Homelessness 103 – Urban Hunting

When you live in the city and the time comes to eat there are only so many options. I can’t very well hunt squirrel and cook it up in a fire in some alleyway (though that would be pretty hilarious), nor can I fish legally without a license. I can’t pick berries and fruits or grow vegetables. With these limitations in mind a homeless person has to do find new ways to get food.

Now I’m not a good panhandler, if I ask for money it’s usually not for food but for bus fair. I do know several good panhandlers though. John (not his real name) for example is a middle aged white man. He loves pot, like a lot, but that’s the only drug I know he uses. He’s a professional homeless man. On a good day of begging he can bring in a hundred dollars, on a bad day he’ll get maybe five. He isn’t interested in buying too many drugs, usually food, cigarettes and some pot. Though I hate to admit it most the panhandlers I’ve met in my 6 months of homelessness are looking mainly for booze or drug money. It’s a hard truth and I don’t mind expressing it. It doesn’t make them bad people, but addicts will do what addicts have to do to get their fix.

Another option is to hit the free-food places around the city. There are plenty of churches and cafeteria’s here where you can go to get anything from a sandwich and some snacks to a hot meal (some of it is even edible). From what I hear the food we homeless get is about the same as prisoners get to give you an idea. When I have to live like this I can’t travel to far away from these places or the travel would be long and exhausting. This forces me to stay within range of these resources.

Another option, one I also have taken, is to sign up for food stamps. The first of every month I get $200 to use on food. I don’t sell my food stamp card, nor have I had a dire reason to do so. Many of us at the bottom however often sell theirs for 50% value, as I’m sure many of you are aware. This is a reality. You can judge them negatively if you like but there are plenty of good and bad reasons to sell these cards. Spend some time at the bottom for a month or so and taste the realities of true poverty and you’ll find it hard to judge people who sell their cards with one sweeping judgement whether it’s one way or another.

You may be asking yourself, “Why not just get a job and buy the food your damn self you bum!” Well yes, that is the end goal. But you don’t begin building the pyramid by starting at the top. My next entry will explain my personal struggles with finding work and the struggles that face many people who are homeless in Ohio.

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Homelessness 101 – Nature & Introduction

There are two things I hate when I’m sleeping out in nature. Rain and insects. First the rain. Shelter isn’t always easy to find, even in the city. One often will find themselves at a bus stop with a roof but even then that will only allow you so many hours of rest before people start showing up and giving you weird looks. So the best thing I can do against that is stay at the bus stop until I can get inside the local college around here. At most colleges there are rooms where people can study, read and sleep without being bothered. This is essentially where I sleep as often as I can.

With insects it becomes a particular bummer when I’m outside. Right now I have a sheet that I use to lay or sit on as I read and wait for the college to open so I can get some sleep. Beetles, ants and all sorts of creepy crawlies however sure love to pay you a visit when you’re doing this so it’s good to find a few spots I can squat where I can avoid them but that’s easier said then done.

These are the sorts of things most homeless people have to put up with. There are of course many other issues as well, not all as bad as you’d think however but we’ll get to that in later installments of my blog. I’ll include back story here and there as well as any adventures and troubles I find along the way. If you were ever curious to hear a brutally honest perspective of a homeless man then I hope you subscribe and find out!