeit at some expense), but the original data files are another matter.
Well, that ought to give a brief overview of my current situation, although it doesn't cover the entire story by any means.
I used the show facilities this morning at the nearest YMCA, and I'm feeling a bit fresher now. I'm basically trying to think clearly about what my next steps should be. Among other things, I plan to go back to the offices of the Opportunity Council in order to assure them that I still want to remain on their waiting list for housing. I've been on that list since last February, and I'm hoping it won't be much longer before my wait will pay off. I also hope to speak with someone there about my intentions of tapping into the funds Starbucks donated to the Opportunity Finance Network, in order to start my own business here. I'm not relying solely on that plan in terms of income; I still need employment, obviously, and working as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army may be very useful in that respect, so that I can earn the money with which to pay off that pawnshop, and also so that I can pay the December storage fee at Sunset Storage, so that I will not lose those items. (Staying at the Lighthouse Mission would be a lot more stressful without the ability to store some of my personal possessions at Sunset Storage.) I also plan to use computers available at the library and at Job Source in order to engage in an intense search for a job.
The experience has been an ordeal to put it mildly, but I really have no choice but to try my best to survive and even thrive through the experience.
More information to come...
Please pray for me.
Since that time, I have managed to take the Greyhound bus to Waxahachie, TX, from which I took a cab ride to that factory, where I met with a person named Gary Clark. The meeting failed to produce the results for which I was hoping, but Gary was a nice guy, and he paid for one night's stay at a motel there, so that I wouldn't end up even more broke than I already was, and so that I would not end up having to sleep outside that night. He also gave me $200 so that I'd have money with which to partially purchase a bus ticket back to Bellingham, WA. I still had to wait until my next direct deposit payment of unemployment insurance into my Chase account before I'd have the rest of what I'd need for that return trip on Greyhound, which is why I had to stop over in Dallas instead of buying a ticket directly from Waxahachie to Bellingham, but fortunately, by the time I'd returned to Dallas, that payment to my Chase account had been made.
Of course, the return trip was almost as tiring as the trip down there had been, and once I found myself in Bellingham, I still faced housing problems comparable to the one which had sent me on that trip to Texas in the first place. Everett Barton, the Bellingham resident with whom I'd been staying earlier, was no longer in his house, so staying with him was no longer an option, so I ended up having to move into the Lighthouse Mission, a homeless shelter on Holly Street in downtown Bellingham. My first night there would be a blog post in itself, and while my second night there wasn't quite as bad, it's clear to me that my priority list has got to include addressing the financial situation quickly so that I can move into a more normal place of abode. Suffice it to say that it was a long walk to the Lighthouse Mission, during which I ended up urinating on myself because most places with public restrooms were closed; and I spent the evening listening to the guy sleeping on the mat next to mine as he vomited on himself two or three times. Not my idea of fun, and probably not yours, either! But I survived.
The trip to Texas was costly for me in some respects. I ended up having to pawn my laptop PC just so that I'd have a little money while in the Dallas area. I am hoping to be able to quickly earn enough money to pay off that loan in its entirety, and to pay the pawn shop to ship the laptop PC back to me in Washington. If I can't raise that money, I will very likely lose the data I had on that laptop PC, since I had so little advance notice about the need for the money from the pawn shop that I wasn't able to use the normal procedures in order to back up that data prior to putting it into the pawn shop. (They basically hold one's product hostage when using it as a means of assuring that the loan will be repaid, so they can't give one the loan money and then let one temporarily use that product in order to back up the data or go online.) It wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't care about the data files on that computer, but I do, because I was hoping to sell prints made from those graphic files in order to raise additional needed funds. The data means more to me than the computer or the software on it. Both of those things can be easily replaced (albeit at some expense), but the original data files are another matter.
Well, that ought to give a brief overview of my current situation, although it doesn't cover the entire story by any means.
I used the show facilities this morning at the nearest YMCA, and I'm feeling a bit fresher now. I'm basically trying to think clearly about what my next steps should be. Among other things, I plan to go back to the offices of the Opportunity Council in order to assure them that I still want to remain on their waiting list for housing. I've been on that list since last February, and I'm hoping it won't be much longer before my wait will pay off. I also hope to speak with someone there about my intentions of tapping into the funds Starbucks donated to the Opportunity Finance Network, in order to start my own business here. I'm not relying solely on that plan in terms of income; I still need employment, obviously, and working as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army may be very useful in that respect, so that I can earn the money with which to pay off that pawnshop, and also so that I can pay the December storage fee at Sunset Storage, so that I will not lose those items. (Staying at the Lighthouse Mission would be a lot more stressful without the ability to store some of my personal possessions at Sunset Storage.) I also plan to use computers available at the library and at Job Source in order to engage in an intense search for a job.
The experience has been an ordeal to put it mildly, but I really have no choice but to try my best to survive and even thrive through the experience.
More information to come...
Please pray for me.
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