CMV: If you have never been homeless, you won't fully understand why homeless people spend their time and money the way they do.

When I was 17 my father was arrested by the DEA and I was evicted by my stepmother. During that time I went to school, worked, was homeless, and got into drugs and got arrested myself quite a few times. Almost a year and a half into being homeless I got away with a felony by drug court and got awarded custody of my sister when she was 16. The two of us got our lives together and went to college. I still have to remind myself that the world doesn't work the way it does when you're homeless. The homeless community as a whole does not regulate itself on the principles of empathy, collectivism, or the idea of the "greater good." If you want to survive, you have to look out for yourself first. I don't make excuses for people, but I try to understand where they come from. #1. Almost every person I knew was a drug addict. Drugs work by hijacking the brains reward system. Homelessness is a constant stress. When you're high, you don't have to worry about how you're going to eat that night or whether or not you're going to get beat up or have your things stolen that night. Addicts are not bad people. Drug addiction is a chemical and psychological disorder. You choose to take drugs when you first start, but an addict is not a constant bad decision maker. They're just a person who's struggling. #2. Homelessness is a full time job. Finding something to eat, a place to sleep, a way to clean yourself, a way to survive the heat or the cold or a storm. People often had to walk a few miles a day to get to a decent panhandling spot, a soup kitchen, a place to shower, free clinics, or to take a bus to court. The reason that some people panhandle with a dog is that people are more likely to give you money if you have a dog. #3. Once you're homeless, it's the worst feeling in the world to be treated like a subhuman and be yelled at and belittled and humiliated and treated like a drug addict. This is honestly why homeless people will be rude to you if you offer them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a new pair of socks. It's because you treated them like an animal while you were giving it to them. #4. It's a common misconception that people are homeless because they're lazy. I never knew a person homeless for that reason. People were usually homeless for drug addiction or because they ran out of money. The things that cause homelessness are the same things that prevent people from getting out of a homeless situation. If you know a homeless person who is lazy and won't look for a job, it's probably because they're addicted to drugs and lack the motivation to do anything else. #5. If someone is telling you that they have to panhandle to feed their drug habit, that's true. Some people honestly need drugs to function. #6. It's a common misconception that people are homeless because of a lack of jobs. Homelessness can occur for a multitude of reasons. Loss of job, loss of income, loss of a spouse, drug addiction, medical illness, being kicked out of your house, etc. Almost everyone I knew had a job. #7. Homeless people are not lazy. Surviving homelessness is a full time job. #8. If you meet homeless people, you didn't get to see the part of their lives where they were respectable, well-off, educated individuals. I didn't have this revelation until I was in college. #9. I was given drug court instead of going to prison. I think a huge part of the homeless population are felons with no rehab, no job, no insurance, no way to get back on their feet. If we take care of drug addiction and mental health, I can almost guarantee the homeless population will dwindle. #10. What people need help with is that they don't know how to ask for it. They're too proud, they're too embarrassed, they honestly don't know where to turn. #11. It's a common misconception that people are homeless because of a lack of money. What people are homeless for is a lack of resources. The reason the same people are at the bus stop every day is because they don't have anywhere to go. The reason people don't go to a homeless shelter is that they don't know how to get there, they don't know if they can get in, they don't trust the environment, or they don't want to be told what to do. The reason people don't go to rehab is that they don't want to be sober, they don't know how to get there, they don't have money to pay for it, they don't know if they can get in. What people need is a hand to help them out. A place to call home. A person to trust. What people need is hope. #12. Homeless people are not bad people. Most of them are honestly good people who fell on hard times. Homelessness is just the culmination of a series of unfortunate events. #13. It's a common misconception that people are homeless because of a lack of education. Not everyone who is homeless lacks education. Almost everyone I knew had graduated from college. #14. People are not homeless because of the lack of available resources. What people are homeless for is a lack of access to resources. #15. It's a common misconception that people are homeless because they want to be. You don't choose to be homeless. It's an accident. #16. If you ask a homeless person why they're homeless, they'll tell you that it's because of drugs. But if you ask why they started doing drugs, they'll tell you that it's because of financial problems, the loss of a spouse, the loss of a job, loss of income, etc. The things that cause homelessness are the same things that prevent people from getting out of a homeless situation. #17. If you meet homeless people, you didn't get to see the part of their lives where they were respectable, well-off, educated individuals. I didn't have this revelation until I was in college. People are not born homeless. You don't choose to be homeless. It's just the culmination of a series of unfortunate events. #18. Homelessness is the culmination of a series of unfortunate events. It's never just one reason. #19. Homelessness is a societal issue. Everyone should care about it. It honestly shouldn't matter if someone's homeless because of their own bad decisions or circumstances outside of their control or because they're a drug addict or a college graduate or homeless by choice. Everyone deserves a place to call home. #20. You don't know what someone's been through. You don't know what their daily struggles are. #21. Almost everyone I knew was in a drug program, went to group therapy, or were court ordered for counseling. I used to have to stand outside in the rain for two hours waiting for a ride to the free clinic. It was a full time job. #22. Drugs and alcohol are not the primary causes of homelessness. They're a result of it. #23. I met a lot of people who were homeless and working. I still don't understand why people say this. #24. If someone is telling you that they're homeless because they fell on hard times, that's true. #25. If someone is telling you that they're homeless because they're a drug addict, that's true. You fell on hard times, you got depressed, you turned to drugs. Once you're addicted, you can't get a job. If you can't get a job, you run out of money. If you run out of money, you're homeless. #26. If someone is telling you that they're homeless because they're a college graduate, sometimes that's true. Sometimes people have to move to a new city for school, lose their job, have no access to resources, run out of money, and end up homeless. #27. Once you're a felon, everything honestly gets harder. #28. Once you're homeless, everything honestly gets harder. #29. If you ask a homeless person why they're homeless, they'll tell you that it's because of drugs. But if you ask why they started doing drugs, they'll tell you that it's because they ran out of money or lost their job or lost their spouse or became medically ill or got kicked out of their house or suffered from drug addiction or suffered from mental illness, etc. #30. The things that cause homelessness are the same reasons that prevent people from getting out of a homeless situation. #31. Homeless people are not a subhuman or an animal. Homeless people are drug addicted people and medically ill people and drug addicted college educated people and drug addicted veterans and drug addicted mothers with young children

CMV: If you have never been homeless, you won't fully understand why homeless people spend their time and money the way they do.

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