When everyday people are on their way to work and see homeless people on the streets, they usually don’t think about these people and their actual backgrounds. They just see a bum who, in their minds, is completely different than everybody else in society simply because the person doesn’t live in a home.

But people who are homeless are often the same as anyone else, other than the fact that they’re probably struggling worse than most people in life. Some don’t have families, but many do. The latter is more common, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re in contact with their families.

Sometimes, a homeless person’s family may be the exact reason they’re living outside. With that said, I’ve known countless people who were homeless in my life, because I’ve lived on the streets and also in many group homes that ex-homeless people frequent. I’ve spoken to them about their families and have gotten to know many people who were just simply down on their luck at times.

So here’s an actual rundown on the families of homeless people and why they often aren’t in the picture or helping their relatives who don’t have homes. The following are just some of the most common explanations for why homeless people aren’t living with their families at the time of their homelessness.

Disowned by Family
Many people you see living on the streets once had family and became estranged from them for a number of reasons. But the most common reason is that they were disowned by their own families. This means that their families ended contact with them and for whatever reason, would rather not help them or talk to them anymore.

In order for a person to become homeless, it often means that they don’t have the same social support systems as people who aren’t homeless. A social support system would be friends or family that help you out when you’re struggling, whether mentally or financially.

Many people living on the streets are there because they are struggling with alcohol and drug addictions, or because they are bad at managing their money, while others may simply be out there due to a series of unavoidable misfortunes or “bad luck”.

Sometimes family members are fed up with seeing their brother, sister, cousin, son, daughter, father, or mother make bad choices. So, they choose to stop talking to them and for this reason, the person may become homeless as a result of not having anyone to help them.

Or, they may already be homeless and the family members are choosing to disown them simply because they are not understanding of the person. They might assume that their own family member is lazy or have otherwise stereotyped them because they have a negative view towards homeless people.

Hiding from Family
On the flip side of the coin, many homeless people choose to disown their own family members or to hide from them. This may be because they feel their family members are judging them for their choices in life, their lifestyle, or other things that may or may not have contributed to their homelessness.

They may also be hiding from family members because those members might be abusive. Many women who run away from abusive spouses often end up homeless because they might not have enough savings to get their own place and don’t have anywhere else to go but shelters.

Sometimes homeless people are just too proud to let their family know that they are homeless and will stay isolated from them until they get back on their feet.

In my case, I had gotten into an argument with my father, who was the only close family member that I had left. Other family members who lived on the other side of the country from me were not quite as close to me, personally and distance-wise. I didn’t want them to know that I was living on the streets because I felt they couldn’t understand my situation and would judge me for it.

I never thought I’d end up homeless until it happened, and it didn’t happen because of addictions or all the reasons that I thought my family might judge me for. They were family members that I grew up around as a child, who lived in other states.

They didn’t know my lifestyle or what type of person I was as an adult, and for that reason, I felt they were more apt to judge me since I felt they didn’t really know the “real me” anymore.

This is a common scenario with many other people that I met on the streets, who didn’t get along with the family that they were close to, so lost that source of support. Then they were too proud or too embarrassed to get in contact with other family members with whom they had become more estranged from over the years.

Long Distance Families
Many people who live on the streets are vagabonds or transients who move from place to place. The reason for this may be because they migrate to where the resources are or because they travel seasonally to where the weather is good.

For whatever reason, many people find themselves homeless in states, countries, or provinces that are far from their families. They may have caring family members who would let them stay in their houses if they were nearby, but instead they must stay on the streets until they find a way to pay for their trips home to family.

This is why many cities including New York, San Francisco, and Portland have been paying for homeless people’s bus passes home. The catch is that they must verify with social workers that they have family members on the receiving end who they can live with.

These types of programs are controversial, but there’s no doubt that they have benefited countless people who are far from family and don’t have their own money or resources to get home. So, you should never assume that a person on the streets doesn’t have family who care about them. Sometimes they actually do, but their family may be poor as well and don’t have many resources to help them get home.

Custody Problems
This scenario is an extremely rare one, but I’ve seen it firsthand. Sometimes people might be homeless because they’re making an effort to stay near their children after losing primary custody of them after divorces or separations from their ex-partners or spouses.

They may have family, such as their parents, brothers, or sisters, living elsewhere. But they might be forced into staying in a certain area because their children are living nearby with whatever parent gained primary custody.

They may only have weekend visitation rights or might have an arrangement with the other parent where they can only see their children on certain days or times. For this reason, they might be homeless nearby because they want to live near their children but haven’t gotten on their feet yet or can’t afford the apartments or rooms for rent in the local area.

An example of this would be Silicon Valley, where I first became homeless. The average rent in an area like this is often unaffordable for people with menial jobs or low income.

So, obviously it can be a tough situation for some people who need to stay in these areas for different reasons, especially those who want to stay simply so they can see their children. Sometimes, sadly, a person’s homelessness status may be the specific reason as to why the other parent was granted full custody of a child.