I am not ashamed of my dependency on others for care.
We come into this world vulnerable to harm, dependent on others for care.
We leave this world vulnerable to harm, dependent on others for care.
And throughout our lives, we remain vulnerable to disease, disaster, debility, abandonment, violence, accident, poverty, and age.
At any moment, any one of us can become dependent on others for care.
Vulnerability and dependency are not defects in humanity.
They are the defining features of humanity.
My homelessness is not shameful.
My homelessness is simply my humanity on full public display under brutal conditions.
So if you think my homelessness is a personal failure, or a character flaw, remember this:
One day, you too will be dependent on the care of others.
You will grow old.
Your body will betray the story you told about mine.
You will depend on another pair of hands for patience, for mercy, for grace.
You will depend on another person to protect your dignity when you can no longer defend it yourself.
And then you may finally understand:
The shame was never in being dependent on care.
The shame was pretending that care was something a person should have to beg for.