15 Surprising Facts about Life in a Homeless Shelter
I’ve been homeless for 2 months now. My city’s shelter is not what I thought it would be.
Toward the end of 2023, I lost the downtown apartment home I’d had for 21 years, no longer able to pay rent. For more than a month, I crashed on friends’ couches when I could. When I could not, I wandered the streets all night in the cold of winter.
I had become homeless.
Friends pleaded with me to go to the local men’s emergency shelter. For weeks, though, I resisted. I feared the shelter was dangerous. I thought of it as a haven for crackheads and the mentally ill. “It’s not for me,” I told myself. “I’d rather take my chances on the streets.”
By early February, I had become so sleep-deprived that I began hallucinating and sleepwalking. I then realized I had no choice but to give the shelter a chance.
What I found there surprised me — and many of the surprises were pleasant ones.
You can access all the shelter’s services for free
“Hey, man,” said a panhandler on the corner. “Let me get about six dollars from you so I can get in the shelter tonight.”
