It’s no secret that both nationally and locally, many people struggle with homelessness. The statistics are staggering and intimidating. In the most recent reports, more than 3,000 people in Rhode Island were considered homeless, nearly one-third of them including families with children. In Massachusetts, more than 20,000 people experienced homelessness during the most recent daily count. Nationally, more than a half million people are experiencing homelessness. Some are veterans struggling with the ravages of war. Some are people coping with the sudden loss of a job or mental illness. Others fled domestic violence or simply can’t afford high rents. The list of circumstances is nearly endless.
But behind these statistics, which can be both sterile and daunting, are real people, people whose daily challenges mean that they may start each day not knowing where they will rest their head that night, whether they will sleep between cemetery headstones, in the alley behind a store in frigid weather, in a shelter, or on a stranger’s floor. Homelessness takes so many forms and has so many causes that it’s impossible to generalize about people’s individual circumstances. Today, Lisa Vasquez takes us inside her deeply personal and complex journey.
