A Life Of Homelessness Starting At Age 19

neighbourhood of homes, with one in poor repair in the centre
Rotten photo by Simeon W is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Deed
Unsafe housing in Wellington, New Zealand.

What price shelter? It sure as heck doesn’t come free. Whether you rent or own what many countries in the world see adequate shelter as an basic human right, there is inevitably a cost associated with the realization of that right.

Need a new a new roof on the house you own? It will cost plenty. That light burned out in the bathroom you own — a trivial cost, but a cost all the same.

Do you rent your home? Some repair costs may be covered by your landlord. Many won’t, regardless of your opinion about your landlord’s responsibilities.

So why is it assumed that people who are unhoused are being unreasonably awkward when they refuse offers of housing?

The following article begins with a report of a terrible fall suffered by a Wellington, New Zealand man, when a stairway collapses in a derelict property, plunging him three stories down. Free housing? Indeed not. A three-story fall is a terrible price to pay for his ‘free’ accommodation.

If you can carry some sympathy for this person with you, read further. He’s been homeless for twenty years. In that time, he’s been offered shelter accommodation many times, but has never accepted it.

Why? Because he is wise enough to know that housing of any kind is too expensive for his very limited financial resources. Revisit/consider the basic common sense, not always exercised, that steers potential owners and renters away from housing as a habit they simply cannot afford to support.

People who are unhoused and deliberately remain that way are supposedly ungrateful, or crazy, or deliberately contrary. But they may well be acting as all shelter-seekers do: seeking a roof over their head that they can safely support.

Read more at RNZ: One Man’s Reality Of Being Homeless In Wellington