• woman leaning against a wall in dim hallway

    Homeless is a person in your life

    I went for a walk around the block with my friend who was visiting from out of State. “Wow, I haven’t seen a single homeless person in your neighborhood,” she said. “Do you ever see homeless people?” she asked. I might’ve stuttered in my response because my definition of homeless had recently been updated.  The question took me back to past years, circumstances, and people. I have known people who would probably not be considered “homeless” under US aid programs, but who have been homeless nonetheless. So, while I understood she was referring to the street-living kind of homeless, I could not say without stumbling that I barely saw homeless…