What unemployment, lost income, and financial instability can actually lead to
Editorial: This article is based on my personal experiences. I’m sharing it because I think conversations about homelessness often leave out an important reality: sometimes people become homeless while they are working, and sometimes circumstances can push someone toward homelessness even when they’re doing everything they can to stay afloat.
I’ve Been Homeless Twice
There’s something I’ve never talked about in detail publicly before.
I’ve been homeless twice.
Once while I had a job and was working.
The second time was after losing a job.
And I want to make something clear right from the beginning.
It wasn’t because I refused to work.
It wasn’t because I didn’t want a job.
It wasn’t because I was sitting around doing nothing.
I was working when it happened the first time.
That’s something I think a lot of people don’t understand about homelessness.
When people hear the word homeless, they sometimes picture somebody who has become completely disconnected from work or society because they are lazy, or addicted to drugs, criminals, or have mental health problems. People treat you like you have something contagious and are afraid of you. There’s a stigma being homeless no matter the reason. Your friends will avoid you.
That’s not always reality.
Sometimes you’re working.
Sometimes you’re trying.
Sometimes you’re doing everything society told you to do.
And sometimes personal circumstances get in the way.
No matter how hard you try, things can still fall apart.
I Was Homeless at 19
I was homeless at 19 due to some personal issues, nothing to do with the economy, but this was an eye opener at that age.
I got lucky and stayed with some coworkers that were kind enough to take me in for a few months.
It took longer to get on my feet because of low pay. I made just over minimum wage.
I worked at the same employer for over 10 years.
I learned that working hard isn’t always enough and that anyone can be replaced.
I thought if you showed up, worked hard, and kept doing what you were supposed to do, you could move up, make more money, and get some respect from the company that you worked for during blizzards when you’re told to stay indoors, then they kick you out the door when it’s white out conditions to figure it out on your own.
Or when you still wake up sore and broken down over a decade later because you gave your body to them.
When the Job Finally Disappeared
After struggling for a decade with an employer that didn’t appreciate me, I eventually found myself without a job.
For the first time, I had no income.
My friends seemed to disappear. Some of them I had known for decades, since I was in diapers. All I got from them as I walked to my car with all of the things I could fit in there were thoughts and prayers.
Then you see them years later and they wondered why I disappeared.
And suddenly I’m facing decisions you never imagined you’d have to make—things that hurt your pride because you’re starving and trying to pay rent and bills.
Like selling the things you worked so hard to buy.
Or applying for food stamps.
Not because you wanted to.
Because I needed the money and was hungry.
To pay rent.
To pay bills.
To feed yourself.
You start looking at the things you’ve accumulated over the years differently—not as an accomplishment or a reward for your hard work, but monetarily for the amount of money that will keep a roof over your head, bills paid, and food in your belly.
Nothing had value, not even me. Survival was all that mattered.
And then you start asking yourself:
What am I going to do when everything is gone?
Stability Can Disappear Faster Than You Think
When I lost that job I had no savings, my stability disappeared almost immediately.
I had one paycheck to figure it out and I tried, and failed.
Sometimes that happens.
Sometimes you have to try to turn chicken shit into chicken salad.
In the blink of an eye it all can change.
One month you can scrape by, the next month you are inventorying your life, possessions, trying to hold together a home that you spent years building for yourself.
Things get more expensive, so what you’re making doesn’t go nearly as far as it once did because of inflation.
The company you work for sees you as a cost cutting measure.
So, yeah, that stability can disappear pretty fast.
I’m Worried About Ending Up There Again
Right now I’m a seasonal employee.
My hours have been cut.
My pay has been cut.
When I added it up, it came out to roughly a 40 percent reduction.
I’m barely making more than minimum wage in my state.
And unemployment the rest of the year.
Or get another piss poorly paying job to survive, then expect me to come back and do it again for them.
Well, in my state unemployment pays less than most people’s rent.
To even qualify for unemployment, you need to work all four quarters of the year to qualify.
Within the next year I will not qualify for unemployment.
My life doesn’t matter to them, but my contribution does.
I was off for less than a month before being asked to come back in six months.
I am expected to reapply for a job that I can’t work for six months.
And because of this, there’s a possibility of being homeless again.
That dread starts creeping back in.
Knowing that I am older now, it’s different.
I have health problems and take medications to survive.
The friends of the past are gone.
Family gone.
My closest relative lives over 2,500 miles away, and they have their own problems.
Getting older is going to make it much worse this time.
You remember what it was like before.
You remember what it felt like when things started falling apart.
