Contributed by Stephanie Gauthier.

How do you wind up experiencing homelessness?

The answer is rarely straightforward. For Soren, it all started when he lost his car.

鈥淢y car got impounded,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 lost a brand-new Honda GSR, a little racecar thing that I bought with my dad鈥檚 inheritance. The only thing I ever got from my father, and I ended up losing it over $900.鈥�

The payment would鈥檝e released the car from impound. Soren and his partner worked at an orchard at the time where their housing was provided. The season ended shortly before the car was impounded so they had also just lost their stable housing.

鈥淥nce the car was gone, so were 90 per cent of our belongings,鈥� Soren says. 鈥淲e were basically left with nothing.鈥�

They didn鈥檛 have a home or a means of transportation that could help them find new jobs. This led Soren to experience homelessness for the first time in his life. It was two years after he came to 琉璃神社 from Powell River after a friend encouraged him to move.

鈥淗e led me to believe 琉璃神社 was all that and a bag of chips.鈥�

Soren now counts the move as a misstep and a contributing factor leading him to homelessness. He didn鈥檛 have a local support structure that could have changed his direction.

鈥淵ou get in that rut and if you don鈥檛 have friends or family who can help you out of it, there鈥檚 not a whole lot you can do,鈥� he says.

Soren reveals more factors that led to homelessness. Things predating his arrival in 琉璃神社, while working in the logging industry.

鈥淚 got crushed by a log when I was 19,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t drove me into the ground like a nail. Broke my back, broke my neck, shattered my pelvis, and broke my spleen. I spent thirteen months in the hospital. I should be dead.鈥�

Soren recovered and continued working in logging. He even started his own business, making millions of dollars in the process. However, he was living with constant pain and a dependence on prescription opiates, which eventually led him to use heroin. He blames doctors for many of his battles with addiction. A twist in Soren鈥檚 path came when softwood lumber prices tanked and took his business interests with them.

鈥淚 lost everything,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 lost every asset I had.鈥�

Visit to read the rest of Soren鈥檚 story.

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