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Lady Freedom Returns

(14,120 posts)
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 05:52 AM Jun 2019

Invisible People report- "My first night homeless"


This was all new to me. I had no homeless training. I had no clue how I was going to survive. Just six months earlier I had a well-paying job in the television industry, overseeing syndicated programs like Wheel of Fortune. But now, I was the one who had suddenly landed on bankrupt. The irony was painful.


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Invisible People report- "My first night homeless" (Original Post) Lady Freedom Returns Jun 2019 OP
. Achilleaze Jun 2019 #1
There but for some good luck go I Farmer-Rick Jun 2019 #2
Why did he "suddenly land on bankrupt"? former9thward Jun 2019 #3
no job, no money, no housing (soon enough) nt Baltimike Jun 2019 #4
He does not say that at the link. former9thward Jun 2019 #5
The website focuses on the homelessness, not the how i got here aspect of it. irisblue Jun 2019 #7
"How I got there" is the most relevent fact. former9thward Jun 2019 #8
most people in this country don't save or have investments and live paycheck to paycheck... Javaman Jun 2019 #10
I know no one who lives "paycheck to paycheck". former9thward Jun 2019 #15
believe what you want, I go with facts and stats... Javaman Jun 2019 #16
Let me do a typical situation. former9thward Jun 2019 #17
okay, so you would rather believe yourself than a Harvard research paper. Javaman Jun 2019 #18
Just as many people thing "they should just move..." LanternWaste Jun 2019 #11
This message was self-deleted by its author irisblue Jun 2019 #6
That has to be one of the worst things that can happen to a person DFW Jun 2019 #9
It doesn't seem as though anyone here gets it Cartoonist Jun 2019 #12
THIS. n/t OneGrassRoot Jun 2019 #13
Thank you. Lady Freedom Returns Jun 2019 #14

Farmer-Rick

(10,072 posts)
2. There but for some good luck go I
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 07:24 AM
Jun 2019

Bankruptcy due to medical bills is so very common. I know of 3 people it happened to.

former9thward

(31,805 posts)
3. Why did he "suddenly land on bankrupt"?
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 07:40 AM
Jun 2019

I read the link and not a single word of why he is homeless or "bankrupt". How do you go from a "well paying Job" to "bankrupt" in 6 months? And no, bankruptcy will not leave you homeless -- especially in 6 months. In fact just the opposite. Bankruptcy relieves you of paying bills so you should have far more money to spend on housing.

former9thward

(31,805 posts)
5. He does not say that at the link.
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 07:53 AM
Jun 2019

Did he lose his "well paying job"? Why? No mention at the link. Don't you think his financial condition is relevant? Is he really "homeless" or is this material for a internet blog?

irisblue

(32,829 posts)
7. The website focuses on the homelessness, not the how i got here aspect of it.
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 07:56 AM
Jun 2019

Maybe a deeper dive into the website can answer that for you

former9thward

(31,805 posts)
8. "How I got there" is the most relevent fact.
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 08:02 AM
Jun 2019

Since many people think "anyone can become homeless" and being homeless is just the matter of "luck". If you believe that then how a person become homeless is very relevant because it would prove that point. This person has put up many red flags on his webpage and I don't buy it. Others may differ.

Javaman

(62,443 posts)
10. most people in this country don't save or have investments and live paycheck to paycheck...
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 08:50 AM
Jun 2019

as a result, no safety net at all.

and most of the time, it's no fault of their own.

if you have high medical bills, you burn through what savings you do have, in nothing flat.

this is far more common that you realize.

former9thward

(31,805 posts)
15. I know no one who lives "paycheck to paycheck".
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 03:27 PM
Jun 2019

And no I don't live in some rich area. I live in a 90% Hispanic working person neighborhood of Chicago. I am not saying that no one is in that situation but it is not common among people who work. No one is going to pay "high medical bills" to the detriment of their housing. Bankruptcy will not cost you your housing. There is so much misinformation out there.

former9thward

(31,805 posts)
17. Let me do a typical situation.
Tue Jun 11, 2019, 07:43 AM
Jun 2019

I am uninsured/underinsured. I have a medical procedure that costs $70,000. I have cash assets of $5,000. I go to court and ask for a bankruptcy judgement. Now what? I do not lose my housing in bankruptcy. I do not lose my means of transportation to a job. If you think courts do that you are wrong (assuming you don't have multiple houses). So how does bankruptcy cause me to become homeless? (Which none of your links reference).

