Life hits hard: The choices homelessness forces

Left Homeless and Broke.

Sometimes, life can hit so hard that the only choices are the ones we are the most reluctant to make. Never in a million years did I ever imagine my husband and I would be forced to sleep in a hospital, not because of sickness or pain, but for the sole purpose of having a place to rest for the night.

Everything started after my husband lost his management position unexpectedly in 2009. I can still remember the sadness on his face when he came home from work that evening. When I asked him what was bothering him, he stated that he had been laid off. That was not the news I was expecting to hear after a long day at the hospital with my daughter for injuries we had endured from a car accident six months earlier that year. As parents, we had to stay calm and be strong for our children.

After three months without steady income the bills began to pile up and things went downhill. At that point, we were given 30 days to vacate our apartment. The thought of possibly being homeless with our children was difficult for my husband and I to bear. Things could not have gotten any worse; without a home, we were forced to separate as family. The children stayed with my oldest brother and his family, while we decided it was better to sleep in our truck until we got back on our feet, hoping that our condition would be temporary and not add more burden on my brother.

Our expectation was far from the truth. Things got harder and overstretched for one year. We turned to churches and food pantries for assistance, and over time we resorted to selling our truck for whatever we could get to help sustain us in a one-bedroom motel.

Although we had some income from plasma donations and side jobs like labor ready and hair dressing, it was still not enough to cover our expenses so the children had to stay with my brother longer than we predicted.

One night we had nowhere to sleep and we were tired of asking our family and friends for help, so we decided that we would walk until the next morning. Let me just say, this was not an easy thing to do. As the night got colder, our hands and feet started tingling, so we had to do something for shelter immediately.

My husband and I walked over five miles to St. Vincent Hospital and that night we slept in the lobby area. That was a humbling experience that we would never forget.

I am now happy to say that things are normal again and my family is back together in our new home.