I was forced to live in my car & keep it secret from my family while getting chemo – I’ve had close calls with thieves
A COLORADO man has been living in his car, dodging unsafe situations all while struggling with colon cancer.
Josh, 37, lost his job as a purchasing agent for a gardening company in Denver, Colorado, in January and has had to move into his Toyota RAV 4.
He expressed that he struggled to find a safe space to park every day.
“I was bouncing around between gyms, hotel parking lots, light industrial areas, and the side streets off of hotels or apartments,” Josh explained to The New York Times.
He asked to be identified only by his first name because he has not told his family about his living situation.
Though he has a roof over his head, sleeping in his car has come with a handful of scary encounters.
One night, while sleeping outside a Planet Fitness, he woke up to a man trying to break in.
He only left when Josh pushed the emergency button on his key fob.
On another occasion when it was snowing, he parked in a Super 8 motel parking lot and woke to find tracks leading to his car and the snow sheared from one of his car door handles.
Josh soon felt like he needed a solution to feeling unsafe so he called the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative.
Most read in The US Sun
The Colorado Safe Parking Initiative aims to provide a safe space for people in the Denver area who live in their cars due to homelessness.
It first launched in 2020 and serves about 110 "households" who live out of their cars each night, according to data from the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, reported by Rocky Mountain PBS.
The program has 13 lots across Denver and receives both private and public funding from the state.
Last year, 550 people, on average in their mid-to-late 50s, were able to park at one of its safe, legal parking spots, according to PBS.
Luckily, Josh was able to secure a spot through the initiative and can now park safely and commute to his chemo appointments.
CAR LIVING
The U.S. Sun has previously reported on people living in their cars, including a Denver couple and their dog who have been struggling to find a home due to a past eviction.
Leticia Dela Rose, her husband, and their dog Cash were evicted from their home in 2022 after Dela Rose took a leave of absence from work.
The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless has been trying to help find them a home, but the couple has trouble when filling out rental applications because of their past eviction.
“We get down to the question, ‘Have you ever been evicted from a place within the last seven years?’ And unfortunately, the answer is 'yes,'" Dela Rosa explained.
"Some of the applications don’t even let you proceed after that."
Dela Rosa and her family are hoping for a solution soon.
“I hope it doesn’t last too much longer, but I’m losing hope,” she said.
Read More on The US Sun
“I’m just hoping someone gives me a chance to have a place to call home.”
The couple has since started a GoFundMe for help with money for housing.