The Face Of Homelessness

I have stayed in the shelters but I prefer a hotel. The cheapest I found this week is $42 a night. You see I work full time, have a business, two kids and I do most of my stuff out of my car. I have a great mother but she can’t carry me, so I allow the kids to get that stability from her while each day I try to pull out. I have never used drugs. I don’t even drink. I have a Masters Degree, I just can’t get out of this. My credit sucks. My man abandoned me and I am a preacher. Yes a preacher. A preacher writer. Lol!!! I feel like my mind is slowly slipping away. I feel like this struggle is here to stay. And I am not the only one. There are millions of us. Legions. I hide it well, staying clean and organized. I hide it well, being kind never trying to patronize. But when your churches don’t call me to speak and regular people don’t pay me to write, this $13 an hour job goes real fast. I got a car payment, insurance and then damn student loans. I got credit card debt that won’t leave me alone. My daughters a scholar, traveling the world and I can’t make excuses. I write this most humbling blog to say I don’t want nothing for free. But I need help with my lot and I need for people to see. Invest in my writing, invest in a book, pay for a blog but don’t take me off the hook. Start reading my post. Plant into my seed. I don’t need your hand outs, opportunity is what I need. We can’t deal with affordable housing and not face disparities in education, incarceration and poverty/job discrimination.