They're Not Camping; They're Homeless

by Josie Raymond · 2010-01-08 13:11:00 UTC
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Homeless people who choose to live in tents present a complex set of issues: they refuse to enter shelters for a variety of reasons, they face unique health risks and they're rarely seen by the public.

One of them, profiled in the Washington Post today, is Gala Crum, 21 and pregnant, who moved out of her adoptive parents' house last April and has been living in a $259 tent in Prince William County, Virginia with her boyfriend. She works part-time in the mess hall of a Marine base. The couple checked into a motel for a night recently when the area got two feet of snow. Usually, they rely on a propane heater that they turn off at night so their clothes won't catch fire while they're asleep.

Of the 12,000 homeless people counted in last year's Washington DC-area tally, almost 1,300 were "unsheltered" -- meaning sleeping on benches, in cars or in tents. Our blogger SlumJack Homeless explains why someone might choose living outdoors rather than entering a shelter. Another reason: pets.

Beyond personal preference, experts say that tent-dwellers often have mental health issues or struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. The executive director of a local shelter told the Post, "Living in the woods is a lot harder than living anywhere else. You get a lot older a lot faster. It damages your teeth, your skin. It affects your blood pressure. You get respiratory illnesses. We thought our outreach challenge would be mental health issues when we encountered people in tents. It was health issues."

Crum's tent is within walking distance of both a men's and a women's shelter, but she says, "No, we can make it out here."

Photo credit: Bill O'Leary/Washington Post

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.
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