HOW LABELING SOMEONE " HOMELESS" HURTS - A GREAT ARTICLE VIA TRIPLEPUNDET! ARE YOU DEFINED BY WHAT YOU LACK?

TRIPLEPUNDET - :LETS CHANGE TTHE IMPACT OF DEFINING HOMELESS PEOPLE "HOMELESS"  full article

Excerpt: "Whatever it may be in your case, odds are that what you lack does not define you, at least in the eyes of others. You are a friend, you are a colleague, you are a runner, you are a painter, you are funny, you are you. You may lack something very important, but it is probably not your primary identity.

Unless you are homeless.

People who live on the streets — people like Silas, Jessica, Adam and my Uncle Mark, before he passed away — are defined by what they lack. During their period(s) on the streets, their identity is cemented. Can you imagine being described by others primarily as a “housed” person? This would feel dehumanizing and reductionistic, and yet it is still something you possess. Being labeled solely as “homeless” is extremely awful in and of itself.

A large percentage of the homeless population hides the fact that they are homeless. They want to retain a modicum of dignity, since homeless people are seen as (in the words of some of the homeless individuals I’ve spoken with) “garbage,” “pieces of ****,” “lazy,” “worthless,” “bums.”..."