#SteemitZombies - hoMeless but never hoPeless

in #steemitzombies6 years ago (edited)


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"Steemit zombies is a community and a set of guidelines for encouraging the non-spammy reposting and curation of undervalued posts. Steemit zombies must use the #steemitzombies tag as a first tag, include a link to the original post, and be at least one month old with a suggested maximum of $15 payout on the original post. Come join the#steemitzombies chat in Steemit Community Catalyst discord

This project is the brainchild of @whatamidoing - if you would like to read more about it and get involved feel free to check out THIS POST

Original Post
Post date: 5 months ago
Payout: $0.19
Commenters: 2

I wanted to raise this deadpost for my first edition to the #steemitzombies tag. It was my first post after I took a Steemit hiatus over last summer. When I started I had spotty responses to my posts which led me to lose interest in the platform at first. I returned with a revitalized ambition to start writing again and cranked out this gem.

I posted this before I had made friends or much of a connection here on Steemit - and I did it that way on purpose. I never wrote about this plight again for a few reasons, mainly my pride. Looking back on this post I can hear the bitterness in my words and see the frustration I was going through at the time.

I chose to raise this from the dead now because as I have told many - my family just landed an apartment and we are currently moving in! It was almost an entire year of homelessness - save a few days, it was a difficult struggle which felt never ending at many points. But now I am able to step forward and share my story without feeling like I'm exposing myself.

Caution: my vocab is a little harsh in this one.

HoMeless but NEVER HoPeless

This post, if ever read by another human being, is meant to be a wake up call to the fall of the middle class, the widening gap between poor and rich. It is the definition of gentrification and my family and I are just one of the many who are being crushed by capitalism and the greed of our political systems and ideals.

Looking at me I'm sure you'd never guess that I am homeless. We don't all beg at intersections, sleep outside the liquor store or pull carts full of cans around town.

I was one of the more successful people in my small world. Most people I grew up with are on drugs or dead.

I have a family; two boys and a boyfriend. I've worked for the last 15 years, I pay my taxes. I don't have an addiction issue or a lack of education. I even got told "make too much" to collect any kind of public assistance or food stamps. Emergency aid was denied because I made above the state income limit of $1100 a month. I was told to quit my job and sleep outside for at least one night before I could even get on a wait list...? Where is the sense in that? How does this system help anyone?

So, you make ask, "What the fuck happened?"

How did I end up living out of my car from hotels to family/friends couches? Bad-ass-luck and poor money management honestly.

Hindsight is 20/20 - or so the saying goes. I never took care of my 'credit' the proper way. I mean, I grew up in the 90's before the internet was life-blood and before credit became the ruler of men. I grew up broke and being behind on the bills was just the way it was. I was never taught how to save, how to build passive income, how to manage a credit score...

Like many who are born into poor families, Life kicked my ass. The real world beat my head in. Bad decisions run rampant in my corner of the world and I am no exception.

Most recently, we had an apartment we could afford in a not-so-nice part of town. But after four years we got tired of the landlord ignoring our complaints of mold, mice and windows that didn't even meet to lock - let alone keep the winter wind out - that we started researching renter's rights. I was surprised to learn how many of my landlord's actions were illegal. The city's Board of Health was just as shocked. We spent an entire year going back and forth with the BOH and the landlord. She became resentful of us and purposely made our lives a living hell. The community center in our city outlined the court process and told us we were 100% in the right. In April of this year we took her to court. Long story short; we won in court but the landlord refused to make the required repairs in order to keep renting the apartment. The outcome: be out by May 1st. Ah, our wonderful Justice System at work. Guess we should have kept our mouths shut...

We searched Craigslist like fiends. Every. Single. Day.

We went to showing after showing and heard landlord after landlord asking for $40-$80 for each adult (non-refundable of course) just to run credit and background checks with no promise of even getting the apartment. My credit is so poor I can't even rent bowling shoes and my boyfriend has 5 felonies that are from 13 years ago (when he was 17! But that's a whole different story.)

I've seen them ask for detailed credit reports, months of bank statements, mandatory 650+ credit scores, the last years tax records. I mean who in their right mind wouldn't just apply for a home loan if they had all these sparkly, picket fence things??

Not to mention here on Massachusetts' North Shore average rent for a 2 bedroom is upwards of $1800 a month. Some one bedrooms can run you $1600 and they are not even updated new builds; these are colonials built somewhere between the late 1700- early 1900's.

Then landlords have the balls to ask that you spend only a third of your monthly income on rent!

