Name: Robin Lee, 35 Date: 8 May 2021 Place: Dore Street Without a home: Off and mostly on since she was 18
“I have been on the streets on and off since I was 18, more on than off so well over 10 years. I started out in Sonoma County where I grew up with my mom. We lived in a home. I choose to come outside and be a rebellious 18-year-old.”
“(Hardest thing), definitely the showers, cleanliness, having to deal with a lot of illnesses and disease, and a lot of scary elements out here. I unfortunately have endured a few of them. Thankfully I’m recovering finally, but the elements out here can take a toll. I wouldn’t say the four walls necessarily are important but cleanliness, showers, toilet, bathroom, a refrigerator, a stove, … I mean being inside’s great and everything, but we can really make it out here if we try. Having your so-called freedom, that can go two ways. It’s a Catch-22 because you are moved and told where you can and cannot lay. There are certain laws and things that you
have to abide by that are different than people that have homes, that are inside don’t have to worry about: sitting
on the ground and getting a ticket because of the “sit and lie law,” or invading a parking space, or having a car that’s broken down, it’s a disadvantage for us at times.”
“When I was younger, I didn’t quite see a community but as I’ve gotten older and spent more time with people in different areas of the city, I learned there’s definitely community. We support one another. It works in a lot of different ways. Each one, teach one. You give, I give. You’re sick one day and you don’t have much and I have a plethora of things. I’m going to make sure that you’re taken care of, and you’re going to reciprocate that when you see another person sick. To us, as a community, it could be a stranger or it could be somebody that I know, that’s what makes a big difference. It helps bring us all together. But you have
to abide by that, you can’t just take, and take, and take. It has to be an equal bal- ance, otherwise it becomes a shit show.”
“It is very uncomfortable to have to use a restroom as a woman on the street. Also,
there are predators, male or female, there are some really scary people that prey on women. There are a lot of things I don’t even want to think about so yah, as a woman, it can be very dangerous out here, but having community definitely helps as far as being a woman and being respected. That’s an- other big thing, respect. A lot of times people lack respect for women who are on the street thinking there’s a woman in a tent and she’s doing speed, or she’s doing a drug, so she’s going to have sex with me. Or she’s a pros- titute. I’m going to get her high and … That’s not what it’s about. Maybe at one time it could’ve been, not for me personally, but it’s not every person that you meet or see.”
