http://youtu.be/MdbHEZp0WPA
This video sent the message that homelessness is a growing problem and that it isn't always the people you would think of. It can be families where the parent or parents are working but just aren't able to make enough money to support their families. Health problems, job loss, divorce, and various other problems, added to the lack of affordable housing, can have devastating effects to a family's fiscal health.
This video did present the issue in more of a personal trouble perspective with just a small focus on a public issue perspective. And even when they did go into the public issue perspective, it was more about how to treat homelessness rather than prevent or correct it. There was just a very small segment where they discussed HUD's plans to work to prevent homelessness. Mostly though, they focused on the problem of these two families from a personal trouble perspective: they focused on the first family's medical problems and the second family's divorce as the causes of their homelessness.
I find this video very scary from a personal perspective. I am a single mom of three children. My first ex-husband, and father of my oldest, pays a very minimal amount of support because he voluntary quit his job in the IT field so was able to claim minimum wage during child support calculations. My second ex-husband, and father of my other two children, has never paid any child support. He has a felony warrant out for his arrest because he owes so much, but even if he is caught, that won't change my financial situation.
I have a good job, considering that I don't have any type of post-secondary degree. I worked very hard to get to the position I am in today, but I am maxed out and can go no further until I earn a degree.
In addition, my oldest has Type 1 diabetes, so I have a lot of medical expenses even though I have medical insurance. Between deductibles and copays I am still responsible for quite a bit of money out of pocket every month.
I get by, but live paycheck to paycheck. We live in a small trailer rather than the old, but spacious houses we lived in previously. I am thankful that I was able to buy a modest home that doesn't require too much maintenance after my divorce. However, I live in a state of knowing that I am one disaster from losing my home. If my son were to go back into the hospital for any time, if I were to get laid off and be out of work for even a short time, if I had to get a different job that didn't pay as much – any of these things would most certainly mean I would lose my home.
Unlike the families in the video, I am blessed to have family that I can lean on in an emergency. However, even my parents live in a two bedroom house – that would be awfully tight quarters for all of us. And like the divorced woman in the video, shelters would not be an option since my oldest is a teenage boy – he would not be allowed to stay with his sisters and myself in most, if not all shelter situations.
All in all, I understand that this reality is all too real and all too close at any given moment. That is what keeps me going and taking classes to get my degree and further my career. That way, I can get to a point that I no longer feel like I am always on the verge of this happening to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment