My lowest point during homelessness was in the dead of winter during a snowstorm. I did not have a pair of boots, or even a heavy coat, or a sleeping bag or a tarp. One night I lay on the bluff in a shrub trying to shield myself from the snow, but with little success. I wondered what it would be like to jump off a freeway overpass. I could not believe I was suffering like that, and I began to feel deeply sorry for myself.
I ended up getting arrested shortly after that for sleeping along the Platte River, covered with a blanket. For a while, jail seemed better than homelessness. Had I had a tent, a sleeping bag, a coat, and some boots I would have suffered a lot less outside.
I was outside because I was not allowed in any of the shelters. I would get into fights with other shelter guests. When I was homeless in 2019, there did not seem to be as many resources as there are now. I remember being given a sleeping bag once, but hours later it was stolen.
Help a homeless person survive winter
You can help someone who is suffering like I did survive winter more comfortably – or simply survive. Housekeys Action Network Denver, or HAND, is accepting donations via its Amazon Wish List. You can donate everything from hand warmers to wet wipes, tents to sleeping bags. There’s an exhaustive list of items at all price ranges. “We at HAND, whose mission is fighting for housing for all, are launching Campaign 5280: Gathering 5,280 items that will help prevent frostbite (with folks having to go through the trauma of fingers, toes, limbs amputations, and even death) and surviving winter on the streets in general,” HAND states on the wish list.