Guy living in his car

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fdcg27

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Sep 25, 2009
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There is a large place we shop maybe weekly (not going to get any more specific since I'm not trying to out anyone) that has a guy living in an old Corolla in the parking lot. The car is always in the same spot and has been there for the past few months. Management has to be aware of this so is apparently tolerating it. Maybe the guy works there?
We usually park withing twenty or thirty feet of him out in the boonies, where there is no competition for parking spaces and there is no chance of door dings. The guy has always been in the car when we've been there and the car does run, since I've heard it idling on colder days, probably for a little heat. I've never seen him out of the car and he apparently doesn't hassle or panhandle any of the shoppers, since if he did he'd certainly get run off quickly.
I find this situation both a little strange as well as rather sad.
How common is this?
 
Over the past 5-6 years a lot more common. In my travels, and in my own state, I especially see it in places where they have 24 hour gyms. In the winter I'd ask a few of them if they were ok. The ones I talked to were down on their luck, working, and trying to get enough cash saved up to get a place. They used the showers at the gyms and a local laundry mat.
 
It isn't uncommon, and they might not be what you would think of as 'homeless'.

There are a handful of people that live and work in my county that are on the sex-offender list and cannot live in their home for that reason. It isn't uncommon for them to be told by the courts to live in the court parking lot for a period of time. There were several that lived in the local HD parking lot as well, but HD put an end to that.

Mostly they eventually find a more permanent spot and move on.

They have to give the court an address where their 'home' is, and when they're not working, they need to be there and deputies are sent out to verify the address.

It is an odd system for sure, and when they first started doing it, the court didn't tell the Sheriff's Office. I was on duty one night and we'd had a bomb threat called in. I was outside and saw what you could consider a 'gang banger' vehicle parked in the top of our parking lot (Older Lincoln Navigator, giant chrome wheels, super dark tint).

I called the boys with the big guns and shields in and they got the two occupants out at gunpoint.

Yep, they were told by the courts they could 'live' there and were largely harmless.

Needless to say, the sheriff lost his mind with the judges in the court the next day.
 
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It’s actually a step up from living in a tent under a highway overpass. An old SUV where you could stretch out would be nice. I’m not sure how one would get by security at a gym since they make their money swiping ID’s of the patrons.
 
Gym memberships are $20/mo at the chains. People who can't afford 2000 a month apartments may not be total bums... This is the working poor.

We have people here discreetly living in their cars in park & rides or the far corners of parking lots. RVs, too, but they stick out a little more. They're more afraid of me than I am of them.
 
Its a lot more common than anyone wants to believe

Google "Bob Wells" and you will find a whole lot about it. They made a movie called Nomadland that covers a lot of it as well.

There not bums. There not looking for handouts. Many travel around and work seasonal jobs. They just don't have a lot of money, and don't want to be stuck in some dump apartment in the city, which would take all there money. So its car or apartment, and they choose car. The more well to do ones go to a van.
 
It's pretty common, and I've even considered it as housing is SO expensive these days. I know someone who lives in their car, and mostly stays in the parking lot of his job. They are OK with it because he doesn't cause any trouble and is a good employee. I don't think we should be judging people for that.

Now, if they're leaving a mess, doing drugs, causing problems, then it's an issue. Unfortunately those car/van-dwellers that do those things often ruin it for the rest of the good, normal people doing it.
 
Saw a guy living in his car at the Office Max parking lot, parked under a shade tree.
Hot summer days, but never saw him cause any problems. I just took the live and let live mentality.
He must have been there all summer, and it was a HOT one!
 
back when we were open 24/7 there was one fella in particular that would "camp out" over night in our store over the winter.
he'd buy a frozen meal every few hours and doze in the cafe area.
this was after the city condemned and tore down the 2 houses he owned, and had filled with trash to the point they were unlivable, at which point he was living in a Teepee in his yard...he tried to fight the city, saying they had no rights of code enforcement on his land as it was an "independent Indian reservation"

after they demolished his houses, he started living in his Cadillac, which shortly had just enough room for him to sit in the driver's seat. rear suspension fully bottomed out.
 
Seldom see anyone in my area living in a car.....or maybe I don't notice. Had an unusual situation though a few years ago. Older woman living in a Toyota in a grove of trees on a rural road. Probably there for about three years. She set up all kinds of ornaments and weird things all around the car. Looked like she was trying to ward off evil spirits or something. Never stopped to see if I could help because the vibe was stay away. The car never moved from where it was. After 3 years or so she disappeared and the area was cleaned up.
 
I volunteer at the local food pantry. In addition to the food that can be selected off the shelves, each person that comes for food gets what we call a cold box, which has an assortment of items, including refrigerated and frozen foods.

It is easy (and sad) to spot those that are living out of their car, because they go through the cold box and remove all the perishable items, since they have no way for them to refrigerate these items.

In my position within my church, I am on a council that is responsible for ten congregations in our area. Our church has a policy for liability reasons, that cars are not to be parked in our church parking lots overnight or long term. We had a homeless man that was living in his car, in one of our church parking lots. Someone was assigned to respectfully ask him to move on. He would move for a few days and then come back.

