For almost 11 years my husband and I have housed homeless folks in our backyard. It started kind of by accident.
One homeless man in our nearby alley died suddenly. He had a dog I’d helped him care for and thought, when the police showed up, that I’d have to take her. Instead, another homeless man did, and we started helping him feed her. When that man became ill and had to be hospitalized, we let him stay with her on our front porch where he then lived for several months.
The code inspectors objected (we weren’t upset; they were correct), so we moved him to the back where he remained until having found his wife, from whom he’d been separated and lost contact, we took him to Iowa to reunite. Happy to have our porch and backyard back, we thought that was it. Nope.
Soon another injured homeless man, friend of the one who’d left, showed up needing help. We installed him in the back with the help of other homeless folks and suddenly we were off and running. They cleaned out the garage and, after storing our stuff in the rafters, made room for two tents and cooking facilities. Before we knew it, we had six folks in the back. And there we were.
Then, realizing the power of having an address, we let them and others use ours. They were able to do several things:
Get ID with an address on it.
Stabilize their meager social service support so they weren’t cut off
Enroll in Social Security (yes, many ARE that old)
Apply for jobs
Apply for housing
Reunite with family and get mail.
We have two mailboxes. One is our lockbox the other for everyone else. They come and go to get mail, so outside access is important.
It has now been 11 years. Two of our “tenants” have died both after getting real housing and living better lives because of it. One is long-term and has become an essential part of our family. Not sure how WE would fare without him. Now his young adult son also lives with his father and a third man lives next to the garage in a tent under our gazebo. Overall we’ve had 16 fairly long-term and others (I’ve lost count) short-term. I’ve not regretted any of it or them.
Here is what we found to be essential to success:
SANITATION
We are lucky to be close to a public restroom. No showers but toilets and sinks, and that made this work. If one is starting this and that isn’t available, you would have to get at least a compost toilet (there are many pretty reasonable) with sewer access to empty it now and then. If you have room and can afford it, Porta Potties would work great. Portable camping showers are nice, too. Running water. Some kind of sink for washing hands, dishes, hair. All are available fairly inexpensively.
The second form of sanitation is garbage. We have big bins anyway for trash and recycling. Each has their own garbage can for their immediate needs. They help us by putting out the trash on pick-up day.
Their “stuff” is always an issue. They dumpster dive, see cool things, bring them back. We ask that anything not in immediate or short term use be returned to said dumpster. We did buy inexpensive sheds for what they need to preserve but for which they have no room. That has kept things tidy.
ELECTRICITY
They need electricity. We expanded our breaker box and now have ample access for power cords with extensions so everyone has electricity for charging phones, some have notebook computers now, and the garage has a large screen TV (you’d be amazed what people throw away.)
HEATING AND COOLING
Heating and cooling. We have both now. They scrounged floor air conditioners. Fans, and heating units all of them electric. It’s REALLY important they not be propane or flammable – the risks are just too high. Electrical units are the only safe ones.
FOOD PREPARATION
Since there is electricity, they have (scrounged) refrigerators. They cook on electric plates and have, amazingly, a combo toaster oven and air fryer. They’re better equipped than I am! Only thing I prep for them is the Thanksgiving turkey but they do all the rest. They have a charcoal grill, and we once had a (scrounged) propane one, but since it was outside, it did not do well over the winter. If that is available, it REALLY needs to be covered in the winter to keep the connections from rusting. Our bad.
We have our own small freezer they share in the garage. With the uncertainty of what lies ahead, we are collectively – with friendly next door neighbors – putting in gardens. They dug out and rototilled our space, and we are planting basics – carrots, onions, potatoes – LOTS of potatoes – greens, and herbs. We are helping them get dried beans and rice, too. We will store that in metal garbage cans. Just in case…
So ours is a “community garden” with one section unfenced for the critters that come every night to forage. We live near a river, and we’ve always had raccoons, possums, etc. That’s their section. Other homeless people will be able to come and ask for food as we have it. I also plan to have the world’s largest jar of peanut butter and another of jelly. We will keep bread in the freezer for sandwiches. If I have soup, I will serve it in “to-go” hot cups. Ramen takes too long to prepare, but I’m looking into instant soup cups. Ice water in the summer.
PETS, LOVERS, FRIENDS
Human associations are not my business among consenting adults. But pets ARE. We have a resident cat belonging to our longest tenant, so new pets need to socialize and be kept safe if they don’t get on with the cat who was here first. Dogs always on leashes. So far, so good. The first cat lived in a large dog crate and loved it. He was spoiled rotten. He later graduated to a harness and leash, and he did fine with them. He has since died, but he lived well here on a 30-foot leash. Things can be worked out.
SECURITY
We have no real problems, but we have locked gates on both sides of the house. They have keys to the padlocks. They are locked at night. One of the men works a night shift and thus comes and goes with his key.
We have two unalterable rules, the first of which is no illegal drugs EVER. We will not sacrifice our house to DEA, thank you anyway. That has never been a problem. They value the safety we offer, freedom from danger, freedom to socialize after dark (you can be arrested sitting in public areas after dark), and freedom to come and go with your “stuff” kept safely. They never abuse it. Their friends come and go at will, but they have become “mailbox” people as well, and they also value us and the ability to have an address even if they don’t actually live here. That is perfectly legal. It’s an ‘address of convenience’ that is totally OK with authorities.
The Postal delivery person is VERY cool. So are package delivery folks. If someone is expecting a package, the recipients do let me know, but there is a secure place where things are left, and so far we had only one incident of theft but not by a resident. That’s not bad for 11 years of deliveries.
SECOND RULE – VOTE!
My final “rule” is that if you use our address, you must vote. I don’t say how, just that it must be done. They comply.
We have a highly diverse bunch of people both living here and using our address. Male, female, white, Black, Latino, Asian. I found out when we were threatened by a nonresident once, a white supremacist who said he’d burn us out, that even people who don’t know us directly volunteered to patrol at night to keep us safe. That went on for several weeks until they found him and had a “come to Jesus” moment. I don’t ask about that. I just know it stopped. So be it.
I regret nothing of this place we found for ourselves. These folks are my real community. I like them, think they’re interesting, see how hard they work to survive and sometimes get ahead. They have gotten jobs, housing, and renewed family contacts. That was our goal. Safe Haven in the Storm of Life. It works.
Leave a Comment