NomadLand, the movie
I just watched the Oscar-awarded movie prompted by a dear friend due to the fact that I lived in my car then van for 3-5 years from 2014-2019. I wish I had as many options, to work, to have people to live with and a van equipped with a stove and a bed like Fern in the movie. I did not have those resources. I did have others though.
The author of the book Jessica Bruder wrote in 2014 about The End of Retirement for Harper’s.
She interviewed and visited folks in Quartzsite, AZ where many older folks park the RV’s and vans they live and travel in. It is a community like Burning Man for geezers. And it’s “a cheap place to hide.”
I had connected with Bob Wells and others there who told me to visit and for some reason, I don’t recall, I did not go to their community. It could have been the heat, car issues and/or when I left there to visit several folks in LA (including Elvis Summers who has been building tiny homes for people without homes in LA). I was living in an old dysfunctional RV in a park not far from Blythe, California (Palo Verde) in 2016 for three months.
Have to give credit where credit is due though. The CAN DO American spirit seems to be alive and well and doing fine.
Yet people, Americans in this wealthy country, should be able to retire without having to worry about our income
A Social Security check is simply not enough to pay the rent and other bills. Mine is less than $800 a month, not even enough to pay rent.
Delivering pizzas, factory jobs, physical labor intense jobs are not what people in their late 60’s 70’s and 80’s should be doing. Nor living in cars, vans, RV’s or on the streets.
Housing is Healthcare
I am now 71 in hospice after my experience. ER Dr. Margot Kushel (SF) and ER Dr. Kelly Doran (NY) say Housing is Healthcare. People without a home, shelter, and without a roof over their heads, especially elderly people 50-80+ years old age prematurely (20 years) due to sleep deprivation (a military torture technique), chronic trauma and stress, abuse, poor nutrition, discrimination and bans, and constant fear.
50% or more of those without homes in the USA (One million+ Americans are without homes) are seniors 50-80 years old (500,000 seniors). And 50% of the women without homes are there due to domestic abuse and violence. It costs taxpayers $21,000+ per person TO NOT HOUSE PEOPLE, KEEP THEM IN CARS, ON STREETS, IN VANS.
I told my story and co-wrote an article about my experience for Vox media in 2016
Article about me in the Monterey Herald in 2015
Would have been nice to have a van outfitted for sleeping in like these… and they are costly. When/if you have money anything is possible, right.
I wanted to make/create a tiny home on wheels or a camper like this one but I could never raise enough money to do so.
BadRap Donna Reynolds and Tim Racer visited Cici and I, they drove all the way down to us from Oakland in 2015. We were in a motel room after my first breast cancer surgery, they helped raise donations for us and a home was found (very short-lived unfortunately). But here is the video that they put together about us that includes statistics about the lack of affordable housing and that it costs taxpayers $21,000+ per person to keep people on the streets or in their cars without a home.
There are 1,000+ women here locally without homes for 5+ years with very few real resources. One organization supposedly for women got $3 million dollars in donations and built a building to house NO ONE. Now, they are receiving donations to house 10 women. 10 out of 1,000+ women. Another one, told me that too many of the women, including me, had dogs, as if our dogs were the reason we had no home. He spent 2 hours on the phone asking me what we wanted. I kept telling him HOMES. His nonprofit is supposed to specifically assist women without homes. Just not most of us I guess.
My friend Jane, 75, was living in her car with two dogs, had one taken away from her and when COVID hit, was put into a dirty motel with bed bugs. She has been very ill with cold sores, colds and flu and more.
Sara is a teacher sleeping in her tiny car with her adorable Huggy Bear Teddy doggie. Debbie wanted a dog but has a lot of health problems, getting worse because of sleeping in her car. Steve and Sheila sleep in a tent somewhere (lost track of them when they left Carmel area). None of us received any or much assistance from the local nonprofit organizations or churches in this wealthy community.
I traveled with my Cici dog until Sept. 2019 when she went over the rainbow due to cancer and heart failure. She provided laughter, companionship, protection and warmth. She also introduced me to other people, the kindness of strangers who assisted us much more than any of the designated agencies who never offered me ONE night in a motel.
Just found this cute stuffed animal with a spot on her forehead like my Cici girl, Polka Dot Princess and Unicorn Puppy.
I had put my stuff into storage and after paying $60 a month for two years, the storage place auctioned off all of my things before my due date to pay. So I kept the rest of my things in my crowded vehicle, it was cold, I slept sitting up rather than lying down and got maybe 4-5 hours a night rest. Finding a rest room was not easy. And eating cold cuts, hot dogs, peanut butter and ramen soup is not a nutritious diet, to say the least.
After being discharged from the hospital, sometimes they put me into a Skilled Nursing Facility aka nursing home. Those are horrible places that are rife with neglect and abuse of the elderly and disabled. I experienced 6-7 of them and I would never ever want to go back. I also received reports from others that were similar or worse than mine.
I applied for many jobs, sent out many resumes and got no response. I could not work a factory job nor any kind of physically strenuous job due to osteoarthritis and other health issues. I also was in a state of dizziness for three months after a scary vertigo experience. The doctors did not diagnose what was wrong with me until I went to Stanford. They were supposed to diagnose whether two growths on my ovaries were benign or malignant but told me at the last minute that they could not do the operation since I had severe aorta stenosis and congestive heart failure.
I was in and out of the hospital with breast cancer (twice), blood clots on my lungs (6-7 times), and much of November-December 2019 with bacterial pneumonia. Thankfully, at the end of December 2019, I was able to move into a new senior housing apartment for low income seniors. My SS retirement income is less than $800 a month and I just found out that I could apply for SSI. I did and was approved a few days ago. I receive food stamps, Medi—cal and Medicare. Plus through In Home Support Services, I have an in home health aide who helps me with housekeeping, cooking, shopping and errands and personal care. I am very grateful and thankful for my aide, my apartment and all of the people, nurses, social workers and others who helped me get here. And keep me going.
My neighbors are wonderful, too. One lady has an adorable pooch named Huckleberry who prays with his paws and gives lots of wags of tail and doggie kisses. He is a great dog therapy dog. He always makes me laugh. Another neighbor has a dog named Harley wearing sweaters. Been sitting out on the bench outside the building in the sunshine, getting my Vitamin D straight from the sun. Would love another doggie companion.