but it's almost impossible to get out of no matter how hard you try once you're there and I don't think anyone deserves that.

This is such an important distinction, because no one really realizes just how screwed you are once you hit the streets.

I only had to deal with living on the streets for a month (I seriously cannot imagine what ten years must have been like), but even that month was terrifying because you are suddenly aware of just how little hope there is of getting out of the vicious cycle that is homelessness.

I wrote about this a couple other times here on Reddit, and if anyone would like to, they can read more about it here. However, this is a specific reply I wrote when someone asked why I didn't just find a job or a source of money (which is a fair question to ask), and hopefully this explains how difficult it is to get out of being homeless.

This is a great story. I do have one question, however. Two things that seem conspicuously absent are spending your time looking for a job and getting on welfare. Why didn't you at least do these things?

That's actually a good question to bring up. I did think about finding work, but the biggest concerns I had were:

• 1) Where would I work?

I had no idea where I would be living the next day, let alone a week later. My biggest concern was always "where am I going to sleep?" After getting kicked off that piece of land by the police officer, the sense that I would always have to be on the lookout for a safe place to sleep was always at the forefront. If I found a job, would I be able to find someplace to stay nearby? I had very limited funds and did not want to blow them on a hotel, even a cheap one, unless I knew I would have the cash later on. I didn't have a car, and the first area I slept at did not have a bus route going nearby, so I would have to find a job within walking distance that I could get to on time. That narrowed where I could find work at considerably. No matter where I was, I had to find a place within a conceivable walking distance, which meant (if I did apply for work) I would only have less than a dozen businesses to apply to at a time, and then I would have to find somewhere near that business to be able to live or sleep. That brings me to point number two...

• 2) Hygiene/Appearance

I was able to wash my face and hands in any store that had a bathroom pretty easily. That did help very much in at least keeping up some sort of decent appearance. However, my clothes and the rest of my body were another issue. During that entire four weeks, I did not get to shower or shave once, let alone wash my clothes. I did my best to keep my clothes clean, but when I was sleeping in a culvert, and on the roof of an unfinished department store, keeping my clothes clean was very difficult. And after all of my things went missing in that house, I only had one pair of jeans, one shirt, one pair of socks and shoes, and a jacket/gloves. I had $30 left and was too afraid to spend it on anything but cheap food. I knew then (and still do now) that how you look during a job interview is one of the most important factors in whether or not someone will hire you. Could I have explained these issues to an interviewer? Absolutely. But like I said in a comment above, I felt very ashamed for even being in that situation.

There has always been that stigma around the homeless. Even now, knowing that the stereotype isn't always true, the first thing I think of when someone mentions the homeless is a drug addicted loser who threw their life away. Even though I know that's not always the case, I still think that. So what would a prospective employer think of me? Would they believe that I honestly fell into hard times, that my current situation was not because of bad choices or drugs? Or would they just assume that I was another junkie? It may be pessimistic, but that's what I assumed.

As for the welfare, I'll honestly tell you, the thought never entered my mind. Not out of pride or anything like that. I never even thought of that. I really wish I would have, because that would have helped a lot. Sounds stupid now, I know, but I think I was so preoccupied with everything else that I never thought of it.