Hey Family!
We’ve decided it’s time to share some of our origin story. Today’s episode is Nico’s perspective on why we’re homeless.
I used to live with a couple who helped manage a small apartment complex in Clackamas. I moved in after getting a job at a hardware store; they’d promised me a reasonable amount of hours and a position on Cashier. My roommates were pretty understanding at the beginning, but the shop took far too long to make good on their promises. My schedule was so sporadic I couldn’t get another job. Starting from scratch wasn’t a guarantee that I’d find something.
After a while, my roommates just started seeing me as a mooch and overlooking a lot of what I was trying to contribute in terms of time, energy, and compassion. I was the scapegoat, and wanting to seek comfort at all became a point of contention.
I was threatened with eviction at about the time the shop actually was giving me the hours I needed; it was just too little too late. It was safer to leave than to try and change their minds at that point, and I’ve been trying to recover ever since.
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Oddly enough, we had a similar thing happen to us again recently. We attempted to help another friend deal with relationship and self care issues, and got them started on a path to recovery. Once it was clear we were no longer needed we left, but the path to that point included a familiar feeling of being overlooked for the things I was doing and had done for them.
I can’t help but think that this is too strange to be a mundane problem, but either way I still have other challenges to deal with.
