Letter to Washington Post editor, July 18, 2010, states "homelessness is almost always a long-term condition". Letter writer, Robert Hauptman, volunteers at Shepherd's Table in Silver Springs, Maryland.
Hauptman's letter was prompted by article mentioned in prior post "Myths about Homelessness". It is almost as if author, Dennis Culhane, was trying to start another myth.
My mind keeps returning to that bit of the article; looked up definition of rare: infrequently occurring; uncommon. Long-term homeless are not uncommon at all. I am talking about people homeless for many years ~ not people like myself who were considered 'long-term' due to being on streets longer than 3 months. And I met a lot of me's during my street-living days. Hardly infrequently occuring 'round here.
Jake, for one. He did not stick around Long Beach for very long. He had been homeless since he was 13; 23 when I met him. A native of California, he was homeless in almost every state in the nation. Homeless youth are not all that uncommon either. Some of those end up lifetime homeless ~ in and out of jails. Hardly rare at all.
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