And you start wondering:
What happens if it happens again?
That’s a different kind of fear.
It’s not theoretical anymore.
I’ve already been there.
I know what it looks like.
I know what it feels like.
And I know how quickly things can change.
Getting Older Changes the Equation
I’m older now.
And my body can’t handle the stresses of manual labor the way it could when I was in my 20s or 30s.
That’s the reality.
It’s one thing to tell somebody to simply work harder.
It’s another thing when your options are changing as you get older.
Your body changes.
The job market changes.
Technology changes.
Employers change what they’re looking for.
And suddenly the advice that might have worked when you were younger doesn’t necessarily solve the problem anymore.
That’s something I think we need to talk about more.
Homelessness Doesn’t Always Look the Way People Think
One of the biggest misconceptions about homelessness is that it only happens to people who make bad choices.
That it’s always drugs.
That it’s always irresponsibility.
That somebody simply didn’t try hard enough.
That’s not the reality I’ve experienced.
Sometimes it happens to people.
Sometimes it happens to people doing everything they can.
Sometimes it happens to people who thought they were stable.
Sometimes circumstances pile up faster than someone can respond to them.
It can happen to any of us.
And I think more people need to understand that.
Not because I’m looking for sympathy.
Because I think workers need honesty.
Life Is More Fragile Than We Want to Admit
Life is more fragile than many of us want to admit.
You can have a job.
You can have a home.
You can have things you’ve worked years to acquire.
And circumstances can change.
A job disappears.
Hours get cut.
An emergency happens.
Bills pile up.
Savings disappear.
And suddenly you’re trying to figure out what you’re going to do next.
If you’ve ever experienced homelessness…
Or unemployment…
Or losing everything you thought was secure…
You know exactly what I’m talking about.
Your Circumstances Aren’t Your Identity
One thing I learned from those experiences is that your circumstances can change.
But your value doesn’t.
That’s easy to forget when you’re struggling.
It’s easy to look at your situation and believe that’s who you are.
It isn’t.
That’s something I have to remind myself of.
When you’re sitting there wondering how you’re going to get through the next week, it’s difficult to think beyond the immediate problem.
But being broke doesn’t make you worthless.
Being unemployed doesn’t make you worthless.
Being homeless doesn’t make you worthless.
Losing everything doesn’t erase everything you’ve accomplished before it happened.
Being Shunned and Shamed Makes People Suffer in Silence
I think a lot of people carry shame for things that were often outside their control.
People also look down on people who have to deal with difficult situations that are out of their control. It’s obviously the person’s own fault that they are living on the streets or in their car.
People seem to not know or not care.
You hear things like, “I found a job. Why can’t they?”
Or, “They must be on drugs.”
I think that’s a joke when you have no money. You can barely be on food, let alone drugs.
And shame makes people suffer in silence.
That’s part of why I’m talking about this now—because of the misconceptions about homelessness and unemployment.
I don’t want to be suffering in silence.
I don’t want to pretend that everything is fine when it isn’t.
And I don’t want other people who have gone through similar experiences to think they’re the only ones.
These Are the Conversations I Want to Have
The Exploited Worker 138 is…
Not pretending I have all the answers.
Not turning every difficult experience into an inspirational story.
And not telling people that everything will magically work out if they just stay positive.
I want to have conversations that people aren’t having anywhere else.
The conversations that happen after the layoff.
The conversations that happen after losing your home.
The conversations that happen after living in your car.
The awkward and painful conversations that don’t happen after the layoff because no one cares or wants to hear about someone else’s struggle.
After the hours get cut.
After the unemployment runs out.
After the bills start piling up.
After you’ve sold the things you worked years to own.
After you’ve started wondering whether you’re going to lose your home.
Because that’s where a lot of workers are living right now.
And some of them are probably closer to that situation than they realize.
Maybe you’ve been there too.
Let’s Talk About It
I’ve been homeless twice.
Once while I was working.
Once after losing a job.
I’m not sharing that because I want anyone to feel sorry for me.
I’m sharing it because it’s part of my story.
And because I think we need to stop pretending that homelessness, unemployment, and financial instability only happen to somebody else.
Have you ever been close to being homeless?
Have you been homeless?
What happened?
Leave a comment below. Tell me your story.
The Exploited Worker 138 exists because I want to have the conversations that happen when the polished version of working life falls apart.
Starting Over in a Broken System.
These are my personal experiences and opinions. They are shared to encourage honest discussion about work, unemployment, financial instability, and the realities workers can face. If your experience has been different, I’d genuinely like to hear it.