Living Off The Grid – Van Dwellers
While most people in life-changing trouble are doing their best to return to their previous way of life before their troubles began, many have taken the opportunity to actually “opt out” of the system entirely. They have become van dwellers. They have chosen an alternative pathway.
Van dwelling is not for everyone, but for some, it’s become a “rent-free” way of life and for others, an opportunity to leave behind a world that no longer makes sense. A world dominated by economic and social injustice.
Legal And Financial Trouble – Josh The Van Dweller
Consider Josh, he is now fifty years old. He used to live in a rural part of Los Angeles until about two years ago when he lost his job hauling furniture because he could no longer do heavy lifting. A back injury put an abrupt end to his thirty years of hauling furniture.
Unfortunately, the injury didn’t happen on the job, so Josh wasn’t eligible for Worker’s Compensation. His Social Security Disability claim had been denied twice, and even when and if Social Security issues him an award, the amount received, according to his attorney, won’t be enough to actually live on.
Savings Lost To 2008 Market Crash
Josh lost most of his savings in the stock market crash of 2008 when the Dow obliterated over $1.2 trillion in market value. Josh, and his wife Linda, were one of the many investors who lost most of their savings by selling their shares at the bottom of the market in fear they would lose it all. At about that time, Linda got fired from her job for reporting the company to the EEOC so they ended up losing their home to foreclosure.
It Got Worse?
The losses didn’t stop there; Josh’s wife petitioned for divorce, which Josh blames on their financial meltdown. Like many couples in that time period, their marriage could not survive the pressure and pain of falling into the despair of poverty. There was one bright spot – by this time the two children they raised were already living independent lives and doing well.
Almost Homeless
By 2015, Josh was living in a small one-bedroom apartment and was close to broke, and was still unable to find steady work.
Josh was facing the prospect of homelessness.
Fortunately, Josh was able throughout the years to build a little savings – he called it his “doomsday money” but he wasn’t about to spend this money on paying his landlord six months more of rent which would have left him penniless.
Too Young To Collect Social Security
He was still more than ten years off from receiving social security, so he had to make some tough choices quickly.
For Josh, one of his biggest fears was being homeless. He was also too proud to ask his adult children for money.
So after surfing the Internet, he learned that there was a whole community out there called van dwellers. He wasn’t excited about the prospect of living out of his 2003 Astro van, but to him, it was better than living out of a shelter.
The real question was whether Josh had enough money left to make the transition and sustain him until he could find some part-time work. He knew he wouldn’t starve because there were food banks that would sustain him and he could apply for food stamps and financial assistance that could be electronically deposited into his checking account. Altogether, it would be enough to survive. For the rest, he would have to leave to fate, prayer, and self-compassion.
More on van life and mobile living.
