Eileen

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Eileen is 61 years old. She’s from Rhode Island but relocated to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after a friend’s friend promised a room. To rent, but the situation didn’t work out, so Eileen and her friend are back out on the street homeless. Now they are stranded. Eileen and her friend are new to Harrisburg. It’s an unfamiliar city, and now they don’t have the funds to go anywhere. Right now, Eileen is not sure what they are going to do.

When I first met Eileen, she was in desperate need of eyeglasses. My friend Cody did a great job telling the story of our day in Harrisburg and going to the store to get Eileen glasses. Eileen recorded an interview, but something was wrong with the SD Card corrupting the file. I happened to run into Eileen a little later, and she agreed to do another video. Interestingly enough, I didn’t even ask her. I just mentioned that her interview didn’t come out because I made a mistake, and she offered to record this interview.

Eileen shares very candidly about the affordable housing crisis. She says she cannot find a room to rent or to share that she can afford. The housing that social services offer that comes at a very discounted rent is over rundown or in a bad neighborhood. Many communities now are scrambling to build new affordable housing and housing for seniors, but it’s not even close to enough. Often nonprofits are forced to deal with landlords that are offering apartments that barely make an inspection. What Eileen shares is often very true. She says it’s crappy housing and a “big mega ripoff.”

Eileen says she found an apartment for $700 a month that comes with all utilities paid even cable, but because she’s homeless, she doesn’t believe she’ll get approved to live there.

WEAR A MASK! PLEASE WEAR A MASK!

Disclaimer: Invisible People does not edit our first-person homeless interviews. The reason for this is to preserve the integrity of the homeless person’s story. It’s their story raw and unedited. In this video, Eileen gets upset about the pandemic and people wearing masks. The statements Eileen makes about wearing masks are not true. Here are some facts:

Debunked myths about face masks 

Coronavirus: ‘Deadly masks’ claims debunked 

I encourage you to do your own research. I wear a mask 100% of the time when I am going to be around other people. I wear a mask for their protection. Over 216k American’s have died of COVID-19. PLEASE WEAR A MASK!

Eileen says she doesn’t have a spirit of giving up, which helps her survive, but Eileen also feels she cannot do homelessness anymore. Eileen continues whether she wants to or not, she doesn’t have a choice. Elderly homelessness is the fastest-growing demographic of homelessness. Boomers are hitting 65 at 10,000 people a day. Many lost their safety net in the 08 cash, and now the pandemic is causing economic hardship for everyone.

Your voice can help end homelessness. If we do not fix the affordable housing crisis, homelessness will continue to get worse. Click here to tweet, email, call, or Facebook your federal and state legislators to tell them ending homelessness and creating more affordable housing is a priority to you.


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We imagine a world where everyone has a place to call home. Until then, we strive to be the most trusted source for homelessness news, education and advocacy.

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