The Odds Are Against You: Need Help

The main reason you are still a victim of poverty is because you are looking for other people to help you out of your circumstances and this help will most likely never come. There are simply not enough resources in the world to help everybody who needs help. Our capacity to pull people out of misfortune is extremely limited compared to the need.

The Action Aid in 2003 had found out that there were 78 million homeless people in India alone. The horrific reality of homelessness gets bigger and worse when we look at it on a global scale. It is suspected that 25% of the population is without adequate shelter. When 1 in 4 people are in need of assistance out of seven billion, that’s roughly 1.5 billion people who need shelter, food, and clothing.

Statistically speaking, though there are resources in place the odds of getting adequate life changing help from outside agencies is not in our favor. Homelessness is a big problem for many people,. and homeless shelters are usually full and can only take a small number of people each night.

For the record, when someone is asking you to assist them with shelter, telling them to go to a homeless shelter is rather ignorant. If they ask you personally, if you can find it in your heart to help them, you really are their best chance at getting them on their feet again.

There is a good chance they have already tried several homeless shelters and they were all full. Even if they found a bed, it would just be a bed for the night. This means they would expand most of their energy trying to find shelter the next day and be stuck in a desperation loop, which would not leave them with time to be productive in other fields or to have peace of mind, or look for a job because they are always looking for shelter.

It’s hard to find work as a homeless person because shelters have rules about what time you must be back or you will get locked out. The timeline to come to the shelter does not meet most work schedules, so one has to choose between having a job or a place to stay.

This honestly isn’t an easy choice, especially if the job isn’t enough to pay rent in the first place. Depending on weather conditions, not having a place to stay for the night could mean death or extreme illness. It’s hard to hold down a job, while living in a shelter because the people are from the gritty parts of life. One can’t really trust those around them. You sleep amongst thieves, pedophiles, criminals, and drug addicts’ so you never know if what little stuff you have will be stolen the next day.

Homeless shelter vary in cleanliness and safety, but the main problem with them is they are usually full, or only willing to accept a certain type of people. I was denied from several homeless shelters because I wasn’t a drug addict or an alcohoolic. I remember saying, “you mean, if I fucked up my life because I’m a complete piece of shit, I can get help, but if I just need help I can’t get help. I was glad I couldn’t get into the shelters easily, because it forced me to land on my feet faster. Some people stay homeless for years.

The reason I’m not homeless today is because I never made it apart of my routine to stand in line at a homeless shelter when I was homeless. At first I tried to get into the shelters, but they were usually full. When I could find a shelter, I had to stand in a long line that did not guarantee a bed for the night and certainly did not guarantee a bed for the next day. Shelters would often say, we are full try back next month like I had the luxury of being homeless for a month. Usually I would think to myself, I am not going to call back next month because I am not going to be homeless in a month. I stopped trying to get into homeless shelters and I started trying to get a job. I decided I wasn’t going to let my situation define me and for that reason I was able to transform it.

Needless to say if you are without a home it is easy to feel you have very little control over your life. You are told when to get up, where to sleep, when to leave. Not having shelter leads to instability, not just physically, but mentally. When one does not have a bed for the night, anything could happen. They could get thrown in jail, murdered, or the lack of sleep roaming the streets might cause them to get fired the next morning at work because they are falling asleep in the office. Homelessness creates a loop of poverty just as poverty creates a loop of homelessness. The only way out of either of these things is to decide you are not going to be these things anymore.

6 THINGS TO WALK AWAY WITH

1 Role with the punches: A self sufficient person learns to role with the punches and takes what life throws at them.

2 Thrive: Don‘t just survive, thrive. You need to thrive to transform yourself. Simply surviving is unacceptable. You deserve better.

3 Broke is not a joke: Your life depends on money. You need money to support yourself and your family. It’s very important to find a way to achieve financial security.

4 Save your money honey: You never know when the wheel of fortune will turn on you.

5 Refuse: Refuse to live pay check to pay check. Just because you have to do it for a little while, does not mean you have to do it for your whole life.

6 Don’t beg. Begging is for poor people. Begging is for victims.