Member-only story
SOS — Save Our Seniors!
My Plea for Rose to Avoid Homelessness
Not far from the shadow of Mar-a-Lago, in tony Palm Beach County, is a woman I’ll call Rose. She’s in her 70s, has known stability, purposefulness, and a paycheck. She’s now staring down what any of us in this age bracket would consider our worst nightmare, homelessness. She reached out to me with a desperate plea for help. I’m reaching out to you.
When you see the grizzled guy or gal on a park bench, belongings stacked nearby, it’s easy to figure they had it coming. When they babble incoherently, smell like a 6-week-old hamburger, and make you feel uncomfortable as you pass by at what you hope is a safe distance, you can chalk them up to another failed life.
Not so fast, bub.
Homelessness isn’t a career plan. It’s not the consequence of a raft of bad choices. Without going all social-work-y on you, it’s complicated. Sure, personal mistakes may be part of the equation for all of us, but the flimsy sustenance network on which we all rely — affordable housing, physical/mental health care services, social security supports for our old age (or period of disability), food security, assisted living (if…
