97 Years Old and Homeless

categories: elderly, News, Stories from the Streets

Published October 18, 2009 @ 01:14PM PT

Bessie Mae Berger is 97 years old. She lives on the streets of Los Angeles in a 1973 Chevy Suburban, homeless.

If you thought these kinds of stories couldn't happen in America, think again.

This week, the LA Times profiled Bessie and her two sons -- Larry and Charlie, ages 60 and 62. The story explains - in excruciating, heartbreaking detail - how this elderly mother and her two sons survive without a home.

Empty parking lots, public washrooms, and panhandling for money to buy food are a daily reality for Bessie and her sons. Sleeping on the front seat of a car - packed with all of their worldly possessions - wrapped in blankets. According to the LA Times, they would like to find a way to stay together in a house or apartment, which is why the trio has had difficulty finding housing.

In this country, we enjoy "rags to riches" stories that warm the heart and make us feel hopeful. But stories like Bessie's are real, and they need to find a way off the streets and into the conversation about poverty and homelessness in America.

Image: LA Times

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Comments (11)

What a heart-breaking story. At Coalition for the Homeless, we often say that "the face of homelessness has changed" to encourage our community to think of women and children on the streets, in addition to the stereotype of a male panhandler. However, even those community members sensitive to the truth about the homeless population are unlikely to picture such an elderly woman living in homelessness.

This is certainly something we will share; thank you for posting!

Posted by Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida on 10/19/2009 @ 09:31AM PT
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At your "Coalition for the Homeless" how many homeless at this time are members?

Posted by James Brouillette on 11/14/2009 @ 11:59AM PT
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People blindly believe the system will react with compassion. This is the face of our hard heartedness. I know their are caring persons out there, but this story gets told once a year. From Sept until Dec.

And often how bone chilling cold it gets in a car is not told.

As how is omitted a society which left this lady out in the cold, failed this fine old women.

Yes us of poverty Must speak out. Here is one way.

It is Human rights day Dec. 10 this year. We are asking people to use their computers browsers to look up the word poverty.

There is much more to poverty than that one word, but we want to focus on one word. We are asking people to use their, their schools computer, or a library computer to look up poverty on Yahoo and Google browsers a few times that day. So it hit top ten of the search engines that day.

Then we can point out "some people are interested in the topic of poverty" to the media. Hospitality House Inc. will tell its members to do the same

We also Will be contacting groups schools churches to do the same. We hope to have everyone we contact, to be contacting 3 individuals or groups to join the "Look up Poverty to End Poverty, Call" on the entire day of Dec. 10th 2009

Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 10/19/2009 @ 10:27AM PT
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Yesterday I was in downtown Milford Oregan, and talked to a lady (she is some where in her 70s) in a wheelchair. This lady has lost both legs and lives in her wheel chair. I did not believe that this could happen in the USA untill I talked to her. She would not say how long she had been homeless, but lead me to believe in was no less then 5 years.

Being homeless my self I could not believe the goverments lets this kind of thing be happening to the elders in this country but it now appears it in fact happening.

It is time to stop talking and it is past time to get thoings done.

Posted by James Brouillette on 10/21/2009 @ 12:54PM PT
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Yesterday I was in downtown Milford Oregan, and talked to a lady (she is some where in her 70s) in a wheelchair. This lady has lost both legs and lives in her wheel chair. I did not believe that this could happen in the USA untill I talked to her. She would not say how long she had been homeless, but lead me to believe in was no less then 5 years.

Being homeless my self I could not believe the goverments lets this kind of thing be happening to the elders in this country but it now appears it in fact happening.

It is time to stop talking and it is past time to get thoings done.

Posted by James Brouillette on 10/21/2009 @ 12:54PM PT
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People do not believe this will happen in America because we are not told it IS Happening. Think this is the only over 70 women who was homeless?

This lady and her two sons was put into three months of housing from the typical Holidays news coverage, one fell through the safety net story.

Two questions. One personal for this crew of people. One societal. What happen when its still cold in February and their time runs down?

The second question, of a wider interest. What happens to the millions of homeless who the so called safety net failed to work for them? How many of them need to die, before society takes a real stock of the problem?

America needs people like you, telling the media "us underpaid people working or disabled, are part of the American way of life. We merely exist. It is time we strive.

It doesn't matter if costs go down or pay comes up, as long as we can afford repairs, a hobby and to feel human. Not like a cog. Here just to pay bills. This is Not being fully human.

Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 10/22/2009 @ 07:53AM PT
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Thanks Jan, however being homeless myself, I know for a fact the news coverage people do not want to hear from people like me.

I have try ed to get some storeys printed in my home state and NEVER did I get anything at all said about the homeless in any paper, that tells me a lot about what the people are being told.

Posted by James Brouillette on 10/24/2009 @ 10:49AM PT
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Where has our country gone? This is horrible, I feel for her. I lived on the streets disabled from Lupus, pregnant and starving and was unable to receive help with housing. It was very tramautic, makes Socialism look pretty darn good at when i read this story.

Posted by Dawn Biro on 10/25/2009 @ 01:17PM PT
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That is GHASTLY! "Disposable people"....is THIS what America's all about?!

Posted by Candyce Rice on 10/25/2009 @ 01:26PM PT
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Wrote a long comment and it disappeared!

Why is no one addressing the wrongly cut housing vouchers in N CAL ? She should have been assisted and her son allowed as allowed as the live in aides that they are.

When will people who are frail or disabled who are not lobbied by the groups for people developmetnally delayed get any hopes of equal help and access?

or the failures of the many funded non-profits and agencies

like these excuses for failure-

go to many meetings, not avail to do the work but gets miles pats on the head "just" since 1990 . Who would expect any success with only 19 years of funding and "work"!

We are doing all that we can to help our community with disabilities but it takes a village and much more to make all the changes we need. The ADA just passed in 1990. We go to public hearings, to the cities and speak to our official legislators and whoever we think might be able to help. We also attend all the *** meetings and discuss these issues about not having enough options for people with disabilities when it comes to housing and many other topics that are overlooked by those without disabilities....

can't afford enough food but go buy the services, who don't deal with section 8 or accessibility, that we are funded to supply?!

if your voucher is currently with ***, I recommend two things: Homefinders listing service (costs $) and looking on rentalguide.com for newish buildings with elevators. I don't know whether CIL over there has any ideas. If your voucher is with ***, then I recommend rentalguide.com (again) or possibly calling realtors (Yellow Pages under Real Estate-Management) to see who might have the type of accessible unit you need. *** has a list you can get online at ***.org, but most of the units on their list are (literally) up stairs. Glad you got your 2BR, and sorry you're having trouble finding anything good. Keep in touch.

Posted by DARLENE MATTHEWS on 10/25/2009 @ 02:07PM PT
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Posted by James Brouillette on 11/09/2009 @ 12:11PM PT
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Author

Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.