The traumas that go along with homelessness are something we rarely speak of. As someone who experienced homelessness first hand, at the tender age of 18, it is something I will never forget. Today, I am a homeowner and have overcome many barriers in life that are specific to trauma.
I come from a very dysfunctional home and was told to leave. So, I packed what belongings would fit in my car and left. There were no homeless shelters at the time. Where would I go? My first stop was a trip to my drug dealer’s house. He offered me a shed on his property to sleep in and I accepted the offer. The dark and very frigid structure would be somewhat of a safe haven for me as I struggled day to day to simply survive.
Drugs were my priority at this point and getting and staying numb was the only way I thought I could survive. Survive what, you may ask? Surviving suicidal thoughts and the many traumas I had experienced throughout my lifetime. Surviving hunger, going without clean clothes and searching for someone who would let me use their shower.
That is what my day looked like. People in the drug world took care of me. I did have a boyfriend who diligently tried helping me and sadly and tragically, he died unexpectedly in a car wreck. When Rob died, I spiraled out of control. No therapist. No shelter. Nobody left to trust. Just me living in a shed and living a life of addiction.
I am, today, engaged in mental health treatment for the PTSD caused, in part, by my homeless experience and embrace recovery. Though it was many years ago, the abuses I suffered at the hands of predators affects me to this day. I am engaged in treatment for my PTSD and have come a long way! I now advocate for our homeless population and seek a better approach than what our State is currently doing.
The ”answer” to homelessness currently is focused on the harm reduction and Housing First models. What ever happened to recovery? At one point in my career as a social worker, I was employed as an outreach worker in Corvallis, Oregon. That is where and when I first noticed that harm reduction and Housing First were not helping people better their lives. It’s as if society has given up on them. Recovery is possible for anyone and that is the message we should all be shouting from the rooftops.
There is no one-size-fits all where solutions for homelessness come, but our current method isn’t moving people out of homelessness. And may we be sensitive to the fact that the vulnerable homeless population go through traumas on a regular basis.
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