These dots just don't add up in the real world.

Many brainwashed, fluoride fed people would look at my situation and think that's what you get for being poor. You screwed your own credit up. You shouldn't have had kids if you couldn't afford them. You should have put up with the unsanitary conditions because that's what you get when you rent in a sleazy part of town.

Well to that I have a giant fuck you.

If you've never seen a problem you (or mommy & daddy) couldn't buy your way out of then we don't live in the same world. I live in the real world, the real America. I am the real American nightmare.

So many people are just like me, one emergency away from losing it all.

This is not a cry for help or a hand out. This is documentation of the death of the middle class.

This is proof that the old American promise to hard work and you will make it one day is a hoax. I've worked hard for the last 15 years. I was the first in my family to graduate college. I put myself through school. I've worked two jobs, numerous times. I ran myself ragged just trying to catch a break.

We are not alone. There are thousands of homeless families in Massachusetts - some much worse off than we are. It was easy for me to turn a blind eye to this epidemic before I became a part of it. I used to have all these preconceived perceptions of the homeless but now I get it.

Homelessness is a ever circling cycle:

I titled this homeless but never hopeless because I do believe in my heart the universe has a plan for each of us and each struggle is a lesson meant to bring you closer to a higher understanding.

We are all humans sharing this earth on a crazy trip in which no one knows the final destination. Would it be so ridiculous to create housing and rental markets where regular people can survive? Could it really be detrimental to our nation to offer the simple right to a place to lay your head at night?

No amount of money will save you from death and you can't pull out your wallet on judgement day. Karma isn't gonna check your credit score.

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du du dudu du du dudu

the curse of the 7 day limit

wink wink wink wink

+2 cents
+resteem

It is good to hear your story @amariespeaks... Now I know where you got some of that amazing wisdom from... I of course don't like to hear that you have problems, but I know for sure that you will conquer them. You are very smart and driven and a wonderful person to others. I would hire you in any of the roles I ever had, so I know there will be others that would do so too!

If you ever need a reference for a job that you might want, let me know as I will be happy to write you a letter of recommendation. It might not seem like much, but those things do help with getting jobs.

You are right about way the system works and how the world's masters have made it very hard to get by. It is by design, so always keep that in mind! I'm sure you will too!

Nice article..Can feel some pain in this one. Thank goodness for the zombies.

thanks for reading and the resteem @palikari123 :) I love this #steemitzombies idea - I hope it starts to counter act all the spammy posts out there! LOL

OK I'll stop spamming 😂

IMG_0396.jpg

THis was home a few years ago ... a friends garage. I then upgraded to another friends old RV, and from there to a storage unit with an office up front. I understand. Such a whacky life. Is it not?

@mistermercury it really is a wacky life but hey it teaches you that no matter what, the sun keeps rising lol so you just make the best of each day and situation. Thank you for sharing your struggles too :)

Good to hear from you. Indeed it is the journey that is the prize. Takes a while to understand that. Blessings.

all of this while your tax money is spend on killing children for oil.

governments take such good care of people when politicians enrich themselves on lobby bonuses

Even now as I write we are aiding Saudi Arabia in the genocide of innocent families in Yemen. I cannot support this evil with tax money, for in so doing I become party to evil. blessings.

it's just SAD to see this happen.
The US gov abuses our friendships (non american people with american people)
They know we will not give up our friendships over their bullshit, yet they use use to play their horrible games

😂😂😂 it's only because they know what's best for us ! hahah what a time to be alive. This country is a mess.

the entire western world is a mess.
The rest of the world is laughing at our BS politicians. (US UK AU EU) It is all so obvious, the corruption is so HUGE. and the bureaucracy is so STUPID. They live in their own bubble, still unaware that the entire world IS aware.
It is only the corporate circles who are still ignorant. Small businesses to big corporations they all stick their heads into the ground.

Small businesses go all out of biz. and get bought up by big ones.

the small business owners stay silent since they are happy to at least got bought out.
and they will still vote FOR corruption, as they know that THAT corrupt behaviour keeps a foot in the door for the future.

But the future is so bleak, that they all may loose their feet. And THEN they will panic.
And for them there will be no where to run. They lost their soul. (are this the modern soldiers / soul-diers?) I mean if they panic, on their 'above average' living standards. Then things will go wrong at a rapid pace.

I think this is what the fall of Rome must have looked like before the dark ages kicked in.

Dark Ages here we come:

hmmm indeed....

King Arthur on the 'coconut horse'

hilarious movie ... not so funny when you're living it though lol

lol


living this part every day..

