Understanding the Hurdles
A few weeks ago I was made painfully aware on Instagram of just how many people still don’t know that many people experiencing homelessness are already employed. We posted a video, and the comment section lit up with people sharing many common myths about homelessness. I felt compelled to write the book Neighbors With No Doors: The Truth about Homelessness, and How You Can Make a Difference, to help shed some light on these misconceptions.
When you got ready for work this morning, you probably got out of bed, took a shower, brushed your teeth, put on clean clothing, had breakfast and took whatever transportation was needed to get there. Now imagine you had none of those things available to you, or at the very least it took you a few hours each day to obtain them? Would you still be able to keep your job? Many that are homeless AND employed face these hurdles each day.
The basics of everyday survival can sometimes be a full-time job in and of itself. I don’t know about you, but I tend to take all of these things for granted on a daily basis, yet each one is a hurdle for someone with no place to live. And these are just the basics if your life doesn’t have any additional complications. With no internet access, having a child to care for, long gaps in your employment history, or a criminal record, the barriers to steady employment only get higher.
I met a young woman last week who volunteered with us and then asked if we might be able to help her with employment. She had a daughter in school and had never managed to hold down a full-time job. The most crippling thing was that she had no one in her life that believed she could achieve anything more than the part-time, minimum wage positions that she always had. I’ve seen that simply helping someone believe they can do a job is the first step in helping people land a job. We were able to refer her to a few employment training partners and also invited her to be part of our VIP internship program.
Sometimes shelters can provide the environment people need to take on full-time employment, but it is really dependent on the shelter, and can be hit or miss. Housing provides the consistency people need to not just find work but also continue working. That same stability also makes it easier to connect them to job training, help with a resume, and other resources that can lower these walls even further so that someone can climb over and get to a better life on the other side.
Thank you for your support.
Josiah
