Two residents navigate homelessness despite employment
By Allie Ware
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JACKSON, Mississippi (WAPT) — James Knowles and Markeeta Coleman, both employed, are facing homelessness in Jackson due to different circumstances, highlighting the struggles of the “working homeless.”
Knowles, who has battled drug addiction for more than half his life, left a home he shared with his sister during his recovery three years ago.
“I understood the pressure I put on her being a single mom trying to put him through school,” Knowles said.
He was introduced to his first homeless encampment and found solace in the freedom it provided.
“One day led to two; led three, and then I put myself up a tent,” he said. “Not that rushed fast-paced 9-5 — to be here at 8 a.m., get off at 4:30 p.m. — and the bills. The car might have gas, might not. Then utilities getting cut off, and might get evicted next month. I don’t have those worries right now.”
Knowles works at a retail store and volunteers when he is not working.
Across town, Coleman found herself homeless after withholding rent at the troubled Blossom Apartments due to unresolved water issues.
“I had just faced homelessness, so it’s not like I don’t want to pay my rent. I want to pay, but I don’t want to not have water,” Coleman said.
She was evicted after facing a judge for not paying rent, and the eviction on her record prevents her from leasing another apartment.
“In an apartment, you are paying rent, lights and maybe Wi-Fi, if you have it, but in a house, it’s rent, lights, gas and water,” she said.
Coleman, who has a job and lives in a house, struggles to pay bills each month while caring for her four children with special medical needs.
“The room to be able to bring my children to do things is never there,” she said. “When I am at work, I’m having a great time because every minute I look at the clock, I know I am one step closer to paying my rent.”
Knowles and Coleman are among the “working homeless,” a group that, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, includes approximately 40–60% of people experiencing homelessness who are employed. And the city of Jackson has the highest number of people experiencing homelessness in Mississippi, according to the Central Mississippi Continuum of Care’s 2023 Point in Time Count report.
The circumstances differ for Knowles and Coleman, but both are working to break stigmas. Knowles challenges perceptions of the homeless population.
“Drug addict, thief, worthless, don’t want to work, want to live off someone else’s paycheck or going to steal their car when they go in the store,” he said. “None of it easy. It’s difficult. Every part of being homeless takes effort: where you are going to eat, hygiene, clothes.”
Coleman has the added struggle of single motherhood.
“A lot of people are embarrassed about asking for help, but I didn’t choose this life for myself,” she said.
Despite their struggles, both Knowles and Coleman express a desire to give back to others in similar situations.
“These guys are my brothers. This is my chosen family,” Knowles said. “Unless I can take them with me, I am right here with them.”
“To me, that would be the peak of success to be able to help other people and not have it affect how my children are going to eat,” Coleman said.
Advocates for homeless individuals say more working families are now more than ever just one unexpected expense away from losing their homes.
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