Homeless and unemployed – The struggles to get ahead in life
In Quincy Illinois at any given time there is usually at least a couple dozen homeless wondering
around town. Although there is a salvation homeless shelter, it is usually filled to capacity, which is
25 people, and they have very strict guidelines that are sometimes hard to follow. They have a 30day time limit to start with, then they expect you to go out daily job hunting and you have to fill out
three applications daily at places actually hiring at the time. Unfortunately, in a town this size, there
isn’t enough places hiring to obtain three different places daily for 30 consecutive days, they still
insist you must do this or you will be asked to leave. It just adds to the stress these homeless families
are already enduring just trying to find work, a place to live, some even working to overcome
addictions during this time as well.
The housing situation here is also a dire situation for low income families, although there are two low
income apartment complexes within our community, they are usually full up and the waiting list are
sometimes up to a year long. Many of the homeless end up in motels renting by the month if they do
happen to have some semblance of income. I’ve seen as many as 12 people living within one or two
rooms at a motel for many months, sometimes years.
In researching for this I found a few things that had not been around during my own families struggle
with homelessness, there is a website now that is run by the former photo editor of our local
newspaper. He actually gave up his job to do a photo/editorial story on the homeless here in Quincy.
He is trying to bring awareness of the shortage of safe, healthy housing for the low income families
as well as telling their stories of what led them to homelessness.
Homeless and unemployed – The struggles to get ahead in life
The article appeared in the Herald-Whig back in August of 2018, he had spent a couple years doing
his research and taking pictures, he then had a “gallery showing” of his project in a local theatre here
in Quincy.
Bohnstedt,S.(2018,August 20)New photo exhibit shows starkness of local homelessness. Retrieved
from ( https://www.whig.com/article/20180820/ARTICLE/180829999)
He also has a website where he has many interviews with homeless families at the time, and some
interviews with some of the ones that had obtained housing in some of the complexes here in town.
It is a sad situation because even though some finally were able to get off the streets and out of the
shelters, they now live in deplorable conditions that are actually such a travesty considering these
complexes are run by our own government Hud programs. The apartments are infested with roaches
and although the places are sprayed monthly it never helps, one reason is the way they do it, as I
have witnessed it having lived in one of them myself. The exterminator comes in, sprays a tiny bit
under the kitchen sink and in the floor area of the outer doorways. That’s it. Sadly, they also have
had in recent years infestations of bedbugs as well to contend with. It seems a never ending cycle for
these families just trying to have clean, safe housing for their children.
Bohnstedt, S. (Unknown date) Quincy Illinois Poverty Project. Retrieved from
https://www.quincyilpovertyproject.org/
There are organizations that help with things like food, clothing, toiletries and more to help the low
income families stretch their dollars further. In my search for more information on the plight of the
homeless I came across a website that with a few keywords gave me list of various organizations and
phone numbers in our community to go to for help with certain things. This site is also usable for all
Homeless and unemployed – The struggles to get ahead in life
states within the USA. You just put in the community your searching within and it will come up with a list
of places and numbers to get answers to various situations.
This site was quite informative and helpful and sure would have been nice to have around during my
own times of homelessness over the years.
Author unknown (2015) Homeless To Independence Inc · A 501©3 Non-Profit Organization . Retrieved
from http://www.homelesstoindependence.org/
There is a short video excerpt from a The Illinois commission on the elimination of poverty hearing, this
piece took place here In Quincy, Illinois.
In Quincy, citizens highlighted several issues, including barriers to employment, access to social services,
delays in receiving benefits, lack of affordable housing, and racial disparities in figures such as
unemployment. Read more about the Quincy hearing at heartlandpolicy.blogspot.com
Heartlandalliance ( September 23, 2013) Poverty is Real. Quincy, Illinois speaks out. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFkoUvY82xA
One of the saddest cases I came across during my research involved a woman, who had been fairly well
off, had a good job, married with a son. Then she had a tragic health issue that in the end not only
destroyed her health, it ended her marriage, she became homeless without a job and in need of
constant medical help.
Homeless and unemployed – The struggles to get ahead in life
So many people judge people that are homeless as being lazy, not willing to work, or being hooked on
drugs etc. and though in some cases that is the situation, it is not fair to judge anyone at all for anything
because as the woman in this story once said, “If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone”.
Dutton, M. (April 3, 2017) NO PLACE TO GO: Health issues, addiction stumbling blocks for region's
homeless. Retrieved from https://www.whig.com/20170402/no-place-to-go
I plan to continue my search for answers to help find suitable housing and jobs for the homeless of my
community. One of the things I am working on is a possible website where I can recruit temporary jobs
for homeless to do daily, IE: maybe farmers around the area need a few days of help with farming or
animals etc. I would like to establish a specific corner or parking lot like they do in some of the bigger
cities, where men and women can gather for potential employers seeking daily help with odd jobs and
such.
I am also looking into the possibility of finding some land at the outskirts of our town, that I could maybe
start a “tiny home” community for homeless to live in temporarily while getting back on their feet. Our
community just last year finally did something for some of our local homeless vets, behind the
apartment building that I currently live in, they have built a tiny house and moved one of our homeless
vets into it last year. Work is currently going on with a second tiny house next to the first one to
eventually house another homeless vet. I think this is great and think it should not just stop at homeless
vets. That is why I intend to try to invest in land and gather donations of monetary and materials to
build a tiny village. I would like to build in the center of it, a communal soup kitchen as well as showers
and laundry facilities on-site so that the homeless are not only fed, but able to keep themselves and
their clothes clean for job hunting purposes.
Homeless and unemployed – The struggles to get ahead in life
I am hoping to also set up some kind of job training type thing to help those who need help qualifying
for various types of jobs.
I think if I could accomplish something like this it would not only benefit all the homeless within our
community, but also help with victims of domestic violence to also get back on their feet especially if
they have never had any kind of job experience in the past.
One of the reasons I feel so strongly about doing this is because I am a case of “been there, done that”,
and having experienced every facet of being a victim of domestic violence, homelessness and trying to
take care of and raise three children as a single mom. I know exactly how these people feel and the
struggles they face daily in just trying to survive, let alone get back on their feet and out of the cycle of
homelessness.
Homeless and unemployed – The struggles to get ahead in life