From paralegal to 6 years on Fresno streets with health condition. ‘Why am I homeless?’

With each step as she approached the Poverello House in downtown Fresno, Michaela Bennett became more and more upset.

She moved from the Bay Area to Fresno in 2017 for the more affordable cost of living and had visions of owning her home one day — not seeking temporary housing from a homeless shelter.

She was a paralegal, accustomed to working with Ivy League graduate lawyers.

But now Bennett was homeless after a lifelong health condition suddenly became worse and prevented her from working.

Within six months, all the money and savings she had prior to moving to Fresno was gone.

Bennett on this day looked to the sky and wanted to yell.

“I was very frightened and very angry, and very angry at God,” Bennett said. “I had a great salary, didn’t live lavishly but lived comfortably.

“Never done alcohol or drugs. Never been arrested. Never gotten a speeding ticket. Why am I homeless?”

Whether homelessness has been caused from drug or alcohol addiction, mental issues, physical health as with Bennett or some other issue, the homeless population continues to rise throughout the United States.

In Fresno, there’s an estimated 1,800 people living on the streets.

Dealing with epilepsy, homelessness

Bennett, 62, has been homeless in Fresno for roughly 6 1/2 years.

She suffers from a severe case of epilepsy. It is a brain condition that can cause some people to lose awareness for a few seconds or even have convulsions.

On average, Bennett said she suffers a epileptic seizure every two months.

In addition to not being able to work because of her medical condition, Bennett said she is no longer allowed to drive. She also sleeps roughly 17 hours per day as a side effect of her health, as well as the medications to control epileptic attacks.

“I had a whole list of goals of what I wanted to achieve and an action plan before I got here,” Bennett said. “I’ve had epilepsy since I was 6. It’s been pretty manageable until a few years ago.

“I didn’t know epilepsy was going to shred my whole life.”

Bennett added that her parents died years ago and she never married or had kids, in part because of her epilepsy, which she said prevented her from birthing children of her own, as well as dissuaded potential partners when she was younger.

Bennett said she does have three siblings but they all live in different states, including on the East Coast, and “have problems of their own.”

“Epilepsy is a hidden disability,” Bennett said. “All can look well on the surface. It’s far from it.

“Epilepsy has cost me marriage, children, has given me seizures, and caused me to be homeless.”

There’s a strong chance Bennett isn’t the only person to become homeless from epilepsy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it’s estimated that 1.2% of people in the United States have active epilepsy.

Living out of a car

Before her epilepsy became too severe where Bennett wasn’t legally supposed to drive, she found shelter by living in her car.

Bennett chose to remain in north Fresno, where she said she felt a bit safer living on the streets.

She would park her car in hospital parking garages and wear scrubs that she bought at local thrift stores to disguise herself as an employee “who was just overworked and taking a nap.”

Her clever plan worked for about three years until security figured things out, Bennett said.

Then she went back to homeless shelters for a place to sleep.

Sometimes, she would stay at the Fresno Rescue Mission, which is a Christian-based organization that helps the homeless. She also stayed at a women’s shelter like Naomi’s House, a 34-bed, overnight shelter for single women experiencing homelessness. Or at the Rescue the Children facility, where Bennett said she slept on cots in a living room.

On stretches when Bennett said she felt lucky, various people from local churches would offer her a brief place to stay.

“I’ve been sexually harassed at some of these places where there’s a lot of homeless people and the surrounding areas are dangerous,” Bennett said. “It’s so scary. You have to bow to some of the gangs. If you see crime, you’re not supposed to call the police.

“You want shelter. But you also want to be safe.”

Searching for help

Bennett said she has sought help for years.

She said she reached out to Fresno County services for assistance, attended City of Fresno council meetings to voice her concerns and still couldn’t find someone or any agency to provide her help.

Bennett said she’s cried so many times about her situation that her sadness turned into frustration and anger.

“I applied for Social Security Disability and was told I was denied,” Bennett said. “Then I later found out the agency that supposedly was helping me never completed or submitted my application. And it wasn’t just me who didn’t get the help needed.

“I’ve seen so many missed opportunities to help stabilize people. The system that we have in place is not crossing their T’s and dotting their I’s.

“It doesn’t seem like some of them are doing their job,” Bennett added. “They’re not actively working cases and finishing cases to completion.”

Bennett said she currently lives with a widow from her church and only in recent months started receiving some government assistance, including $292 per month in food stamps, she said.

Bennett has many ideas on how to fix at least part of the homeless issue.

“It starts with actually addressing the problem and not ignoring it,” Bennett said.

Though she sleeps most of each day, Bennett finds time to read up further on the homeless issues around the state and throughout the country.

She voices many of her ideas and frustrations on social media, particularly on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Her social media presence has led to people around the United States offering her money, food and supplies.

“I am fortunate,” Bennett said. “A variety of people across the world who are on social media send me small amounts of cash. ... I’ve received donations from pastors across the U.S., authors, music teachers, medical doctors and surgeons, Fresno State professors, and a well-known Fresno area farmer.

“By the grace of God, these kind folks have kept me alive.”

Meanwhile, Bennett said she continues to look for permanent housing.

A tiny home, a studio or simply a private room for rent.

Anything to keep her from going back to a homeless shelter or living on the streets and out of her car.

She knows, though, the wait might be long.

“I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen,” Bennett said. “A doctor told me that it took one of her patients 17 years of waiting before they got permanent housing.

“We’re 40 years behind in building affordable housing. There’s a large percentage of people who I’ve met who worked, paid taxes, but are now homeless like me. As a community and a society, we don’t have enough facilities for this demographic that keeps growing.”