Reality Bites .......

As the American Dream is all about consuming and buying - imagine downsizing your life to the bare essentials 


While you are at the shelter. space is limited so you really can't have alot there. 


Clothing, shoes and pictures, and personal hygene stuff, is pretty much it.. in our room, we had 2 beds, 1 dresser, and 2 closets.

My daughter had pictures of my grand daughter, and my parents up. She decorated her closet walls with posters, those  rubber bracelets, and other items. it looked really cute!


It was hard for me, because all my pictures are elsewhere... 


 I went ahead and left personal care stuff in the bathroom.. much easier that way! When we needed anything like QTips, shampoo/conditioner, toilet paper, tooth paste etc, we would write it on a sheet and the shelter provided it~ it was nice because it really enabled people to save their money~


But living your life out of a suitcase every day is not like one of those magazine features "travelling light"

The reality of living in a shelter

I'd like to take a minute to tell you about my experiences at the shelter we were at.. it's something unless you have been in my shoes - homeless you will never know about visiting and volunteering is one thing - living in one is another


The shelter we were at is a family shelter, and really, I had visions in my head about shelters, and boy was I off! lol We were in the shelter starting the 22 of December 2011. 


 The way the program works is, if you are un employed, you have to put in 15-20 job applications a week.. you could do it online, or face to face. When you are employed, you look for housing... they have a nurse that is there 2 times a week, and I have to say, she is VERY knowledgeable they have a  counsellor for kids, and she was great they have case managers for the adults, I'm going take the 5th on this one.. 


 They have a housing coordinator, they have someone who works with people after the move into new housing. 
 I always felt like I didnt fit in; like the folks who worked there didn't want us there.. things were told to some residents, and not to others.. not a good way to do business~ 

 Breakfast was served from 6am-9am; cereal, fruit, toast, and we made our own breakfast.
 Lunch was whatever time you ate it. 
Supper was at 6, and ALL residence had to be present, and in the dinning room, unless they were sick, or was un comfortable because one of the volunteers. Supper is provided by different Churches every week, and sometimes those volunteers are teen agers. Well, we were written up because there were 5 teen age girls there to volunteer, and my daughter was uncomfortable, and chose to stay in our room...


 After supper, there were volunteers that took the children down stairs for an hour for play time.. ALL volunteers were from Churches in the area. They would cook all meals at their home, then bring it in. There were chores that had to be done every night, and most parents would do their chores while the children were downstairs. I would wait till after playtime, and have my daughter help. 

 It was hard going into the shelter in Dec, because we were going to spend the 23-25 with my oldest and her inlaws. We couldn't, because we HAD to be back at the shelter at 6pm. the other 2 shelters are not that way. I understand the reasoning for it; to have families have supper together! 


 We had an assigned day to do laundry, and I fel like a child because they had to put the soap in, because they were those new washers. At 9pm, stuff to pack lunches were set out, and you would pack your lunch for the next day. that food was also brought in by volunteers.. and sometimes, I think they would forget how long the lunch meat had been in the freezer.. Why? because when it would thaw it looked funny and tasted badly!
 In the shelter were MANY different folks, from different placed.. ALL walks of life. For the most part, it was OK, I just dont like the treatment I recieved,,,

That's me off the ladder

So, needless to say, because I had used my rent money to pay for mommas cremation, in July 2010, I lost my home.. everything I owned went into storage, and we were staying at one of my daughters friends homes..

 To back track a bit, a week after momma passed away, I was hospitalized, and diagnosed with sever COPD, and Type 2 diabetes.. also, the weekend we were to move out of the house, my son fell off a 24 foot roof, shattered one heel, and broke the other...

 Staying at the friends house was ok for the most part, but for whatever reason, my unemployment from PA didn't transfere over, and I had no income.. the tension was getting to be a bit much, as the 2 best friends, (my daughter and her friend ) had a falling out..

 We had come back to my home town of Chelsea, MI to visit friends and go to the fair.. my friend asked me if I wanted to stay with her and her children for 30 days, while I got things worked out.. So, thats what we did.

 It was hard, because I was getting no income, and was sunk deep in depression... in 2010, Feb, April, Sept, and Jan 2011, we lost four family members.. Step dad, momma, uncle, and Grand mother...

 So we went to another friends home, and had been there just over a year... her life had changed, and she was now involved with a great guy, and it was time for it to be her and her family once more..

 My Son had to go stay at his girlfriends home, and my daughter and I went into a shelter in Dec of 2011. In Jan of 2012, i had major surgery; right c