Public Storage is Affordable Housing of Last Resort

Public Storage is Affordable Housing of Last Resort

The refrigerator is the clue that something is exceptionally wrong where Sarah lives. With its spattering of magnets securing family snapshots, you would think the refrigerator was purchased at the local Best Buy and placed in a suburban home.

Sarah points out the photos like they are digital trophies of a life lost years ago. Some of the images depict two deceased sons. Others are of beloved family friends. At more than 60 years old, Sarah appears to be a grieving widow. Not too shocking for a person leaning toward the last phase of a long life.

It is the location of the refrigerator, however, that reflects her abysmal life situation. I am standing with Sarah in a small Public Storage unit in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood.

Sarah is homeless, but manages to use her disability checks to rent a tiny space that is supposed to be used for storage for middle-class excess. Instead, public storage has become a hideaway from the unsafe streets of America’s second largest city.

Hidden Away

As an executive of a homeless and housing agency, I have often heard the tales of homeless people living in Public Storage units. But no one on the streets was willing to reveal their secret hiding places to our street outreach teams until now.

When you walk into Sarah’s so-called home, you would think you are in some sort of messy college dormitory room, with its comfortable sitting chair, side table, television, and microwave. And, of course, the full standing refrigerator. Sarah uses an air mattress for her bed.

Her storage space is tucked away in the middle of hundreds of other units inside a large warehouse. There are bare light bulbs shining weak light, exposed wood trusses, and electricity. She rolls down the metal garage door and latches it from the inside for safety.

For the last two years Sarah has dodged Public Storage managers out of fear of being discovered. She knows the exact shift schedules of each manager since those are the times she has to scuttle inside of her hidden unit, as if she is some sort of mouse not wanting to be caught by the big old cat.

The homeless are often left doing the less than desirable to maintain themselves. Living in Public Storage was an alternative that my family also faced. This should not be. Pray and work for those whose choices are so limited.

Brother Joe