Homeless 101: An Education in US Social Service Agencies

In the case of an expatriate returning to America from overseas, one's first step is to the US State Department and Hilary Clinton. They will loan you the money to purchase a plane ticket to get home at an unspecified interest rate and waste no time in getting you to sign a contract at your embassy or consulate overseas that says you are required to pay the money back in 90 days from arrival in the US. This of course is impossible because you will be unemployed with little chance of getting a job that will pay well in 90 days. With a stated unemployment rate of 9% in the US, the real rate (including under-employed), as quoted by too many magazines, is closer to 16% (figure the former executive who is now a greeter at Wal-Mart). But you will sign the loan agreement anyway, because basically, you have little or no choice. America wants you in the same debt prison the entire country is in. That makes you a patriot.(Continued...)

This blog. aHBiNYC is now available as an eBook. It covers the writer's homeless experiences in New York City from September 11, 2011 through January 2013 in 245 pages and 50 chapters. To order simply use the PayPal button in the sidebar, send $10, and include your email address in the PayPal memo form. Thank you.