This I just have to say. I am disgusted by people who judge homeless people and assume they are only lazy drug addicts and say “Why can’t they just get a job?”.
As a hard-working person who can’t pay rent anymore and losing my apartment I’ve lived in for 3 years, I know that many homeless people probably are responsible hard working people who still can’t afford to pay, rent, bills, and food.
If you look at renting a one bedroom apartment anywhere in Lee’s Summit or Independence you’ll see that it’s rare to even find something for less than $1000 a month. To put things in perspective, my monthly net income is $1200 a month on average because Hy-Vee has kept me part time for many years. I had been paying $785 a month this past year but then with utility bills and food being high priced as well, my income was less than what I was spending. My settlement money is gone, my 401k from my old job that fired me after my knee injury is gone, and I have to be out of my apartment before October 17.
If a hard-working person like me who is a single virgin and doesn’t even have a car or the expenses that go along with that can’t make it in this stupid economy, then how can anyone else, especially those with kids and cars? We are all doomed sooner or later because it’s only getting worse.
If you’re homeless, it doesn’t mean that it’s your fault. It doesn’t always stem from bad choices. A lot of it is that everything is too expensive, and most companies hire only part time employees so that they don’t have to pay health insurance or other benefits. Additionally, once someone is homeless, it becomes impossible for them to apply for a job because they don’t have a mailing address, a phone, or a place to take a shower and be clean and presentable for a job.
The society we live in is one that creates homeless people by making everything more expensive while reducing the money people make at the same time. And then the government has the nerve to tax us on top of it which is just making politicians rich and helping no one.
Chastity White Rose 