A Roof Over My Head: The Homeless Perspective

Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

A client of Project Hope/Proyecto Esperanza currently living at Harrington Hall in Cranston shares the following words:

Picture a typical New England winter day, 6:00 am, dark, cold, and you're being asked to leave a dormitory room which housed you and over a hundred other men.

If you're fortunate enough to have a bus pass or automobile, you head to find the next meal, or warm place of refuge; otherwise it's bundle-up and trudge through the elements, destination unknown.

You may know the old adage "walk a mile in my shoes." I would simply ask, "walk around the block" in mine. So the next time you step out into one of the unpleasant days of deluge, darkness, and cold; know that there are members of our society for whatever reason, without a roof over their heads.

In a desperate attempt to remedy the homeless dilemma, countless programs, etc. direct us to jump through hoops, spin wheels, and otherwise exhaust what little (if any) resources we may have, simply to find that carrot and stick has once again been used to provide philanthropic hope.

How many lives will it cost until something is done? We know all the facts and figures (don't we)? Or, do we need to delegate further research and dispense more funds to make sure of the facts and figures.

For those of us who receive the minimum income on SSI, we are simply priced out of the apartment market. Further, why should those of us be forced to exhaust our entire income to have a roof over our heads? How is this even conceivably considered SOCIALLY SECURE. There is nothing remotely close to the definition SOCIALLY SECURE for those of us condemned to this quagmire. And it is condemned, as if a sentence had been handed down.

And what of those who have paid a social debt for whatever past transgression(s) and now have been re-admitted back into society? Though their debt is paid (in full), they are still being asked to suffer yet - denied housing for their past, their history. How will they ever be able to respect society or function therein if they are not allowed to participate. The present formula does not work and for most in this situation, will only result in recidivism and disaster.

I have suggestions, perhaps even some answers; however without immediate action on the part of responsible society, the cycle will continue - an inevitable fact.

I only hope that I do not become a statistic or martyr as the days roll on and my health deteriorates, exposed to the hardships that is homeless in Rhode Island, and beyond.

Please put a roof over our heads! PLEASE!!!!