While many North Americans these days are invoking a feeling of homelessness as they reflect on their sense of political alienation, ecclesial disenchantment, geographic displacement, and other forms of detachment and disaffiliation, there is no more visceral insecurity than the plight of being unhoused. When we first began planning this issue, we thought of the growing numbers of homeless persons suffering in cities across Canada and the United States. We ventured to ask some of them: What is a home? What does it mean? And what is it like to be without it? While physical depredation is the primary site of the experience, the social, emotional, and existential effects of homelessness radiate through one’s entire life. Here is a selection of the answers they gave to our questions.

What is your ideal picture of “home”?

“Where they will take you in because you belong and you’re safe.”

“Where I am right now. Here.”

“Somewhere where I can be by myself and then have others when you need them.”

“A place I can stay as long as I want.”

When you hear the word “home,” what are the adjectives that immediately come to mind?

“Having a roof over my head, a place where I can feel secure enough to close my eyes, a blanket to cover my body.”

“Safe. Mine.”

“I have a room, I have my pets, I have a friend who is on my side.”

“Self-sufficient. Independent. Safe.”

“The way I want it. Painted in my favourite colours, with furniture I have chosen.”

What do you wish more people understood about the experience of homelessness?

“Don’t take life for granted and don’t judge a book by its cover. We who are unhoused are still people. We just had a bump in the road.”

“Homelessness hurts you. You feel as though the world has forgotten you, as it likely has.”

“It’s not something we want. It can happen to anyone. There are many causes.”

“I wish more people understood that homelessness is hell.”

“It was a visceral experience of nobody caring—nobody caring about me and my dog.”

How has experiencing homelessness changed you?

“It made me understand that I have one life to live, so live it. It made me appreciate the smaller things that life has to offer. I am who I am because of God. He has allowed me to be a woman with so much love to give and so much joy to spread. A business owner, I now have my own car and a place to stay. I have a great pastor who has always been present to me.”

“I have become more mistrustful. When you’re homeless, you have to protect yourself and watch out all the time.”

“My mind became completely detached. I tried to pretend I didn’t exist. I was very frightened and tried to go back to where I was kicked out.”

How did you become homeless?

“My family put me out on the street. It is something that I will never forget. I was beyond scared, but God has carried me through.”

“I was evicted.”

“I had a mental breakdown. I didn’t know I was schizophrenic. I was sure I was okay, but I wasn’t.”

“My stepfather threw me out when I was fourteen.”