It was unbearable. I eventually fled.

Kara is 50 years old and homeless. She has a quiet way about her. Hard to tell if she is always that way or just being overwhelmed by all that is happening. Her car is in need of a tune-up. She went to Pep Boys and was told the spark plug replacement and injector cleaning would be $725.37.

Kara worked as a nurse for 24 years, she was married for nearly the same amount of time. Has two grown kids. One day her husband just got up and left her. I asked if she saw it coming and she started to cry, saying, "No, I had no idea, it blindsided me."

A short while later she met another man and remarried. A year into that marriage he became abusive, extremely abusive. I asked if that meant emotionally or physically and she said, "Both. It was unbearable. I eventually fled, I just couldn't take it anymore." I asked if she was still worried for her safety and she told me no, that he was in prison.

In the process of having her first husband leave and then having to leave her second husband, Kara has nothing to her name, other than her car. She lives with severe PTSD, auditory hallucinations, anxiety disorder, and is bi-polar. Sitting next to her you can feel the pain of her situation. As we talked, folks were walking past, people with expensive clothing and all the various signs of wealth. The contrast made me tear up for her.