From Middle Class to Homelessness: How One Man Found a Path out of Destitution
When the recession hit Canada in the late 1990s, Ross, a multi-media producer lost his job. Unable to find steady employment, he lived off his severance package. But his worries were far from over and Ross endured hardship unimaginable to most.
“My severance ran out before I filed for unemployment,” says Ross. “When I couldn’t afford to pay rent, I was evicted. Staying with family wasn’t an option, so I parked my car at the back of a local grocery store lot and called that home.”
Ross appeared to be normal on the outside, but he struggled with the daily anxieties of living without a home on the inside. He spent his days at the library studying and researching employment opportunities and in the evenings found loose grocery store carts and pocketed the quarters.
“I collected about $4 dollars a day, which bought me a decent meal at a fast-food joint,” says Ross. “And people who worked with that food gave me leftovers.”
Then one day Ross’s car broke down and was towed from the lot. Drowning in despair, he wondered if he would ever rise above his horrible situation.
Love in Action
“When I met Ross he was he was sleeping sitting up in a chair next to a rough shelter he’d created with a patio table and umbrella,” says Cindy, a worker on The Salvation Army’s Housing Response Team.
“The mandate of the Housing Response Team is to assist people living on the street move into permanent, affordable housing,” says Darren Graham, coordinator of outreach services. “We come to them and together we find a home.
“Individuals who are homeless are not inadequate,” continues Graham. “They are people without homes and Ross’s story is a reminder that homelessness can hit anyone at any time.”
Today Ross lives in Ottawa’s south end in a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchenette. He has been offered a job at the grocery store that he hopes will be a stepping stone to a position in his field.
“Salvation Army workers were angels at my door,” says Ross. “Their dedication and support means I have a safe and decent place to live, something I never thought possible.”
