‘Fighting on the inside, but getting nowhere on the outside’: a story of homelessness

Little made the decision to stay homeless when she arrived because she felt like she needed other necessities like furniture and a job before finding a place to live in. It was during this time she began to rely on drugs.

“I got into meth and it really affected me, like I felt like it was helping me, but it was really affecting me and it was a problem.”

She began to feel helpless and says many of those homeless turn to drugs as a way to cope. Little adds finding a warm place to spend the night was the most difficult part.

“Being outside and being cold, not knowing where to go, or sometimes where to eat something … fighting on the inside, but getting nowhere on the outside.”

“If they knew what was available and what steps to take to get into a place, they would.”_{-Rebecca Little}

“Like usually when it was cold out, there was not really a whole lot of places to go,” Little says. “Maybe if your body gets so cold, you go sit in a bank. It’s kind of embarrassing, but at least it was warm.”

Little then found The Mustard Seed after being introduced by a friend, and says it has been incredibly supportive.

“I find it a warm place to go if there’s nowhere else to go, especially that early in the morning. It’s helpful.”

She says finding out there are real supports in the city, like community housing and drug detox centres, began to change her situation and it has now turned her life around.

“Right now, I viewed a place, I’m just waiting to do some paperwork to move in, and hopefully that will happen really soon.”

Little says people can suddenly find themselves in her situation, and hopes by telling her own story, people can learn that these supports exist.

“Anybody can become homeless, like it doesn’t matter who – it’s not about judging and being like, ‘oh they’re homeless, like whatever with them’ kind of thing. It’s completely normal people. Anybody, like it happens. Sometimes people get stuck in it, and sometimes people are alone and they want help, there’s a lot of people that want help, but they don’t know what to do.”

Little stressed the importance of finding support in the community.

“If they knew what was available and what steps to take to get into a place, they would. And some people are helpless because either they don’t want to ask for help, or they just need to know like, ‘here, this is what you do,’ and just write it down for them and that’s what you do.”

Little has begun her own journey of helping others. She has plans of beginning her own sobriety group with the help of The Mustard Seed.

by Gates Guarin

‘Fighting on the inside, but getting nowhere on the outside’: a story of homelessness

Our Community