The Cycle of Homelessness
The plan was for Ronnie to stay only until Boxing Day. However, when the time came, the couple couldn’t bring themselves to turn him out. They sought advice from local services, only to find a systemic trap: Ronnie needed an address to get a job, but he needed a job to afford an address.
Through research for his book, The Knock at the Door, Rob later discovered the hardships of Ronnie’s youth. At age eight, Ronnie was placed in care; at eleven, he was sent 200 miles away to a restrictive boarding school.
“He had no friends there, no social workers who knew him, no teachers who understood him,” Rob explains. This childhood left Ronnie with a deep-seated anxiety. He frequently asked, “Have I done something wrong?”—a question the couple believes stemmed from years of being blamed for things he didn’t understand.
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