From $50k a Year to Houseless in Hood River
“I went from making fifty grand plus a year and taking care of my kids just fine, to having nothing”
- Jaime Gehrig.
Jaime Gehrig
Editors Note: This is part 2 of a 3 part series of interviews with Mid-Columbia Community Action Council Shelter guests. These interviews are geared towards hearing stories from people who are utilizing MCCAC’s services, finding out more about the human experience of being houseless, the systemic issues of houselessness, and giving the community an inside look at how the MCCAC transitional housing program works and why it’s been so successful in addressing houselessness in the Mid-Columbia region. The names of certain people mentioned in these stories may be changed in order to protect their identities.
By Cole Goodwin
Meet Jaime
Jaime Michelle Gehrig walks into the MCCAC staff office and sits on the bench six feet away from me.
She’s got pink hair and piercing blue eyes.
CG: I like your hair.
JG: Thank you. I dye my hair a lot. It’s just one of my ways of expressing myself. Hair’s my thing. I get mad. I cut it. And then I dye it.
CG: So, tell me a little bit more about yourself.
JG: My name’s Jaime. I’m 40. I have three boys. They’re 18, 20, and 21. I have a granddaughter; she’s 8 months old. I was born and raised in Hood River. I spent most of my life there. I ran away with the carnival when I was 18. I ended up getting pregnant.
CG: You ran away with the fair? Did you sign up at Cherry Festival?
JG: No, it was the actual fair, but the second year I joined up was actually at Cherry Festival, so that’s funny. So yeah, I worked at a very nice carnival and had my kids, and they lived in Hood River most of their youth. I moved them away from home when my oldest was in fifth grade. I moved them to South Dakota. I lived there until 2018.
Then I got sick and lost my leg.
CG: You lost your leg?
Jaime smiles a little.
JG: Yeah I’ve got a prosthetic.
She lifts one of her pant legs to reveal a black prosthetic leg covered in a swirling rainbow design.
Jaime shows CCCNews her prosthetic.
CG: Rainbows are my favorite! So what happened?
JG: I had gestational diabetes. And I’ve had diabetes for about 21 years ever since my oldest was born. I was working a lot at the time, and I cracked my foot; it got infected and I got really sick and I couldn’t work no more. So we moved back home in 2018, and it’s been kind of rough since then.
I nod.
CG: So you weren’t experiencing houselessness when you lost your leg.
JG: No, I was a Casey’s manager. They’re a Ma and Pop type convenience store branch that does homemade donuts and pizzas.
And before that I was an assisted living Cook and Activities Director. We had Bingo every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we did river floats on Tuesdays. So, just easy calm stuff. My kids would get annoyed because I always involved my kids in everything. One year my son was Santa. I tried to get the community involved as much as possible too. It was important for the elderly folks to feel like a part of something important before they pass on.
So, I had a job. I made pretty good money; I had a six bedroom house, two cars and took care of my kids. But I got sick and had to move home, and it’s been kind of rough since then.
I tried to work again after I got my leg removed. I worked for about a month, but I couldn’t sit down and take my leg off and let it breathe often enough, and so it was causing me blisters on my legs, which could get infected again.
And I got diagnosed with heart and kidney failure last year when I had a stroke. I was given a year to live last October. And in October I passed that year point.
Jaime nods, remembering that moment, but she doesn’t seem overwhelmed or upset about it. In fact, she smiles a little.
According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council poor health is a major cause of houselessness in the United States. Experiencing houselessness also creates new health problems and exacerbates existing ones.
CG: I have to say you seem to have a pretty good attitude about life and be pretty forward thinking for someone who was told they had a year to live.
JG: You’re born dying. We’re born to do it. Just like you can absolutely count on change, you can absolutely count on death. So, at least you know it’s coming. It’s not a surprise. The end result of life is death. You can either smile at it and keep going or you can sit there and be miserable.
I’m thankful for my granddaughter. I’m thankful for my boys. So, I can die happy now having had those experiences, you know? I mean, I could be angry about all the sh*t that’s going on with me. But I know there’s people that got it way worse than I do.
I’m still walking, still breathing. I’ve got a lot more rough days ahead of me but that’s part of life.
So, like I said, it’s been kind of rough.
Source: Health Center Patient Survey (HCPS) 2009
CG: That is rough. The downward turn in your health caused you to experience not only a physical health struggle, but also financial instability and housing insecurity, which can also further contribute to health issues.
JG: Usually with gestational diabetes it goes away. Well mine didn’t, and the doctors didn’t keep up on it and let me know that was a possibility. So, it went out of control for a lot of years and caused a lot of damage. When I did find out about it, I started on insulin.
But I’m kind of a firm believer in your body following it’s natural rhythms and doing what it’s supposed to do. And if you take too much insulin, your body will stop producing it’s own insulin. So, I went a different route. I tried different pills, and I finally found Januvia, that’s a good one. It’s a once a day pill.
But after I got really sick, my diabetes just kind of went away. So, I don’t take anything for diabetes, not for about two years now.
CG: So, that’s something.
Jamie smiles.
JG: Yeah, it’s nice to have a soda and not worry about it.
CG: So, you moved back home in 2018. What was that move like for your kids?
JG: It was kind of hard on the family. I went from making fifty grand plus a year and taking care of my kids just fine to having nothing.
My middle son, he’s doing well, he’s got a job and he’s over in Wishram right now. My youngest kid has gone through some issues. He's in MacLaren right now, but he gets out in May. His girlfriend just had a baby, so I’m hoping that he and his girlfriend can pull together and get through it.
