Being Homeless After a Good Life

Homeless Biography

Nicole Isenberg

September 27, 2005

Being Homeless After a Good Life

I talked to a gentleman that I met as I was walking through the park one day. He began to tell me his story, I sat down and I listened to the events that caused him to be homeless. He started out with the fact that in the previous year of his life he had a good paying job with a wonderful family. He had been working at this job for 14 years, and when they transferred to Atlanta the company downsized. He still had his job but then he suffered from a terrible car accident that put him in the hospital for 13 months. Due to his time off work he lost his job, and in the 13 months his wife had found someone new. He was all alone and he had no one to turn to. He had only been homeless for 5 months, but hearing what he had been through in those 5 months astounded me. He did not know where he would sleep at night, and the places ranged from garages, cars, kids slides. These were the primary places where he slept but it was not peaceful for him. He always had to be alert because the police will give the homeless tickets. He avoided them at all costs because he did not have the expenses to pay the tickets. He has had some temporary jobs, but he does not like them because they only last a short period of time. He says that he is waiting for a full time job to come around so that he can have a little bit of security. When his wife left him she took everything and left him with nothing. Now he is living on the streets and is very lonely. He misses his three children, and he cannot

wait to get off the streets so that he can see them. He described his life on the streets as lonely, and extremely frustrating for him as an individual, but he also made the point of telling me how much love he has found on the streets. He feels that there is more love on the streets than there is in a lot of the people who have money. He has found a new light on love, and realized how important it is in life. He feels that he would not have made it through the five months on the streets if it wasn't for the compassion that all the homeless people share.