Rabbit of Caerbannog

I see this nightmare playing out more and more where one major medical condition wipes a family out. The amount of people who are one paycheck missed and being out on the street is staggering. I know people who work in Austin Texas and make $60K a year and have to sleep in their car 3 nights a week because they can't afford the rent and their are others living in storage units across from one business that I call on for work.
Times are tough even in places where things are booming for some folks.

wow it is so crazy to know every state is struggling. Most families are one emergency away fom losing it all... some American dream! I was looking into what it costs just to scrape by here in Mass where I live and it comes out to about 85K a year for a family of 4 ! Outrageous!

Yes, even in towns that are booming, the prices are set for those who are in the boom.Thanks for sharing that 85K story, it is tough for sure.

It's horrible that tax payers end up in this kind of shit due to corrupt politics.

Keep in mind that this has BIG parallels with the ways Germany pushed their people into WWII

They blamed the jews for everything.

Just like the west first tried to blame 'terrorists' that then shifted to 'muslims', and now that did not work it is all 'russia's' fault. What is next? Aliens? Aliens hacked our sattelites, and manipulated our data on the NASA's ISS and therefore all weather data manipulated Wallstreet, and now the solar panels became 50% less efficient due to chemtrails that where wronfully deployed during the night.

Yes, it is truly a mess, one big mess.

i wonder how long it will take to get out of this mess.
the worldwide damage is so extensive, and the damage in the system itself so deep.
How is it possible that this could actually happen? It even damages my country, and our cheerleaders just caved and let it happen. how much money is at play here?

In answer to your question, all of it. All the money is at play and they won't be satisfied until they have control of all of it and they are damn near there now. That is why crypto currencies pose such a big threat. It's kind of like baseball in a way, you don't need an "official" major league baseball with the official logo on it to play a game at the local park with friends. You just need a ball that resembles the official one and that everyone agrees will serve the purpose of playing the game, we don't need their official fiat ball anymore, we have our own.
That is why the keep bad mouthing crypto and trying to ban it in several areas, so it is game on right now.

I hope we can get this crypto money under self control in a system that is fair and future proof. I think the easiest way to accomplish this would be having a valueless currency, that can't be monetised in the real world. first let that become fair, once it works, then replace it with something that has real value. but that also has its drawbacks... Not an easy task..

I don't have the total answer, I just know that the system we have now is not working for the average person in the world. It was never designed to and that is a fact.

Creepy Karl Marx was right about one thing. Capitalism is not a sustainable system.
Greed is never sustainable.

How to remove greed from the equation? That ain't easy in a world where greed is common practice.

Marie, I'm always late to the game. Not much of a surprise there. You shared a personal story that could resound with many others. Not many are in the same situation, but everyone has a story of their own to share and relate with one another.

I'm very happy to hear that you moved to your new apt. I know I say it many times, but you have one of the most giving hearts on here. I know you dealt with having to walk with the kids to school in the winter time when your van broke down. Yet, you still find time to help others on here with the #newbieresteemday initiative PLUS donate away all your SBD and STEEM earnings. All this when you could have used those funds yourself.

YOU have my admiration.

thank you so much Paula! <3 <3 it has definitely been a rough road but I find some much joy here on Steemit so it's my way of paying it forward in my small way. You and so many others on here helped me through that hard time by giving me an outlet to be heard and supported. It was a wonderful escape! But now things are turning around finally I want to share my success and give hope to other people. Plus raise awareness of the homeless crisis across America. I plan to do a post on it lol there's just so many issues with housing !

Anyways, thank you my darling you are truly a beacon of kindness to me and I'm so glad to have you in my circle !! Oh, BTW I definitely don't give away all my hard earned STEEM/SBD but you know I can't help and give little bits here and there..there is just so many deserving people on here that I want to support. lol ;-)

Damn do I get this. I grew up dirt floor poor in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas. Worked like a dog for everything I have ever got. Did some illegal shit to make ends meet. Worked 2 jobs while going to night school for auto mechanics and slept in my truck for some of it. I am finally getting close to being kind of ok but not comfortable by any means. Like you said one major medical emergency could clean my clock pretty easily. I have however taken out several life insurance policies on myself so that if I die my family will be good to go for the forsee able future. To be honest I don't see myself living to any where near old age so it was probably a wise investment. I always joke with my wife about hown I am worth way more dead than I am alive. I hope things turn around for you soon. I have always found country living is cheaper than in the city and prefer living away from people.

