Hitting Bottom

Chapter 3 – Hitting Bottom

Now don’t get me wrong. The people who help the homeless by providing food, shelter, clothing and other necessities are helping. They do so for all sorts of reasons. I personally say thank you to all the people who help me. But there is a down side to all this help. When a homeless person starts getting their needs met then they don’t have to worry about anything especially the REAL problems. Remember what I said in an earlier chapter about how we were homeless by choice to avoid dealing with our problems?

There is a fine line between helping in a constructive way and perpetuating the problem. Many of the case managers understand this. Unfortunately their tools and resources are limited when it comes to attacking the real problems. Other people come along with a desire to help who just help the homeless person put off their problems for another day.

Remember this, I am homeless too and while it hurt me inside, I still would do whatever it took to delay confronting my own problems. This is where talking to the homeless person you wish to help comes in. Getting to know them, asking questions and paying attention to what they say over time will give you an idea of who out there is really working to get themselves off the street or just doing whatever it takes to get what you have to offer. Just keep in mind that there will be some homeless people that for whatever reason just do not wish to talk.

For me it took several years living as a homeless person to actually hit my own personal bottom. Sure there were several times I thought I had gotten myself off the street by getting a job and a place to live. Each time I blew it and went right back to the street. I was still not dealing with my own personal issues and with each failure I would fall deeper into my own self-generated pit of despair.

The truth is that before anyone who is homeless or an addict or depressed or whatever can fix themselves they must first hit bottom. Sometimes for some people it does not seem to take much to reach that point and with some, they may never reach their personal bottom and just continue with whatever lifestyle they have chosen.

There are times when counseling can prevent the trauma of hitting your personal bottom and get you started on the road of recovery. In my case I just knew that I could do it myself and with a loud thud hit bottom. There are some out here who will hit their personal bottom and sit there. Going nowhere, doing nothing, taking what they need. They seem to have given up. The homeless mindset has kicked in and they see no way out.