I'm Back

After a long hiatus, I have returned. There has been some significant happenings in my neck of the woods. As I mentioned in my last post, my father-in-law past away. He was a man who, by typical standards, lead a very difficult, sometimes chaotic life. He typically lived in substandard housing, struggled with addiction to alcohol and, although he worked very hard, had a difficult time maintaining traditional employment. He died from lung cancer. When he went to the hospital, they couldn't intubate him because there wasn't enough room in the lungs. How long had this been going on?

I suggest that this is typical of people living in poverty in our country. They do not trust those with any perceived authority. And why should they? Those with power and control have only served to inhibit their access to finances, housing, health services etc. Think about all the roadblocks we put up for low- and limited-income earners in our society. Think of how monitored those in poverty can become. Health professionals, social workers, financial assistance workers, social service agencies...the list goes on. If you were so monitored, would you want yet another professional monitoring your body, your behavior? It seems irrational but people without much control in their lives have got to take control somewhere. Unfortunately, it can be in the most unhealthy of ways.

Although not directly related to housing, this issue is related to my previous post about support. Support, not just for the people we might call our clients, but also for those landlords that choose to provide affordable housing. Had my father-in-law's landlord been able to access support for having an individual with addiction and poverty issues, the home may have been better maintained. Perhaps the landlord could have helped support him in accessing proper health care.