Sage is 23. She has been homeless in the Tenderloin for 2 1/2 years. Before homelessness, Sage only smoked a little weed. Since she’s lived on the streets, Sage has been to rehab three times. She wants to go back to college, and she hopes to get into housing soon.
When I asked Sage about homelessness, she responded it’s not that bad. I then asked Sage if she’s putting up a front covering the pain of homelessness, or is it really not the bad. She said, “Kind of. I am a young attractive female. People take care of me.”
I cannot imagine what this girl has experienced living on the streets. Sage told me that she tries to focus on animals to keep her mind off things. Sage likes butterflies. One of her wishes was for the butterflies to come back.
One might think this young hippie chick is making bad decisions, so she gets what she deserves, but the truth is, we are our brother’s keeper. Sage has tried to get out of homelessness a few times, but there is no easy path out. It’s up to all of us to change that!
We must prevent homelessness from happening in the first place, but if someone young or old ends up on the streets, we need to get them out of homelessness as quickly as possible.
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.
