Never Have I Ever…

By: Lindsey Migliori

Never have I ever – considered what it might be like to have to live outside. 

Tent camping? Sure. Backpacking for multiple days? Absolutely. But to LIVE outside, with no other home-base, never. Nor did I know that it is illegal to do so.

Never have I ever – known that I could walk about 15 steps into the woods, from a paved parking lot in a high-traffic, heavily populated area – and find myself in what feels like a 3rd world country… a tent city… the smell of burning trash + human excrement in the air. Surrounded by what were once someone’s treasured belongings, now, rained and trampled on so thoroughly that these grounds have become a dump. 

Never have I ever – thought about what it might be like to function each day without a toilet… a sink with fresh running water… a hot shower… a medicine cabinet… a mirror. 

How do I get ready for work? Where do I go when my food doesn’t settle well? What to do when I get a cold? How long does it take for an unbathed body to smell to other people? 

Never have I ever – worried about what it would look like to figure out how to function in 2022 without electricity. 

What are the options when the temps drop to the 40ºs or below? How do I charge a phone to access emails, text messages, call employers or my children? If I’m at 9% – can I plug into one of the outlets at the store up the street? If they don’t want me there, will they have me arrested for trespassing? (Yes.)

Never have I ever – had to work through what it looks like when my tent and tarps (the only shelter for my body + belongings) gets ravaged by the winds and rains of a rolling North Georgia thunderstorm. 

My work clothes, the clothes I grabbed from a donation center yesterday, my pjs, jacket, socks + shoes, my only roll of toilet paper – everything is soaked through. My electronics are wet. My backpack full of important documents and my few remaining photos are possibly ruined. My blankets and pillow are mush – it will take days to air out and dry. 

Never have I ever – thought about how people (often aged 50+) survive on disability, fixed incomes, and/or their VA benefits – and how THAT’S NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE RENT SOMEWHERE, much less live off of… never did I know that these people fill homeless encampments. 

Never have I ever – had to worry about keeping my necessities (ID, social security card, cash, prescription medication) on my person at all times – even while sleeping, due to high rates of thievery by the other desperate humans around me.

Never have I ever – considered that personal injury or illness… the grief of a heavy loss… or the spiral of my mental health… could affect my ability to perform my job to the point that I might be removed from my position and that within two months I could find myself + all of my belongings on the street with nowhere to go except the tree line across the way.

Never have I ever – been forced to try to find help from ANYONE willing to give it – local organizations or good natured people.

Never have I ever – had to worry about being judged or denied resources because of the ways I self-medicate for my pain, trauma, stress, frustrations, or depression. 

Never… until now.

This issue needs you, North Georgia.