It is 23 degrees outside right now.
If you live in a place where winters are real this might not seem like a dramatic number. Because it gets worse.
I live in Chicago and a full week, hell, a full month can pass witlh us praying for the thermometers to hit 23.
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If you live in a place where winters are real this might not seem like a dramatic number. Because it gets worse.
I live in Chicago and a full week, hell, a full month can pass witlh us praying for the thermometers to hit 23.
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But, trust me, 23 is not only bone-chilling, it can be deadly.
Especially if you are a homeless American.
I know b/c I've been homeless. I mean truly, no place to go to for anything, homeless. And on a night like tonight I would walk for blocks to search for warm shelter.
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Especially if you are a homeless American.
I know b/c I've been homeless. I mean truly, no place to go to for anything, homeless. And on a night like tonight I would walk for blocks to search for warm shelter.
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I was lucky, because I was white, sane, sober, and worked hard to maintain the fiction that I was just a traveler or an adventurer.
Not looking homeless is the first and best way to ensure that people will treat you humanely.
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Not looking homeless is the first and best way to ensure that people will treat you humanely.
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When people know for sure you are homeless, however, the odds for decency lessens considerably.
On most nights I was able to fool people because of my appearance. Like I said, I was lucky. I would tell people I was coming from X place, for Y reason, but was waiting for Z.
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On most nights I was able to fool people because of my appearance. Like I said, I was lucky. I would tell people I was coming from X place, for Y reason, but was waiting for Z.
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These fictions allowed me privileges that others in my position were rarely given. This included hanging out at restaurants, staying on trains all night going back and forth from end to end, only ordering a large soda at McDonalds and sitting for hours.
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I was grateful on nights like this for moments like those.
When I was unlucky, however, and I was not able to fool anyone and was forced to stay out, one thing mattered above all else: what I was wearing.
Properly dressed 23 can be managed. It is survivable.
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When I was unlucky, however, and I was not able to fool anyone and was forced to stay out, one thing mattered above all else: what I was wearing.
Properly dressed 23 can be managed. It is survivable.
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If you live in a place where winters are real, in times like these, being homeless I can guarantee you, is scarier now than it was three or four years ago.
Asking for help is harder, and actually getting it, even more difficult.
Budgets are being slashed.
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Asking for help is harder, and actually getting it, even more difficult.
Budgets are being slashed.
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Programs are being cut and priorities are shifting.
Getting what you to survive from day to day when you are homeless is a grim and soul crushing task. And, not going to lie, a small of your ability to hope, feel, and dream dies everyday.
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Getting what you to survive from day to day when you are homeless is a grim and soul crushing task. And, not going to lie, a small of your ability to hope, feel, and dream dies everyday.
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If you have old winter clothing: coats, gloves, hats, boots, scarves, sweaters, snow pants, etc.. please find a religiously unaffiliated organization that you can donate them to immediately.
Make sure that items are distributed locally and not used for for profit resale.
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Make sure that items are distributed locally and not used for for profit resale.
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Alternatively, if you spot a homeless person exposed to the elements and underdressed, and feel safe doing so, please distribute your items diractly.
This is one small way can a huge difference in your community in these dark times.
And it matters.
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This is one small way can a huge difference in your community in these dark times.
And it matters.
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