Older Homeless Women I Know

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"Jessica" was a very successful massage therapist, with much expertise in energy work when she was hit by a drunk driver and left with brain injury. It is a very slow recovery, and many days she is not able to function very well, which is typical of brain injury. It's looking like she will never make a full recovery, but Jessica hasn't yet come to the point of realizing that. She bounces from shelter to part-time housesitting and back to shelter.

"Joyce" became very ill, and was unable to work for a long time, so she lost her job. The resulting medical fees cost her the loss of everything she had. The sad state of health care in the US is causing an increasing number of homeless people, and women are more vulnerable.

"Jackie" Is homeless for the reason that so many women are.... she has experienced abuse many times, and is always set back each time. Abuse at home, abuse at work, and abuse from "agencies" she applies to for "help". Abuse is probably the principal cause of homelessness with women and children.

Many women, whose names are not known, will be homeless in the near future because women coming back from serving in Iraq are experiencing PTSD at higher rates than men. Just as with Vietnam vets, many of these women will not be able to work, and will need low-income housing. Given their service, it is certainly their right to have decent housing, and not be bounced from shelter to shelter.

"Jenn" The only reason "Jenn" isn't homeless at the age of 70 is because she made the decision to stay in a very unhealthy building that has ruined her health. In 5 years, she went from a healthy person who was looking for a job to someone who had bloodclots in her lungs from pollution in the building and now must be on oxygen at all times. Her knees have given out because of the cement floors (what do cement floors do to hip bones of elderly women when they fall??), and is no longer strong emotionally because of the atmosphere of extreme tension in the building.

None of these women need more "shelter" -- we all need safe, clean and pleasant permanent housing! THere are more and more older women who are becoming homeless, yet are invisible because people don't want to recognize just how broken the system is. HUD has been cut more than 65% in 25 years, and Section 8 housing, if it exists at all, is rundown, overcrowded, and either has waiting lists of years, or closed waiting years.

The situation is DIRE!