Three Different Types Of Homelessness

“Sometimes it’s easier to walk by because we know we can not change someone’s life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to realize is that simple kindness can go a long way toward encouraging someone who is stuck in a desolate place” (Yankoski). There are three different types of homelessness in our world today: chronic homelessness, transitional homelessness, and episodic homelessness. There are many different reasons that people become homeless.
The chronically homeless are those who use shelters as long-term housing rather than as an emergency arrangement. They are categorized as people who have been homeless for at least three years. Paul Curtis was once one of the chronically homeless after his marriage ended and he lost his job. He did not immediately find a new job like he had hoped so his debts
just kept on piling up until one day his house got repossessed.
Paul happened to be one of the lucky ones though, because he never had to live on the streets. He would stay with friends who made him feel at home yet he still felt like an intruder staying there since nothing was his own. He was powerless, as all of the homeless are. He got a job and an apartment to get off his feet, and he now owns his own house again and is retired, enjoying his happy and secure lifestyle (Marsh).
The transitionally homeless are those who only have to stay at a shelter once and only for a short period of time. These are the people who are often only homeless for a short amount of time before getting back on their feet. For Caroline Ryan, being transitionally homeless happened twice, not just once. Both times mental health problems were the cause of her homelessness. The first time she was turned away from her own family and
friends, who claimed she could not stay because she was driving them mad. She was turned away from a hostel who said, “Only men can stay here, try a B&B”. She was left to wander the streets until an outpatient doctor got her some medication that helped her get better and on her feet again. The second time she became homeless she had quit her job due to the mental illness returning. Her relationships with her friends and family became strained so they decided to put her in a local mental hospital before she even had a chance to sleep on the streets. For Caroline both experiences were terrifying and left her feeling abandoned and alone. Her friends and family tried to help but their help could only go so far and made little difference. After so many knockbacks, things eventually got better and she clawed her way back to sanity. Though she is doing well now, her experiences with homelessness have marked her in a way that she can never forget. “Mental illness, poverty and homelessness were interlinked in my case – I’m sure that’s the situation for a lot of people. Safety nets can fall apart and I went into a downward spiral. I would like to see an end to the stigma attached to homelessness. It can be a terrifying and devastating experience that no one should ever have to go through” ( (Marsh).
The episodically homeless are those who are frequently in and out of shelters and other emergency arrangements. They constantly go back and forth from being stable and being homeless-typically people with disabling conditions. For Tony, instead of having a disability, a drug addiction became his downfall that ultimately led to being homeless. When he was younger he made some bad decisions and got caught doing drugs, which led to him serving a short prison sentence. After that, he made the choice to move away from his hometown and to stay with a friend. This worked out for a while until he