I’m looking for work. If you know of anything, please contact me at: chris@homelessunlimited.com.
Recently, I’ve been able to keep most of my belongings in a locker, which makes everything much easier — mobility, appearance of normalcy, etc.
I’ve an almost 15 year gap in my resume (quick reminder, my 15 years homeless anniversary is coming up!), so I expect to be interviewing with people who are willing to offer a person a chance for success.
Any help, any suggestions are welcome!
Thanks!
Chris
Highlights first, then some detail.
Fundraiser is active and I need your help. All donors are welcome.
My fundraising goal, when I started this process, was about $35,000. That figure represented one year’s security, housed, off the street. The dollar amount now, due to factors related to global events, is higher. For that reason, I’ll describe my fundraising goals more loosely. First, a note on why I’ve chosen the cost of one full year as the bare minimum for success.
One year is not a long time to build a life. Yet it might be just long enough to get started rebuilding one.
In that time I plan to apply to university, work, generate income, and make a return to life and living.
Today, my fundraising goal is the figure that will keep me housed for one year, regardless the specific number – $40,000 or $400,000, whatever it takes to get me housed for one year, that is the fundraising goal. Key to success in this endeavour is that it happen quickly. Otherwise, I’m only some kind of bizarre character whose ongoing misery is being sponsored by people viewing from the sidelines, for a one-time fee.
While my needs are primarily financial I also have a need for therapy. My physical health is good. Mentally, I am not well. Bitter and frustrated, I need to heal the damage caused by grinding long-term traumatic stress, sleep deprivation, social isolation, and the destruction of my sense of self. It’s a complex picture, wholistically, yet achievable with help.
Those are the highlights, in brief.
Thank you for your time, and your donations.
Donations can be made via my GoFundMe, or through my Ko-Fi page.
Instagram: (strictly homeless content) @homeless_daily / (spam/creative) @thiswholethingislame
For your convenience, here is an excerpt form my GFM:
I’ve stayed in shelters. I’ve rented a bed. I’ve applied for housing. I went door to door, mowing lawns. I’ve worked with the system, and with case workers. I’ve appealed to family. I’ve stayed with friends. I’ve been sleeping on the street for many years.
A return to housing starts with funding. Re-building a life is impossible without resources. The ground-level reality is there is no way out of homelessness without money.
Chris Leach / Homeless Since 2007
You’re already familiar with some of my story, I expect. You’ll already be aware I have a meandering, long-winded, and often absurdly convoluted way of communicating. That can be a lot of work. Clearly, you’re up to it. Good.
Time is a resource all of us possess. Our power to utilize time in ways we choose is determined by our status. As a homeless person, my time is spent, primarily, on basic survival. Conditions don’t allow for a lot of learning, goal-setting, or meaningful time management.
This reality makes any shift in living or circumstance a serious undertaking. Hence the long delay in returning to this blog.
The next post I expect to make will go into some of the factors around the re-imagining of this project. I’ll be writing about my plans around fundraising, re-housing and education and my ultimate goal of applying my experience of homelessness to making deep change to the systems destroying lives for the sin of economic failure.
