Just about 2 years ago I quit my job, packed up my things
and changed countries. It’s been an
amazing adventure. In the intervening
time I have created and sometimes simply experienced some interesting housing
situations. As I have had to navigate
voter registration, tax filing, and renewal of my driver’s license it is not
lost on me just how transient I’ve become.
One day, about a year ago, I got a call from a social worker from my
health insurance company. When I signed
up for coverage they had asked me to complete a survey. Ever mindful that my professional life often
requires data from such surveys, I dutifully complied and in doing so flagged
myself as homeless.
I had very mixed feelings about this phone call. On the one hand, I was thoroughly impressed
at the program which my health insurance had to help assist the homeless
population in their care. Should such
services be more ubiquitous, I wonder how we could reduce the number of people
who fall into that category. I was
unimpressed by the fact that a full year had passed between the time when I
filled out the survey and when the social worker called. Were I to be more traditionally homeless, I
wonder whether the phone number at enrollment would be reliable a year
later. A year on the streets, seems to
me, is a much longer measure of time. I
did inform my social worker and then quickly ended the call to ensure that her
time was spent with other individuals whose transient housing situations were
driven more by circumstance than personal choice and non-traditional career
paths.
This experience has demonstrated how easy it would be to
fall off the grid, or perhaps alternatively, how difficult it is to keep from
falling through the cracks of society.
Even answering the simple question of, “what is your address?” becomes complicated. I’ve never been without a roof over my head,
but my legal address, mailing address, permanent address, where I’m registered
to vote, and home address have at times all been separate addresses based on
the definition required by each system.
I commend the driver’s license bureaucracy for acknowledging
homelessness and providing the option of having a shelter as your address, but
even this requires certification from a shelter and ignores individuals who are
living in their cars or avoid shelters for health and/or safety reasons.
This is the point at which I pause and thank my wide safety
net of friends and family who regularly allow me to crash in their spare
bedrooms, couches, and air mattresses on spare sections of the floor. These people also deserve a shout out because
of their utter offense at the notion that I am homeless or somehow outside of
society. I am also grateful for
Airbnb. As much as I recognize that the
disruption in housing markets has caused inflated prices and potentially resulted
in more transience, there is no other way in which I could imagine living 2
weeks in one location, and 6 more in another.
No way in which I could have afforded to chase the opportunities that I
have had.
I am grateful because I am fortunate. Because of this new
perspective on my own fortunes I hope I am also more cognizant of the fortunes
of others.