A family I know in North Carolina just suffered the disaster that most families fear — a fire wiped out their home. This family falls into the not-rich, not-at-the-bottom-poor category, like most families across the country. They are now devastated. Fortunately, no one was injured. They were able to farm out their smaller pets, but have four large dogs to deal with.

Another fire story from Maryland, a grandmother, her daughter and three grandkids lost their home to a fire recently. They have rotated through four motel rooms for the past month, disrupting their fragile stability. …

I guffawed at the 12 day shower record!

I'm on year 15, or is it 16? of full-timing, from being a totally newbie. I too downsized from a 27' Class C to a 24' Class B, and was happy I did. It's usually just me in my rig, and I work on the road, filming documentaries of family homelessness.

I can relate to all your learning experiences. Every. Drop. Of. Water.

I ended up writing a memoir/social narrative about my experiences and the people I met. For those interested, https://bit.ly/2ITtkZz

Thanks for your post! It's validating!

Back off, Bub! You’re putting unnecessary hurt on a friend of mine. She’s been through enough, including years of homelessness as she tried to raise her daughters without support from their fathers. Get your hands off her stimulus check!

“Gloria” messaged me in total fear after seeing this half-assed “article” about stimulus checks being garnished. She and her daughters have lived through years of austerity that would make these two-bit lawyer-debt collectors splutter like a clump of lard dropped in a hot frying pan. The teaser article she sent stated,

“New $1,400 stimulus checks are poised to get final approval…

Millions of homeless kids and parents don’t count

I want to raise the ante of Suzette Hackney’s USA Today opinion column, “COVID-19 could devastate the homeless. How will America pick up the pieces?” (Jan. 30, 2021)

In addition to worrying about the impact of COVID-19 on people experiencing homelessness, and about the extreme undercount for HUD’s annual point-in-time count, it’s even more concerning that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has persisted at a gross dismissal of those experiencing homelessness in the U.S, ignoring millions of families and individuals who have no place to live.

Your history lesson is brutal, compact, and concise. I don't think "thanks" is the right word, but you know what I mean.

Thanks, Matt! Much of what you said resonated with me. My new book, Dismazed and Driven - My Look at Family Homelessness in America (https://bit.ly/2ITtkZz), is a memoir/social narrative, and reflects my 15 years of solo travel across the backroads chronicling stories from invisible homeless families.

It's been quite a journey, and having been harassed by friends to write a book, I was able to finally come up with the combo book, which from initial feedback really works.

The self- promotion thing is the bite, as Ivan also mentioned. …

In the heartless pandemic-fueled sweep of non-paying “deadbeats” from rental housing, plenty of innocent households are being pushed to the streets. A particularly egregious eviction process ravaging the last bastion of affordable housing, the house trailer, aka manufactured housing gets little attention. We’re not talking recreational vehicles, another story for another time.

To no surprise, private equity firms are scooping up mobile home parks with a devious strategy to get rich(er) by upending income-challenged house trailer-owners. NBC news recently reported:

“Since the 2008 financial crisis, private equity firms have piled into the manufactured home sector. Because manufactured homes are difficult…

by Yvonne Vissing and Diane Nilan

Homeless is far from a new phenomenon, one that has triggered crises for individuals, families and communities for decades. Commemorating our Silver Anniversary of homelessness research and advocacy, we figured it would be valuable to share our historical retrospective of how homelessness in America has changed over the last 25 years, with a particular focus on child and family homelessness.