Imagine, for a moment, that you have a fairly normal life. You have a job, an apartment that is just a bit too expensive, you have some credit cards you really ought to pay off and a car payment, along with the insurance, tags and so on that come with it and, of course, no real savings.

And then you lose your job. It was outsourced, or your company filed bankruptcy, or your department got shuttered. Whatever. You are out of work.  And on your way to becoming quickly out of money.  Because you recently moved here for that job, you don’t have any local friends that would let you live in the spare bedroom until things turn around. You have family back home, 800 miles away, but they are struggling too. There is no real money to send you – they are trying their best to just survive. So you keep putting in applications, buy cheaper and cheaper food, start researching the food pantries and the soup kitchens. And at night, you cry.

They repossess the car first, because you chose to pay the rent instead of the car note. Luckily you live near a bus line – not that you have ever ridden the bus before, but you are learning to do lots of things you never did before. The college degree on your wall in the bedroom mocks you when you wake up in the morning to face yet another round of rejections from people who still have jobs.

By now, you have quit being choosy – you are applying for jobs at fast food joints and retail stores. Collection agencies are calling your phone nearly nonstop because you quit paying the bills to hold on to the little cash you have left. Yesterday you tried to charge the groceries and your last credit card was declined. You come home to find the a note on your door, telling you to be in court in seven days. You are being evicted.

You’re an educated, intelligent, normal person. You’re not an alcoholic or drug addict. You’re not a bad person. But you are 27 years old and homeless.

I have personally seen this very scenario at least 5 times in the last three months. People who all say the exact same thing to me – “I am not like this! This is not me!”

This is how homelessness happens. It is not one bad decision you made – it is a process.

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It is worth noting that there are at least five places (I see nine)  in the scenario above where the church could have played a role in keeping this from happening. Can you find them?

Photo Credit: tombothetominator