About a dozen years ago, I was in a pretty bad spot. I was 30, my high school sweetheart and wife was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. It was as difficult as you can imagine. She died on March 3, 1995. Two days previous to this, I found out the private school I was teaching at would be closing at the end of the semester. They couldn’t pay me anymore, but would really appreciate it if I could teach the semester out.
Anyway, I wound up having to sell the house and get rid of most of my stuff. For a period of about 1 month, I didn’t have an address or a job. The only keys I had were to my car, and I had no mailing address. I never slept in my car, I never slept without a roof over my head. If it weren’t for the kindness of my friends and family I definitely would have been worse off.
Some people indicate that this meets the definition of homeless; others don’t. What is the opinion of the masses here?
I suppose that my wife and I were technically homeless for a while. We had to move out of my late mother’s house (long story involving my sister deciding that she wanted it after we had all agreed that we could buy it from the estate) but there was a problem with the closing so we couldn’t move into the house we were buying. So in late August we put all our stuff in storage and moved in with friends “for a few weeks until we could get the closing rescheduled”. We ended up not closing until December.
I remember hearing a report on National Public Radio where they were talking about homelessness in a particular area. They mentioned how a number of people were staying with friends or relatives after losing their house or leaving an abusive spouse. In the context of this story, staying with someone on a short term basis was considered being homeless.
I thing the meaning can change depending on the context or message that the user is trying to present. If you want to say homelessness is not that bad in an area, you would only consider people sleeping in a box under a bridge or the equivalent. If you want to present a larger population of the homeless, you would include women with children who are staying in shelters until they can get back on their feet.
My belief is that the definition is variable. In your case, if you were staying a few days with friends before moving on to others in an effort to not overstay your welcome, and this condition lasted for a while, then I would consider that homeless. (Although it may be transitional living. Looking back to when I graduated from college. I lived at my parent’s for a bit, then with my future brother-in-law for a week before I moved in with a college buddy and started paying rent. I never considered that homelessness, just regular transition.)
I know a couple who lost their house due to bad financial behavior and are living with friends for a year or two while they recoup. I would not consider them homeless.
At first I was going to say no but I agree with Mycroft H… It depends on the definition and how it’s meant to be used. For all practical purposes you were homeless from the perspective that you were destitute and required assistance. From a social point of view you were not homeless because your needs were met just as if you were on government assistance.
When I think of homeless I think in terms of someone who cannot or will not seek assistance and is living under a bridge. Unless there is a major depression going on there is no reason for someone to get in this situation unless they have serious personal problems. In other words, it’s a long term condition.
I say homeless. If you have no home, you’re homeless. Pretty simple, unless you want to complicate matters by saying your car was your home – which I don’t think was the case for you.
To the OP, no, you were not. You were transitioning. You did not have a home of your own, but you were in the process of getting one. Same with the job.
When I moved to Denver, I quit my job in Idaho 3 weeks before my lease ran out, so I could pack, and enjoy some time off. I arrived in Denver, moved in with my mother while I found a job, which took about 4 weeks, and then 3 months of mom-approved-mooching to find an apartment. I was not “homeless” for those 4 months, nor was I “unemployed” for the 7 weeks. In both cases, I was transitioning from one home/job to another.
I’d say you were ‘of no fixed abode’. To me, being homeless means having no home to stay at in the evenings. You had homes to stay at, they just weren’t yours.
I think the definition is changable, depending on what we’re talking about. Studies about homelessness often mention that homeless families in say, Eastern Kentucky, often are able to rely on family, or friends, for a place to stay, due to the close-knit nature of those communities. However, the economic conditions which caused them to be without their own home are conditions that aggravate homelessness. So, are they homeless? Not in a strict sense, because they do have a roof over their heads. But, because conditions exist to cause them to be unable to afford their own housing, they are indeed homeless.
I’m leaning toward yes, but I think it does matter whether you had assets that you could have spent or borrowed against to put a roof over your head. You say you had to sell the house. Did that all go to bills, or did it leave you with equity to get on your feet again? [You don’t need to answer that, obviously, but I’m just mentioning it as a criterion.] I wouldn’t count a beater car in those assets, but if you had a nice enough car you could sell it, buy a beater, and get into an apartment, then I’d say no. Having no assets, no income, and no address is my definition of homeless.*
It was awful nice of you to finish out that teaching job. From here it sounds like they had some nerve asking that of you in your situation. I’m glad the good karma was there for you in the friends & family department.
Although I guess you could be rich as all get out and choose not to have a home, so I may need to rethink that …
Technically yes- the people you were staying with could have told you get out at a moments notice and you would have had to. This is different from living with someone at that persons house- if I get pissed at my gf and call the cops and tell them I want her out of my house now, they won’t do it if they can establish she lives there. If your frineds wanted you out right now, the cops would oblige.
