HOMELESSNESS MYTHS

It is an observable fact that people living on the streets can accumulate a lot of stuff.  The myth might be the story that gets told about the people who are carrying the stuff, that they are morally deficient or that it is some sort of character flaw that drives their behavior.

When we put people into situations and settings where there is not enough, people tend to hold on to whatever they can.  When people have little to no control over their environment, they will often save things “just in case” as a way to exercise control and agency of their lives.

When people are constantly stuck in survival mode, saving or hoarding materials is a deeply wired psychological defense mechanism.  “Hoarding,” according to a University of Michigan Psychologist, “is actually a totally normal and adaptive behavior that kicks in any time there is an uneven supply of resources.”  People from all walks of life save and hoard different resources—food, toilet paper during the pandemic, etc—but for people with little to no access to resources, the stuff that they end up saving can look like junk.  

Working with unsheltered people to manage their property is something that our shelter staff regularly focuses on.  When people move into our shelters, it can take a long time to transition out of being in survival mode, of living in constant stress and uncertainty and often people want to hold on to as much as they can.  

Once people begin to feel safe and they feel a greater sense of agency over their own lives, those behaviors decrease.

---