If it wasn’t for the shopping cart filled with all of her belongings, I would not have known Carolyn was homeless sleeping on the streets of Seattle.<\/p>\n
Carolyn has found an ingenious way to survive. She takes donations for flowers. Carolyn says she acquires flowers and then either asks for donations or if the person is in a worse financial situation than her, Carolyn will give the flowers away.<\/p>\n
Carolyn has lived homeless in Seattle for five years even sleeping outside during the winter. When I asked if anyone is helping her get out of homelessness, Carolyn responded no. She says she has a caseworker but continued that the caseworker is not able to do much. It’s often not the fault of social services. Without housing, there is not much a caseworker can do.<\/p>\n
Carolyn talks about her mom, dad, and then her son dying. There is no research on this but as I travel I hear time and again how a death in the family can cause emotional trauma that takes a person down to homelessness. Carolyn says her sleeping on the streets is self-induced but the lack of mental health support and how it’s almost nearly impossible for a homeless person to get the help they need plays a significant role in Carolyn’s homelessness.<\/p>\n