@doomsdaychassis damn sorry to hear about your struggles my friend but glad things are a little better than before. I know just what you mean about feeling worth more dead than alive lol I think about that a lot. Here is Mass if a parent dies the state sends a decent check every month and that has run through my mind quite often.

I agree country living is definitely much cheaper. I'm not in a major city but more like a suburb/town but if we could move out into the country I would love it. I have told my sister we should relocate our little family to some nice country area away from all the BS.

Thanks so much for checking out my post :) here's to hoping things change

Ah it don't bother me. It has made me a lot tougher person. I think that is more important than being a codled snowflake.

haha I totally agree. I wouldn't change my past one bit.. it's made me who I am today ;-)

I have to agree on this. It can't be fair that we are just suffering more while others aren't. The system makes the poor poorer.

the universe has a plan for each of us and each struggle is a lesson meant to bring you closer to a higher understanding.

thank you for reading and I' glad you agree, hopefully more people will start seeing these problems and how these failed systems are crushing hard working Americans. I do truly believe in this line I wrote so many months ago because I am in a better place finally and now nothing can rock my foundation because I've been through homelessness - now just having an apartment of my own is its own prize :)

I’m not entirely sure I get it (I can be so slow sometimes)

From what i get is that you can take an old post (older than 1 month) with a low payout and ‘revive it’.
Does that mean you rewrite the post, or just repost the original post?

Then, you use #steemitzombies as the first tag.
From that point forwad, I’m completely lost.
Do you have to post the link somewhere, or will It be found through the tag?
I did get the fact that you need to resteem 2 posts for every zombiepost you make. Does that need to be confirmed somewhere in the Discord channel?

I really like the idea, I only wish my brain would work a little faster processing how it all works.. ;0(

lol no worries @simplymike you have the gist of it - it's a new project and there is not much traction yet.. there is a discord where you can drop links or chat with people who are also doing it but mostly I search the tag and yes, resteem 2 other's posts for every 1 you post.. (if there are 2 out there LOL like I said it is just starting)

it is the original post you use, but make sure you add in the blurb about the tag - link it to the original zombie post from @whatamidoing, also link your original post and tell everyone when it came out, what the payout was and how many comments you got. You can screen shot any good comments if you want to. Yes, it should be at least over a month old.

The idea is a proactive stance against the spammy crap that makes big payouts and has clearly been thrown together in 5 seconds or is absolute BS. We are hoping by reviving these dead posts, which are good content and hard work but yet not making any type of real payout we can raise awareness and eventually flood the feeds with top quality content instead of spam.

It's just an idea getting going so there is not much structure. I think if it starts to take off there may be some heavier guidelines installed but for now that is it lol

thanks so much for stopping by and reading. And for asking questions it's great to at least hear someone is interested lol

I think it’s a very good idea. It will for example save me from writing a new anti-hack tutorial every two weeks.
Important articles go to the dungeons of SteemIt. If you are lucky, or have all the different factors right, it might turn up in the search results..

I’m very interested in the project.
I’m going to go and read up on it.
Also interested in the development..
If you ever need anyone, you can just let me know ;0)

Cool! So happy you're interested! The #steemitzombies movement definitely needs some more great writers to join in :-D I saw you checked in at the discord channel. Are you familiar with @whatamidoing ? He's an awesome guy if you haven't met him yet. Great writer and a strong member here on Steemit. The channel is just in the beginning stages and I'm sure I can speak for everyone over there in saying we'd be delighted to have you take part!

I’ve been dm’ing with him earlier today. I’m really interested in the project, and want to help. But first, I need to find people go help
Me out with newbiegames, because I’m basically running it alone, so there is no room/time for anything elsd🙄

(crap used the wrong account to reply first LOL forgot I was in NRD. deleted it but not sure if it shows still so I've copied the text and pasted below. sorry if it ends up as a double post hahah)

oh jeez! you definitely need some help over there! do you have anyone in mind? maybe a call for volunteers in discord? I know it is so time consuming - I've got a tight schedule between NRD account, trying to fit in zombies and steem engine too, plus I do a bit on steemittarot LOL I'm spread thin!

I'm so excited you want to join - I think it's a great idea with a ton of potential.

I’m not sure how I should find some more people. I thought of doing a shoutout, but I can’t work together with anyone. I know some people I could definitely not work with. What if they volunteer...? Lol

I just reached to someone ho told me she wanted to help.

LOL well maybe you can make it more of an independent project where people run/take care of their own games and can run the page on a certain day of the week or something?
Oh good - I hope she is a good fit :)

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