CLEVELAND — How does a person become homeless?
What happened to them before they were living on the streets?
A new Case Western Reserve University study challenges assumptions about the conditions that create chronic homelessness.
"This story is really about love and caretaking," said Meagan Ray-Novak, a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School's Center on Poverty and Community Development, who led the research.
Caregiving & its costs
Ray-Novak was initially studying the intersection of race and gender in chronic homelessness.
But then, another theme emerged.
"We were asking people very broadly what life was like before they became homeless, and what we found is that the majority of the population had actually experienced some type of loss," she said. "Some kind of death, divorce, separation, and caretaking responsibilities that had significantly impacted their ability to stay in their home."
She said many of the study's participants prioritized taking care of a loved one, even at the expense of their own personal and economic stability.
Ray-Novak explained, "Folks are giving up their living arrangements. They're either quitting their jobs or losing their jobs to take care of a family member, and that's a loving thing to do, it's a positive thing to do, but then recovering from that afterward is really complicated in ways that we didn't expect at all. "
"It tells us that folks make decisions based upon their relationships," she said. "But it also tells us that the system isn't supporting families in taking care of each other and keeping people out of hospice care or keeping them at home."
Key findings
Ray-Novak's study involved 40 in-depth interviews with individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.
It led Ray-Novak to develop a theory called "relational connectedness and values-driven decision-making" to show how personal relationships, including family and friends, play a pivotal role in life choices that carry serious consequences.
She found that many participants prioritized family relationships, even when this led to "personal instability," such as losing jobs and housing.
She found that 35% of participants said the death of a parent, spouse or significant other precipitated their homelessness.
Over half said "relational breakdowns," like separation, divorce, and death, contributed to their "housing instability."
Regarding the race and gender dynamics that were the intended subject of the study, Ray-Novak said she found the participants did not always connect their homelessness to their race or gender, but she noted systems often react differently to those identities, particularly for Black men and women.
Two-thirds of the study's participants were Black men. The study found most did not attribute their homelessness to their race, even though they acknowledged racism is pervasive and widespread.
She found women in the study did not see gender as the primary cause of their lack of housing but reported widespread sexual exploitation.
She also found none of the participants regretted their choice to care for a loved one.
"They all said, 'No. My mom needed me. They were going to put her in hospice. No way was that going to happen'." Ray-Novak said. "That's amazing so I think we should celebrate that."
Eugene's story
Eugene Sopher, 50, often shares how his talent for art helped him get off the streets.
"Drawing saved my life," he said. "This was my therapy."
News 5 first shared his story in 2019, when Sopher was still homeless, and in 2022, when a Chagrin Falls art exhibit featured his cartoon caricatures.
READ MORE: Chagrin Falls art exhibit features former homeless cartoonist
But Sopher said he is rarely asked what happened before he became homeless.
"I was a dead man walking," he said.
When his mother had a stroke, Sopher said he moved in with her.
"It's my mother," he said. "The person that gave me life, that's the person above God."
But he struggled to keep up with her care, her bills, and his own bills.
"It was important to try to take care of her," he said. "But I couldn't."
When his mother moved into a nursing home, he lost his home.
When she died - in his arms, he said he lost his mind.
"I snapped," he said.
Grief, he said, amplified his mental health struggles.
He said he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression.
"Imagine you have nobody," he said. "When I lost my mother, that's how I felt. "
Undercover bum
Sopher described himself as an "undercover bum."
He said he stayed with friends and relatives until he wore out his welcome.
Then, he lived in his truck.
He got a gym membership - not to work out - but to access to a bathroom.
Eventually, he got better.
"One day, I just sat back, and I got sick and tired of being sick and tired," he said. "I looked in the mirror, and I didn't like what I saw."
He said people noticed his art, and "everything just lined up for me."
He now uses his cartoon art to bring awareness to serious issues, including grief and loss.
READ MORE: Homeless man creates coloring book pages with lessons he says children and adults need to hear
"Like the phoenix, I'm rising from the ashes, and I'm shining," he said.