I always hope that their circumstances are short term, but have never been involved close enough to know.
 
I talk to my boys about how lucky we are when driving by unhoused people. I can’t imagine a more difficult way to live, especially those with children. I don’t judge. It’s an awful way to exist. I think if I won the lottery id retire and make it my daily mission to drive around and hand out $100 bills to people I feel are in need. Last year I was walking down the street with a friend after a healthy lunch and I saw an older woman sitting in the shade next to her cart. She didn’t have a sign or wasn’t asking for money. I stopped and gave her some money. My friend said “why did you do that? She’ll probably just spend it on drugs or alcohol.” I said “I hope she finds some comfort and relief with that money.”
 
I do judge. Most of the able bodied men can work. Kids and mothers in stress are a different matter.

Tons of jobs

Very very low unemployment

Yet we all see more street bums than any of our lifetimes.

Something isn't matching.

The numbers are somewhat false and there are a lot of homeless, shiftless, unemployable people, many have made bad bad choices. Sure we can blame drugs and mental illness, and that is a large part of it. But certain areas cater to the situation and have actually created an entire industry. You give a guy $100. He's not going to clean up and get a job.

The only time there is much action is when the realization that the law abiding are starting to make noise.


komonews.com

Bellingham takes legal action to begin clearing massive homeless camp near Walmart

A homeless camp with a history of trouble in Bellingham has led city leaders to agree to undertake legal action to clear the land.
komonews.com komonews.com

Also there is the problem of USA lands owned by foreign nationals who "cannot be reached". We need a change of laws.

I'm not saying be mean to people. Not even saying lock them up unless they break the law, but "nice" isn't helping. Some level of shame needs to be involved and some level of "you don't work, you don't eat" as well.

I'm sorry if this is harsh, but nice often makes the problem worse for MEN.
 
Bums are different than people living in their car, for the most part. I agree with you regarding vagrants. But don't mix the two up - very different.

I would suggest reading the book or watching the movie I mentioned - Nomadland.

Many of them are older women, who either never made much money or their husband left or whatever. They might be old enough for Social Security and get $500 a month, or some are not old enough. Many travel around and do seasonal jobs - Amazon hires a ton of these people around Christmas, the sugar beat harvest in North Dakota, campground or resort cleaning, etc. Some can't work - there on disability or have some sort of mild mental illness. I read about a lady who would get a major panic attack if around more than 1 or 2 other people, so obviosly working in a normal place was not an option. She had some remote work she would do, and made enough to move around the country and live in her Prius - going from place to place. For her it was the best she could do.

I know the schools here know of many kids that are homeless. Not much they can do. The parents find ways to get the kids to school each day, even if its just to get them 2 meals.

Its very wrong to assume everyone who is homeless is a vagrant, or on drugs, or whatever. Some are, but many are not.
 
Has been very common in the last 15 years in my area. A lot of them have jobs, just don't have the money to pay for rent. Many are discipline enough to have a 24hour fitness membership and exercise, shower, use bathroom there, then go to work during day time. Many of them knows how to blend in and fly under the radar too, and pick places to camp at during the OFF hours to not bother the locals.

You probably have seen a guy working at Google making 150k+ a year just live inside a box truck with a dresser and a bed, because he doesn't want to pay $2k a month on rent and he got everything in his cubicle at work.

On the other extreme we have the drug addicts in Tenderloin San Francisco, who has all the mental issues and refuse all the help the city and volunteers provide.
 
SC Maintenance said:
Bums are different than people living in their car, for the most part. I agree with you regarding vagrants. But don't mix the two up - very different.

I would suggest reading the book or watching the movie I mentioned - Nomadland.

Many of them are older women, who either never made much money or their husband left or whatever. They might be old enough for Social Security and get $500 a month, or some are not old enough. Many travel around and do seasonal jobs - Amazon hires a ton of these people around Christmas, the sugar beat harvest in North Dakota, campground or resort cleaning, etc. Some can't work - there on disability or have some sort of mild mental illness. I read about a lady who would get a major panic attack if around more than 1 or 2 other people, so obviosly working in a normal place was not an option. She had some remote work she would do, and made enough to move around the country and live in her Prius - going from place to place. For her it was the best she could do.

I know the schools here know of many kids that are homeless. Not much they can do. The parents find ways to get the kids to school each day, even if its just to get them 2 meals.

Its very wrong to assume everyone who is homeless is a vagrant, or on drugs, or whatever. Some are, but many are not.
Click to expand...
Most able bodied MEN and I make that clear - MEN 18-65 who are living in the squalid camps - are complete bums and they commit crimes. This is probably is 60-70% of the overall homeless because most women get in shelters unless they are complete druggies AND don't want to straighten out.

OK yes some people living in cars made some terrible life and money choices, life is hard. Hopefully just temporary.

I know you guys are nice and want to help folks. Me too. I actually donate a lot of money to missions and have helped feed people and also worked with a food bank (little secret there, we always had a lot of food and not many takers).

I am not trying to be an arse or harsh, I'm just saying what will actually work here, but they won't do it unless really pushed.
 
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