My oldest son, he’s kind of depressed right now. He’s living with me here at the shelter. He has a lot of potential, but he’s in a slump. So, I’m hoping he’ll get out of it. He wanted to be an underwater welder, but he can’t because he’s got ear problems. So, I’m just trying to help him heal inside and find what he wants to do in life, and he’s a people person. It really sucks for young single men here. It really stinks. So, I'm just trying to boost his ego enough so that he can find his drive again.
And of course all of them worry about their mom. They’re pretty good about taking care of their mom and trying to be there for me.
CG: So, when you moved back here you had no way to earn income. What did you do to survive?
JG: I did get emergency assistance; they helped me with money and apply for HUD. I got a HUD voucher but because there was animosity between the family at the time and my boys were so up and down… I didn’t want to get into that program and then mess up and not be able to be on that list again.
So, I said okay we’re just going to do some family stuff for a while, and I stayed with my father. But he passed away two years ago. It was very sudden.
She shakes her head.
I tried to take care of everything. But after a while you just get embarrassed to ask your family for help.
She pauses.
I don’t want to be a burden on my family.
It’s been hard because I like to work. And I’d love to be back to where I was… but it won’t be like that again.
Jaime laughs a little bitterly and then takes a deep breath.
So, I’m doing what I can right now, I guess.
CG: So, what does the future look like for you?
JG: Well this place has been awesome. Mid-Columbia Community Action Council has got me set up with a couple different programs. I’ve applied for my Social Security. I applied for Social Security two years ago, but I got denied, so I had to reapply. And I’ll find out the result of that in May. And in the meantime, I’m just being a Grandma and a Mom.
I would like to figure out something I could do that would benefit the community and help people. If I were going to do any schooling, I’d definitely want it to be so I could help people or be doing something progressive for humanity.
CG: How would you like to help others?
JG: I’m a realist. I like to keep it simple and just take simple steps to help others. Like picking up a piece of trash today. That’s the way to building a foundation. So, whatever I did I’d probably just start small and try to pay it forward and get a line of action going that way.
Jaime Gehrig rests while enjoying the blue sky and some art made by shelter guests.
CG: Not to be morbid, but you mentioned that with your health the way it is you might have some more rough days ahead of you. Is there anything you’d like to cross off your bucket list before you die?
JG: The number one thing I’ve already done. I wanted to make it to see my granddaughter born.
Jaime breaks into a big glowing smile.
She’s amazing. I don’t know if you have kids or not. But when you have a child and you hold the baby you just get this feeling. And I never thought I could experience that feeling ever again, but when I held my granddaughter for the first time it was just like that feeling PLUS. She just makes my day everyday.
One thing my friend and I were talking about was just going out on a summer's day and handing out those ribbon toys that you play with in the wind and handing them out to kids that looked like they were having a hard day.
CG: What’s something you wish people knew about having a family and experiencing houselessness?
JG: I guess on the upside, you find out how strong your family units are and how much they are willing to work with you. Cause no matter what, even in the darkest hours, it’s not so dark if you look over and you see somebody you love next to you. Just to have that person you love near helps a lot.
I think that my boys have learned that your life could be taken from you at anytime. And they’ve learned that you might have to rebuild and start over again and again, but life is about not giving up. You might have to start over again and again, but there’s going to be a sunny day again. And I hope that they know that even though we’ve been in some unstable housing situations I’ve always been there for them.
CG: What would you like other people to know about the MCCAC shelter?
JG: A lot of people hear the word shelter and already have bad thoughts about it, but it’s more than that. When you stay here, you’re a part of a community, and there are rules. There has to be a middle ground. You can’t be an a**hole, but you can’t be too lenient either. A lot of people b*tch about the rule,s but in reality there are rules in life and this place has a lot to offer and is a has a great support system. They have a great crew. I haven’t met anyone I don’t like.
They have a computer to help us look for employment and look for housing. They help you get everything you need. When you come here, they give you a pillow and a towel and everything you need to get a new start.
I think as long as people come here with hope in mind and ready to move forward in their lives then it’s a great place for them. It’s not a place for people that just want to hang out and do nothing with their lives. That’s just a waste of your time and their time too. It’s a great place to find your center again and get you motivated. They help you through the hard times.
All I can do is say thank you to the shelter. And tell the community that these guys deserve recognition. If there’s a Best Human or Good Samaritan award these guys deserve it. They’re here all the time, and we don’t go without anything we need. So, that means a lot.
NHCHC reports confirm that providing stable housing and shelter is a form of health care.
CG: Just to wrap up a little here is there anything else you’d like folks to know about experiencing houselessness?
JG: And as far as being houseless goes I also want to say apologies for all the bad experiences people have had. There’s a lot of rotten people out there, but people just seem to notice the houseless more because were more visible. There’s a lot of rotten people that have houses too.
I would just like to say please, even if you’ve had a bad experience with people that haven’t had a house, there’s some good people out here too. So, please just try to keep an open mind and give everybody the same kind of chance you’d want for yourself. You might find a lot more good in people than bad.
CG: Thanks Jamie.
JG: Thank you.
Did you enjoy this content? Read Part 1 of the MCCAC shelter guest interview series. In part 1 CCCNews interviewed Janice Coder, an unhoused veteran and sexual assault survivor. Janice tells her story of how she came to experience houselessness and how MCCAC helped her get off the street and back on her feet.
About MCCAC
Mid Columbia Community Action (MCCAC) is a private non-profit 501(c)3 corporation serving Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties.
