Search Results for "storage units"
Are Storage Units Modern-Day Carboard Boxes?
Published October 29, 2009 @ 10:30AM PT
Somewhere along the line, the cardboard box became synonymous with homelessness. But today, these old stereotypes are changing as our modern-era homeless population grows and utilizes existing resources. Today, many homeless individuals and families are taking shelter in storage units.
An article in last week's Chicago Tribune told the story of a family living in a storage unit. It's not a new phenomenon; similar stories have been reported out of Hawaii and Maryland. At $179/month, the price is certainly right. And as I wrote back in March, storage units beat the dangers of the street, the rules of shelters, and the stigma of tent cities for people who are newly homeless.
Still - it's ironic, isn't it? Storage units exist because people have too much stuff. So much stuff, in fact, that we can't even squeeze it into our houses or apartments. Yet, at the same time, homelessness is at an all-time high in many cities. What does this say about us a society, about the enormous gap between the rich and the poor?
Have we come to value "stuff" more than we value people?
Homeless Living In Storage Units
Published March 28, 2009 @ 08:17PM PT
What comes with a lock, shelter from the elements, a low monthly rent, and enough space for personal belongings?
A rental storage unit, of course.
With record numbers of Americans out of work and unable to afford housing, people must be resourceful to keep a roof over their head. Of course, a storage unit is not ideal. But it beats the dangers of the street, the rules of shelters, and the stigma of tent cities for people who are newly homeless.
This is not a new phenomena. The Washington Post published a story several years ago that highlighted this issue in Maryland:
"Sometimes they can fix them up really nice," said Lawrence, who works at Economy Storage in Waldorf. They might add insulation, carpet on the floor, a bed, a rack for their clothes, a television, a hot plate, maybe even a little grill out back. "It's just like a little efficiency, but without running water."
But as the economy has worsened, so has the incidence of people living in storage units, reported KHON in Hawaii. See the report below.
Could we be on to something here? Might storage units-turned-SROs be the answer to tent cities and overcrowded shelters?
On Shopping Carts, Thanksgiving, and Homelessness
Published November 27, 2008 @ 06:57AM PT
What has four wheels and carries a turkey?
Unless you own a turkey farm, chances are that the bird in your oven took a spin in a shopping cart. Most of us don't think twice about using a shopping cart (except when it has a squeaky wheel).
On the streets, a shopping cart is called a "buggy." When I was homeless, I avoided "pushing a buggy" as long as I could. When that day finally came - when I had to get something from point A to Point B and had no other option but to use a shopping cart - I could no longer be in denial about my situation. I was homeless. As you can imagine, accepting that reality was devastating.
You would think that pushing a buggy on the street is as easy as it is in the grocery store parking lot. I assure you it's not. I had worked a week in a temp job and was able to pay for a SRO (single room occupancy hotel) in North Hollywood. When my money ran out they rolled me up and I had to take my stuff to my storage unit a few miles away. My first challenge was finding a cart. Then, I filled it up and started the long trek, but found going over the curbs extremely difficult. I manhandled the cart over each curb for about a half a mile and I was exhausted. It was very humiliating; people drove by laughing at me.
Right when I was about to give up I saw a mother across the street with her baby carriage and she turned the thing around to go over the curbs. Wow! Was it really that simple? Sure enough, on each street curb I turned my buggy around to backup over the curb. It worked and I was well on my way to becoming a seasoned homeless person.
That day was really a low point of my life. Maybe one of the lowest. I wish I could put into words how crushing it was to my sense of worth. Accepting that I was homeless meant that I had to also accept I may never get out of homelessness. But I was one of the lucky ones.
Thanksgiving is a time when we take a moment to be grateful. Today, I am grateful for people like you who care about the issue of homelessness. It was someone just like you that supported the organization that helped me get off the streets. It was someone just like you that clothed me and fed me until I was able to fend for myself. It was someone just like you that gave me a chance to dream again and a chance to become a normal, housed person again.
Today, there are hundreds of thousands of people on the streets, pushing a buggy, homeless, and hopeless. They need someone to give them a chance.
I don't know you, except for two things: you're sitting at a computer and you care about homelessness (there is no other possible explanation for you to be reading a blog about homeless issues than you have a heart for people). Even if you are not a religious person please take a moment today to pray in your own way for the invisible people out there who are sleeping in the streets, in their cars, or in a state of poverty that should not exist in this great country of ours.
From all of us at Change.org, have a happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for keeping the conversation of homelessness and poverty going. Together we can affect change and make a difference in the world.
Maryland Signs Nation's First Homeless Hate Crime Law
Published May 07, 2009 @ 12:40PM PT
Today, Maryland became the first state in the union to extend hate crime protection to homeless people. Bravo, Maryland, for this a bold, symbolic response to the targeted attacks on people who don't have a home. But why not just address the problem by getting serious about ending homelessness?
Unlike other categories protected by most hate crime laws - such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion - a person's "homeless" status is not permanent. In fact, it is preventable and can be quickly ended with targeted services, like Housing First.
So while this protection is important to protect people in the short-term, the need for such a law underscores the urgency to get serious about ending homelessness to the top of the federal policy agenda. Housing will, in fact, protect our most vulnerable citizens better than any kind of hate crime law.
