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@crank
I've been technnically homeless/vulnerably housed a number of times. I'm a normal person, a student, work in a library, ride an Italian road bike with bits of chrome on it.. Don't have a drug or alcohol problem, or serious mental health issues.
General pattern is; subletting a room in a city I couldn't really afford, but needed to be in.. after a few months the contract (that I'm not on) ends and we all have to move out.. don't have the cash to put a deposit+rent+fees on a new house (a student, so not eligible for any benefits), so spend a bit of time sofa-surfing, a few days roughing etc. Eventually something a bit more permanent comes up, but a few months later the same thing happens. A few months ago I signed the first contract I've had on a house in the last two years. Was expecting to be out again in June, but just found out that we can stay on.
AFAIK, a lot of homelessness is like this.. bits and pieces of living in different places/ways. Its not just cardboard boxes under bridges.
The point is, that it's very easy to end up in a trap if your circumstances become slightly difficult for a while. I've been very lucky, and never been properly caught in the homelessness cycle, but am very aware of how easily it could have happened if I was a bit more unstable, or if my friends weren't so awesome, or if I had a bit more bad luck, or if I'd lost my job..