Revisiting An Old Essay of Mine

Have come across an old essay of mine today, which was a shorter version among several different versions drawn from a much lengthier original piece I wrote about four years ago or so (here):

If "home is where one hangs one's hat," where do people who are living homeless hang their hats? It is both strange and ironic that even within this nation of wealth and plenty, many are forced to live on the fringes of society: a place where homelessness means having only hope to hang one's hat upon.

Being currently homeless myself, I know well how the smallest items of hope are always held onto very tightly. Just like one's own senses of dignity, self-respect, and pride, hope too can often prove vital in the long journey toward managing to survive while still living independently. Hanging on to these core parts of one's self can often be the key in the struggle toward finding, obtaining, and finally moving into safe, decent, and affordable housing of one's own.

[...]

Read the essay in full, here [Homelessness Means Having Only Hope to Hang One's Hat Upon: via Street News Service; October 25, 2002 (entire essay is only 7 paragraphs in length)].

It is during the extreme heat and humidity of Summertime when we need to be thinking of those living either outside or otherwise marginally housed (e.g., couch surfing) in one form or another and not merely come the time when Winter begins knocking and the holiday season beckons us to once more think about those less fortunate.