Based on my Facebook posts from July 20–21, 2026. Lightly edited for readability, with a new reflection added in October 2026.

On July 20, I posted:

I’ve Hit Rock Bottom Again! 🤣

… it can only get better now!

A little later, I made another announcement:

If You Are Looking For Me …

I am In Bunk #47 At The Shelter 😁

I am sorry if my choice to be public about my situation is upsetting … but this is how I am going to handle it … public, honest, and direct.

I’m making my housing situation public not for sympathy. Seriously … don’t give it. Yeah, it’s sad … but I’ve been through way worse, and I’ll get through this too. 😁

I’m writing to show and document what the bottom of the USA really looks like … and how, as a society, we can do better at helping one another with our strengths and weaknesses.

Why I wanted people to see this … looking back in October 2026

What shocked me wasn’t just finding myself in a shelter. It was seeing how many people were caught up in this system … and how few real ways out seemed to be available to them. I was surrounded by people trying to get through another day, another night, another set of rules and requirements. The despair wasn’t just something I felt. I could see it around me.

And then there’s something else that happens when you’re on the inside. People on the outside start looking at you differently. It’s as though you’ve become a zombie … someone to avoid, walk past, and eventually forget. But you’re still the same human being you were before you lost your housing.

That was what I wanted the rest of the world to see. Not just the shelter or the rules, but the people and the despair … and how easily someone can find themselves here. Some of the people looking away today might be only weeks away from standing right next to me.

What I wrote at the time

I can’t take pictures or use names, but I can write about what I see and what I feel.

I originally started writing these segments privately, in a journal my therapist recommended during surgery and cancer recovery. So bear with me if some of the writing seems a little selfish or self-centered. This is the perspective I’m writing from. 🤔

And there’s an important difference between what I’m feeling in a particular moment and my full, considered thoughts on a subject. Some of these entries will be emotional … because that’s what I’m living through and what I’m trying to document.

This world … this country … this way of living does not feel natural to me. Something needs to change. And if I can’t change it, I am certainly not going to be quiet about it anymore.

As I wrote the day before:

I am not meant for “this world!” I don’t want to leave it … I want to change it!

That’s why I’m telling this story.

---

Related: My first night at the shelter.

---

My homelessness journey … chapter 1 of 17

All chapters · My First Night at the Shelter →