By John Claybaugh
Gary, Calvin, Linda, and Tina are real people.
Only the names are changed to protect the innocent.
I wonder.
I wonder if I will see my homeless friend Gary tomorrow. I wonder if he’ll be housed soon. I wonder if he will die on the streets. If he does die on the streets, I wonder if it be soon or years from now. I wonder if Calvin would have taken better care of himself and received better medical care if he hadn’t been homeless all those years. Had he received housing sooner, I
wonder if he would have maintained better health and lived longer.
I wonder.
I wonder what would have happened in Linda’s life if she had been able to get housing sooner. I wonder if she would have lost her kids if she had never found herself without a home. I wonder if she would have overdosed on heroin if she’d had a home and been able to have her kids live with her. I wonder if Tina’s kids would have been able to live with her if she had not found herself without a home. While I don’t know the circumstances of her having
six children over the years, I wonder if having a home would have meant that she didn’t find herself pregnant as often. I wonder if she is one of the many women experiencing homelessness that have had sex in order to have a safe place to stay.
I wonder.
I wonder, when women have sex as trade for a safe place to stay, how many nights, on average, are they given a place to stay. I wonder if they have to have sex constantly to insure that they are allowed to stay there. I wonder how many times an unwanted pregnancy is the reason that they lose the ability to stay in that safe place. I wonder how many children in
America spend the afternoon wondering if there will be something at home that they can eat for supper? I wonder if these children would make better grades if they knew for sure that they would be able to eat at night.
Only the names are changed to protect the innocent.
I wonder.
I wonder if I will see my homeless friend Gary tomorrow. I wonder if he’ll be housed soon. I wonder if he will die on the streets. If he does die on the streets, I wonder if it be soon or years from now. I wonder if Calvin would have taken better care of himself and received better medical care if he hadn’t been homeless all those years. Had he received housing sooner, I
wonder if he would have maintained better health and lived longer.
I wonder.
I wonder what would have happened in Linda’s life if she had been able to get housing sooner. I wonder if she would have lost her kids if she had never found herself without a home. I wonder if she would have overdosed on heroin if she’d had a home and been able to have her kids live with her. I wonder if Tina’s kids would have been able to live with her if she had not found herself without a home. While I don’t know the circumstances of her having
six children over the years, I wonder if having a home would have meant that she didn’t find herself pregnant as often. I wonder if she is one of the many women experiencing homelessness that have had sex in order to have a safe place to stay.
I wonder.
I wonder, when women have sex as trade for a safe place to stay, how many nights, on average, are they given a place to stay. I wonder if they have to have sex constantly to insure that they are allowed to stay there. I wonder how many times an unwanted pregnancy is the reason that they lose the ability to stay in that safe place. I wonder how many children in
America spend the afternoon wondering if there will be something at home that they can eat for supper? I wonder if these children would make better grades if they knew for sure that they would be able to eat at night.
RSS Feed
