Common things when people get out of homelessness

It takes time to adjust

• You feel unable to relax in your new home, wondering if someone will knock on the front door to inspect it.
• You feel out of place sleeping in a bed in the master bedroom.
  
• You feel sometimes uncomfortable and alone with privacy.

• You want to just find a realtor rather than pay rent for no investment value.
  

These are all common hurdles people having experienced homelessness face when transitioning from 'unsheltered' to 'sheltered', whether transitional or permament home placement. The single largest hurdle and problem 'transitioners' deal with is actually the same as what many teens do to: Peers and not setting boundaries.

Out of the all the case's of homelessness I've witnessed; both involving singles and families; the majority all face the same problem: old friends from the system asking for help. In most cases if help isn't rendered, the requestor goes on to the next person they can contact, and not heard from again since a payoff wasn't received. If help is given, it's like a fish you buy at the store:

It's good for a few days in the fridge, then stinks the whole house up.

Is this something that shelters try to teach and 'life coach' people on, before they get out of homelessness? Honestly, yes...but chances are this information is only given during one course offerred, for the sake of filling in a training sheet to prove guidelines of grants are being held to.

It's great to get someone a meal. It's great to provide a roof over their head until they're ready to do it themselves. But it's not great to put people in housing and after care management when they don't have the simple life skills...to cope with every day life sometimes.

Course, who am I to say...I just know of ten cases of singles and families that are back on the streets and shelters in Jacksonville since we got our own home ourselves.

The irony: over half of them got homes before we did.