Have you ever thought how it feels to be homeless? To have no home of your own, to live on the streets, under the bridges, in a car, in a condemn room, in cardboard boxes?

Today, homelessness is near epidemic proportions in some areas of the United States.

In our own back yard, the Brunswick County, at any given night, there are at least 86 individuals who do not have safe permanent housing. Contrary to much belief, 80% of the homeless are families with children. Amidst the growing affluence in Brunswick County, homelessness is increasingly a significant challenge.

Let me put you in the shoes of a homeless person to fully appreciate the things a homeless person goes through. After which I hope that you will find in your heart to take action to help make a difference. Any way you can.

This is a true story written in his own handwriting by a homeless veteran who I met and helped while I was working for the VA Hospital in Pittsburgh.

My name is Jamie. I am in what are supposed to be my “golden years.”  I am made up of a ball of mass confusion and very low self-esteem. I have been unstable for the past 10 years and have been homeless 3-4 times all over the United States. I have lived in bridges and literally froze to a point of hypothermia.

I started from Long Beach, California. I got robbed of the last $80 I had. It took me 3 days to get to Las Vegas. I hitchhiked. I then went to Utah. I got a job and stayed there for a year. I lost my job. I hitch hiked for miles and miles with my pit bull, the only bright thing in my life. I ended up in North Carolina. I met a very nice girl, got married and had 2 kids. I tried very hard to make a life for myself and family. But after 8 years, my family left me. I could not provide for them. Housing has become too expensive and could not afford a decent home. Once again, I had become homeless. I wondered all over the United States leading a life of no direction. It is a very scary world to be all-alone.

I suffer from manic depression, severe nervous disorder, agoraphobia and chronic loss of memory. This was a result of my horrible experience in the Vietnam War. I have not been diagnosed properly and I have gotten very little help emotionally and financial by the country I have served so unselfishly.

I do not remember how I ended up in Pittsburgh. A very kind person referred me to the Veterans Hospital where they diagnosed me properly and help me  to slowly put my life together. After all these years, my life has begun to change for the better. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am grateful to the help of all the people around me.

That is just a very small gleams of the life of a homeless.

Homelessness cannot be ignored. We cannot ignore the fact that even in our very own Brunswick County we have many Jamie’s among us. The homeless may not be as clean or as well dressed like you and me, but they are people. They have a heart, a soul, and are children of God just like you and me. I therefore challenge you to help out our less fortunate brothers and sisters by finding it within your heart to help out in any way you can to make a difference in their lives.