Those Who Wander: America's Lost Street Kids

by Vivian Ho

“They say go get a job,” she said. “What’s the first part of a job application? An address. And you need ID. How do you get ID? In Oregon, you have to have a utility bill or a lease or something to prove that you live here. If you’re a homeless person in Oregon, how do you pull that off?” She shook her head. “It’s the definition of irony. There are people who are literally dying on the street because it’s so cold out while two blocks away they’re putting up apartments that are going to cost $1,200 for a studio. And those are the people who are going to complain because they don’t want to look out their window and see a homeless person dying.” We need housing, she said. We need better policies. But most of all, Miriam said, we need more compassion. “Most of them want to do the right thing,” she said. “Most of them want to live a better life. But they can’t. Once you’re in that, you’re so entrenched. How do you get out? We’re doing triage. We’re just triaging, and there’s no follow-up and no aftercare. They’re stuck in this vicious cycle until someone somewhere gives them that lucky break.”