'...every single homeless person has a backstory, has a personality, is a human being.' p 225
This is hers.
This book is a must-read for everyone. I have the book here if you wish to borrow it. It is a tale of strength and compassion from a highly articulate mind.The story is Brianna Karp's. It is a memoir of her childhood and her experiences whilst homeless.
Here's the blurb:
Brianna Karp entered the workforce at age ten, supporting her mother and sister throughout her teen years in Southern California. Although her young life was scarred by violence and abuse, Karp stayed focused on her dream of a steady job and a home of her own. By age twenty-two her dream became reality. Karp loved her job as an executive assistant and signed the lease on a tiny cottage near the beach.
And then the Great Recession hit. Karp, like millions of others, lost her job. In the six months between the day she was laid off and the day she was forced out onto the street, Karp scrambled for temp work and filed hundreds of job applications, only to find all doors closed. When she inherited a thirty-foot travel trailer after her father’s suicide, Karp parked it in a Walmart parking lot and began to blog about her search for work and a way back.
Karp began her journey as a homeless person terrified and ashamed. Fear turned to awe as she connected with other homeless people whose remarkable stories inspired her to become an activist for the homeless community.
Deeply compassionate and darkly funny, this unforgettable memoir celebrates the courage and creativity of lives society would otherwise stigmatize.
I am just filled with so many thoughts and emotions that I don't really know where to begin. Bear with me!It was initially difficult for me to read about Karp's childhood. From a reader's point of view, I was clueless about Jehovah's Witnesses - the religion with which she belonged, and it was also very difficult to relate or connect to her. Her upbringing was just so different, and there was just no way I could understand what she went through. I was hearing her voice, yet I could not form a view or emotion about her. Everything that happened just seemed so harsh and I didn't want to be a bitch and feel sorry for her.
But then
'The truth is, we never know the whole story. We don't know other people's circumstances. You can speculate that the wino sitting outside the 7-Eleven begging for change is there because he's too lazy or stupid or uneducated or selfish or mentally ill. But will we ever truly know?' p 95
That's just a small snippet because I don't want to end up quoting the entire novel. She basically pulled all the words out of my heart and more. All her opinions, all her thoughts, they make so much sense.
Brianna lost her job after the recession. She lost her housing, and stayed with her mother for a while. until the emotional abuse got too much, then she fled to the streets with her belongings. Let me tell you, even with her laptop and mobile, it was very hard to get her life back on track.
I was able to live like a homeless through her experiences and I am beaten by how hard it is for them. I was able to see some of the hardships faced. Brianna was fortunate in that she had technology to put herself out there in the employment world and she also had her intellect and sanity to drive her forwards.
I look at Melbourne's homeless and think Oh Shit. To us, I feel we have a very defined view of the homeless. We think 'Oh you're homeless? You shouldn't have fucked yourself over then. Your fault, fix it you fuck.' I quote Brianna, 'the fact that you are homeless says everything about you.' That's what we are! We lack a strong support. I'm not saying we need to help every homeless person, and give them our money, and take note of every one you see with stellar compassion, but keep an open mind? Ask yourself, would it be detrimental towards me if I did something to help? I found out through this book that Scotland offers every homeless person free housing, to help them clean up, have shelter and focus on getting income.
'Whenever I meet a homeless person, I assume that if she were financially or mentally capable of affording and maintaining a home, then she would be in one' p 109
This. I remember telling my friend once, would they not have a home if they could afford one? He told me off for being such a 'naive little girl' and to stop funding for their cigs and booze. And I let your arguments sway me. Yes, I see it. I do see those that spend it on drugs and alcohol. But isn't addiction in itself a form of mental illness? There was this book I read years ago about a girl who got addicted to heroin and even with all the love and support of her family and personal desire to quit, her body would not let her. We get people coming in asking to get started on the Methadone program and have to send them off. 'There are no slots left' The Methadone program to stop the withdrawl symptoms generally last the entire lifetime. It's that hard to move on from drug addiction. And before you even fucken tell me It's their fault for getting into the mess in the first place, just imagine if alcohol was just as addictive. You'd be fucked. And it's lovely seeing people on the Methadone program get their life back on track! They start coming in looking nice, looking sane, they start telling you stories about their life, their job, this new mental health group they're running, their counselling! And then you get the super determined ones who are able to mentally recognise their state and are able to make decisions and to try and change the lives of others who are currently going through what they were. I would be open-minded towards 100 if that meant 1 could be heard and helped. I do not care if I help 99 people buy their drugs and alcohol if that meant 1 person could buy their dinner. I have not harmed myself in any way, so why not help someone in the process of doing nothing with myself. If I knew of a way to help someone out of their addiction, I'd tell them too. One of my customers is a homeless drunkie, and I can tell you personally, he deserves so much better. So what if he drinks recreationally, if it improves his own quality of life, so be it. There are a lot of factors standing in the way between him and a job right now. Both to do with him and the environment.
'It was mainly about how nobody is impervious to homelessness, how you don't know a person's back story by looking at her or why she became homeless and the importance of withholding judgment as to which homeless people are "deserving" of help and which aren't, including those who use drugs or may have made poor life choices previously' p 121
Lol found it. Brianna pretty much explains an essay in a sentence.
That aside, she has really opened my eyes. On a lot of things. On life, on love, on people and our world. And Walmart. I don't know how to describe it. This book was a rollercoaster ride.
Brianna also has a few handy tricks of the trade on how to not come off as homeless when looking for a job. You can somehow fake a permanent address, get free showers at certain places and live in a parking lot lol.
It kind of makes me sad though. Because a lot of the successes she was able to..succeed in, was due to her intelligence, her remarkable resume and her experiences, skills and her motivation. What about those without? What if someone was homeless because they were simply hopeless at everything lol. What if it was someone with a weak spirit. And even with a job and fame (yes she gets fame), she is STILL not able to secure a job and home.
I remember my cousin applied for housing like agees ago under the emergency list and even then, it took 2 years before they finally had a free space for her. By then she'd given up and got a house instead. Of course, your local hobo can't just get fed up of waiting and buy a house.
And I am also very, extremely, intensely pissed off by Matt. How could he?! Wtf?! I hate that! I want to know what he's up to at this very moment, what he's feeling, what the fuck is wrong with you! URGH! I HOPE YOU STUB YOUR TOE REALLY HARD. She deserves waaaay better.
I totally spoiled the book with this review. But really, a person's tale can never get spoiled. Because no matter what I tell you, it will always be worth reading a memoir from the heart. With all its genuine emotions and Brianna is amazing with her recount. I could not put it down. She is just such an interesting, respectable girl. It was literally just a story of her life, but you are drawn by her energy, her drive and her interesting take on world issues.
She details in this book of starting a blog when she first became homeless. With her laptop, she would stay at Starbucks everyday sending resumes and blogging. This is it: http://www.girlsguidetohomelessness.blogspot.com.au/
And the more updated one is http://girlsguidetohomelessness.com/
Mind you, this book was not all about homelessness. She lives homeless, but it's not like she spent every page going 'I'm homeless'. It's just an honest story of her experiences, beyond that.
Btw, I put forward a lot of my opinions, but it is in no way trying to shove anything into your throats. I'm just writing what I want to on my blog. I just strongly feel that we should be free of judgement when we see a homeless person. They are essentially a stranger who needs assistance. It's not like we're Godly enough to be able to judge so harshly without reason -the house they live in (or lack thereof) is not a reason.
But we're all entitled to our own opinions and I respect that. I know most of my friends don't exactly have a regard for the homeless, which is cool. But if you ever come across some time, give this book a try. It'll give you some food for thought.
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