TULSA, Okla. — The word homeless may evoke thoughts of someone sleeping on the streets. Someone waiting outside the day center. Someone standing on the street corner, asking for money. It is a prevalent form of homelessness, but it is not the only kind.
Homelessness extends deeper, to people like Stacy Rusk.
Rusk usually sleeps in, “Hotels. They’re very expensive. We can afford $1600 a month, or more, but we can’t find a place to live,” Rusk said.
Rusk was a career accountant. She said she made $24 per hour keeping the books straight. She lost her job in 2020. Two years later, she lost her home.
“Never, in a million years,” did Rusk imagine she would fall into homelessness.
Rusk has a cellphone, a car and decent clothes. She picks up odd jobs, like delivering food via DoorDash. What she does not have is a home.
Caring Works, a Georgia non-profit, categorizes homelessness into four groups. The following, is how leaders at Caring Works characterize each group.
Rusk falls into the Hidden category.
“I saw [Tulsa leaders] tearing down tents, and putting people in places to live, but they’re not helping me,” Rusk said.
For people like Rusk, the hidden homeless, attaining help might take a little more work. Persistence is key.
HOMELESSNESS RESOURCES >>> The City of Tulsa has compiled a list of resources for people experiencing homelessness.
Rusk, 60, has no savings or retirement money to her name. She is working her hardest to climb out of this deep hole.
“Pray a lot. That’s what I do. And hope God provides the next day,” Rusk said.
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