Let me just clarify with you:
I am NOT homeless.
I am NOT a bum.
I am NOT an unmotivated degenerate.
I’ve heard the names you call me. I know what you think.
I am polluting your space. I am a menace, a threat.
However, here is what I really am:
I AM a person.
I AM employed.
I AM a valuable contributor to society.
I AM, in fact, living in a home.
My home just happens to be mobile with 4 wheels.
You mumble under your breath as you walk by home – Why don’t these people just go to a shelter?
Why?
Why should I?
Why would I want to?
What do I do with my dog?
Why would I want to lose my freedom? To be able to come and go as I please?
Where would I put all my stuff? – my clothes for work? my dishes for eating?
Tell me! – I’d love to know what you suggest.
I have money. Well, enough to survive.
Just can’t afford rent – especially not after my divorce and house foreclosure.
Sucks. But I am getting by.
I love my car.
It’s paid off.
It’s running great.
It’s comfortable.
My dog and I have carved out a happy home.
My boss is cool – I can bring my dog to work. She is a good dog, well-trained, sweet to everyone.
Plus my boss lets me use the bathroom at work for showering.
Life is manageable.
I just have to remember to keep moving my car every 72 hours. It is hard to keep track of time.
The hardest time for is the weekends.
Where should I while away the hours? Everyone is out and about in the neighborhoods.
Weekends are the days when I get noticed.
That’s bad.
Why do you feel compelled to call the cops on me?
I don’t leave trash on the sidewalks.
I am not causing ANY trouble.
I don’t pee in your yard.
I keep my car neat.
I take pride in my car! Just like you do in your home.
Just know on the window and talk to me.
The worst part of my day is the tap
tap
tap on the window of the cop’s flashlight.
I can take your comments, your fear and your threats.
But here is THE worst thing that could happen to me:
A parking ticket.
I can’t afford to pay the fines, the towing and the impound fees.
I LOSE my home.
I LOSE my dog.
I LOSE EVERYTHING.
Then, and only then, would I need a shelter.
Have I made myself clear?
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Note: This poem was not written by any committee member or anyone affiliated with Living Ministries. Our Executive Director, Summer D Clemenson, brought this back with her from a seminar about The Reality of Vehicle Residency she attended at the 2013 Ending Homelessness Conference in Tacoma, WA; May 15-16, 2013.
We wanted you to read it so that you might better understand a population that is not served in our community: Vehicle Residents.
Feedback from the first Project Homeless Connect that was facilitated by many organizations in our area including Cowlitz/Wahkiakum Council of Governments, Cowlitz County Housing First! Coalition, Community House on Broadway and more told us that about 100 individuals/families are living in their cars during January 2013; what that really means is that at least 3 to 5 times as many individuals/families are actually living in their cars in Cowlitz County, because most of them were probably at work during the time of this program.
…just think about that…
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