Javaman

(62,443 posts)
18. okay, so you would rather believe yourself than a Harvard research paper.
Tue Jun 11, 2019, 08:45 AM
Jun 2019

gotcha.

We're done.

Cheers.

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
11. Just as many people thing "they should just move..."
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 09:26 AM
Jun 2019

"Since many people think "anyone can become homeless"

Just as many people cavalierly think "they can just move..." as though it were a snap of the fingers. Red, red flags, indeed!

Response to former9thward (Reply #3)

DFW

(54,057 posts)
9. That has to be one of the worst things that can happen to a person
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 08:05 AM
Jun 2019

My wife worked with this kind of person for decades.

Her job as a social worker specialized in the homeless and the bankrupt, and trying to place long-term difficult unemployed back into the workforce. From "der Professor," an academic who had lost his job, his family and most of his teeth to alcohol addiction, to the "Princess of Velbert," she saw every version. Some were in need of help and took to it when offered. Some wanted to cash in welfare checks and work for cash on the side. Some came here purely to game the system. There was an immigrant who came from the Middle East, stayed in Germany for 20 years, learned no German, fathered 15 children, cashed in THEIR government handouts, lived in an apartment by himself and the wives and kids in the apartment next door. He said he couldn't work or attend German classes due to a bad back. They tried, unsuccessfully, to get him deported, but the judge said they needed to show "tolerance," and ordered the state to keep paying him.

The professor eventually sobered up, got back on his feet and got a decent job. There was another case where a young Russian immigrant kept missing appointments, claiming he didn't understand the German instructions he was given. My wife siad he seemed to be basically a good soul, but was just lazy to a fault. One Friday evening, she came home from work, and told me she wanted him in her office at 8 the next Monday morning for a long talk. She was sure he would skip it, saying he hadn't understood, so she called him from our house, and put me on the phone. I explained to him in Russian what she wanted, and then asked if he understood, and made him repeat it back to me. His excuse evaporated, and he was in her office the next Monday morning at 8. The guy finally "got it," and now speaks decent German and has steady job, even invited my wife over to meet his mom. Sometime the patience pays off. This and the "professor" are the kind of success stories my wife worked for. The phonies who were only there to game the system drove her nuts. "The Princess of Velbert" was (my wife said, I never met her) a young woman immigrant from Poland who thought the world owed her a living due to her looks. She must have married someone, as we never found out what became of her, but for the longest while, she was also cashing in her welfare and partying til the money was gone (quickly enough while under my wife's charge).

Medically caused financial ruin must be the absolute worst to endure. Even if a person earning a decent salary should lose their job, one would think they had put a little aside for bad times. Maybe not. Many places are not what one would call the low rent district, and high medical bills can wipe you out in one blow. It happens less here in Germany than it happens in the USA, but it does happen here, too.

Regaining one's self-respect and confidence has to be at least as hard as regaining financial stability. My hat goes off to those who hit bottom and rebound. My heart goes out to those who try, but never manage. I bow in respect to those who dedicate their lives to helping these people. For decades, I heard the stories of both success and failure at the dinner table. My wife selflessly dedicated herself to these people for more years than I care to remember. This doesn't mean she needs to be designated a saint, or anything, but you'll never convince me she is anything else. My job requires travel to a different country almost every day of the week, and I usually work 70-100 hours a week. I would have thrown in the towel after the first ten days at her job.

Cartoonist

(7,298 posts)
12. It doesn't seem as though anyone here gets it
Mon Jun 10, 2019, 09:47 AM
Jun 2019

All the posts are about why he became homeless.

I was homeless twice for short periods. The line that stood out for me was, "I had no homeless training." True dat!

If you're lucky, you still have a car to sleep in. The cops will harass for that. You're lucky if you know of a public restroom to take spongebaths in. If you're lucky, you won't feel humiliated and completely worthless.

People are so afraid of homelessness that they won't give this guy any credence because of the "why" and not the "now".

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