One of the most surprising things I’ve learned about homeless people (and myself) is just how expensive they are. I always thought that homeless people were free, housing was too expensive, and the government had other priorities. The reason homeless people are expensive is because they circulate through jails and hospitals before landing back on […]
Archives for February 2015
The Homeless Experience: Criminalization vs. Care
A couple days ago, I was invited to speak for a seminar held at a Lutheran Church. When I arrived at the church, the first thing I saw was a person in a thick sleeping bag resting beside the church’s front door. The weather was bitter cold, with strong, freezing wind. On seeing this person, […]
Experiencing Schizophrenia: Stigma
I recently submitted this to “End the Stigma.” It can also be viewed on their website, here. After I graduated from the University of Cincinnati, I spent two years writing about my unexpected and full recovery from schizophrenia, which eventually became the book Mind Estranged. During those two years of writing, I spoke confidentially to groups of […]
The Homeless Experience: Relationships
From a reader: When you were homeless, what were your interactions like with other homeless people? My response: The only other homeless people I saw living outside at that time were men. I had no interaction at all with any of them. However, I did develop friendships with a photographer who worked in the park […]
