I USED TO BE HOMELESS
34 | May• 2019
liketoshareiswhenI waslivingin
mycar.Onedayit gottowedawayfor
a parkingviolationandonceyou’re
towed,you’redone.Therearetowing
fees,impoundingfees,parkingfees...
beforelongyouowe$2000ona $600
car.Sonowyoudon’thavea caror
anyofyourstuffthatwasinitand
you’restucksleepingoutintheele-
ments.Sleepingoutsidemakesyou
getsickwhichleadstootherprob-
lems...Onetinymistakecanspiral
intoa life-threateningsituation.
Homelessness
andpovertykills
I can’ttellyouhowmanypeopleI
sawdiefroma lackofsimplemedi-
calcare.Acut,a brokenbone,oran
illnessleftuntreatedcanbecome
infectedanddeadlyveryquickly.
Once,whenI wasbeingmugged,
myattackerbrokemyjaw.I triedto
managebutthepainwassoimmense
I couldn’teatorsleep.TheERdidset
myjaw,thankfully,orelseI proba-
blywouldhavedied.Whileyoumay
thinkthathospitalsarerequiredto
treateveryone,intheUStheydis-
courageyoufromcominginforlittle
things; when they do help, they don’t
alwaysdoa completejob.Theyjust
wanttohelpyouenoughtogetyou
outofthere,nottohelpyou get better.Dentalproblems
aretheworst
Whenyouthinkofeverythingyou
needtobehealthy,adentistisn’t
usuallythefirstthingyouthinkof.
Butyourteethareanessentialpart
ofsurvival.Unfortunately,when
you’rehomeless,simplytakinggood
careofyourteethistough,muchless
gettingdentalcarelikerootcanalsor
crowns.Betweena steadydietofjunk
foodandalackofaccesstotooth-
brushesandf loss,manyhomeless
peopleconstantlydealwithrotting,
painfulteeth.Andwhenyour teeth
hurt,everythingisharder.Lookinghomelessis
oftenworsethanactually
beinghomeless
Ifyoulook andsmell homeless,
everyoneautomaticallyassumes
theworstaboutyou,anditbecomes
thatmuchhardertofinda joboran
apartmentorgetmedicalcare.Plus,
policeorsecurityguardsimmediate-
ly see you as a problem or potential“HOMELESSPEOPLEARE
LIVINGA NATURALDISASTER
EVERY SINGLE DAY”