So, you want to know what it’s like living in a homeless shelter!


This is your day…………….. You sleep on metal bunk beds in a dorm with 40 other women. I think someone mentioned that the bunks were donated from the prison along with lockers when the prison had to replace theirs. Overhead fluorescent lights go on at 5AM, breakfast is at 6AM, the fare varies, from pancakes to cold cereal and milk, sometimes yoghurt and a piece of toast and fruit, lest we forget the ever popular biscuits and muck….ah gravy. This morning it was sausage, a hardboiled egg, yoghurt, milk and coffee. Of course there is always an abundance of the usual selection of 2 -3 day old doughnuts. Keep in mind this is a shelter for families as well as single women. So the kids usually go off to school on the “sugar high from hell” and the little ones are bouncing off the wall at the shelter, mothers are screaming, kids are running wild or crying, 20 people trying to get ready in the bathroom all at the same time………….trust me, this is not a lifestyle choice…….. Why mothers bring their children into the communal bathroom and get them ready is beyond me. Families have their own rooms they share with their children and could dress them and get them ready much easier in privacy. There are always several families with 8+ children, so with all these kids running around a communal bathroom brushing their teeth and getting their hair combed, even with 7 sinks, its craziness.

Shelter rules are mothers have to have their children with them at all times, so there are always boys that are way too old to be in the women’s bathroom standing around and there have been issues with boys peeking into bathroom stalls and showers. There are family bathrooms in the family area of the shelter but they are kept locked for the most part since drug paraphernalia was found and staff claims they are too difficult to monitor (from a chair).

I usually sleep in sweats, throw on a pair of running shoes in the morning, grab a change of clothes and I am off to the park. After my morning walk, I shower at the college gym and get ready for the day. I also watch for opening specials from new health clubs, some of offer 30 to 90 free trails……..hmmm……… I wonder if they would give a complementary membership to mature homeless women. I would probably be one of the few using their member ship daily, I just have not had the nerve to ask.

Lunch during the week is at 12PM on weekends at 11AM, it is usually leftovers from dinner the night before, reheated to varying degrees, sometimes frozen burritos, rice and beans or sandwiches and chips. I really don’t know since I am rarely there. I used to sign up for sack lunches to take to class with me, but it gets embarrassing to unwrap moldy bread and green lunchmeat in the college cafeteria, especially since I am vegetarian. Asking for a vegetarian lunch was not a popular request and I was told I would have to eat what everyone else gets. So on some days when I cannot afford to buy food, I do not eat.

Dinner is at 4:30 (2:30 on the weekend) and depending on who is in the kitchen it is sometimes pretty good. Again I usually have classes later than that so I am rarely there. I like the days when a lovely Indian family donates pots and pots of fabulous fragrant spicy Indian food, there are usually yummy curries and an awesome lentil dish, it’s the best and all vegetarian, which really works for me. Since the ethnic demographics at the shelter are leaning heavily toward Hispanics, Indian food is not in very high demand, except for us few vegeterians, so we actually can "pig out" and get plenty to eat. It's too bad the shelter will not allow us to freeze some of the leftovers in smaller containers for another day, it seems so wasteful..........