Nancy McCradie

I was born in 1945 in Bristol, Connecticutt. At the end of World War 2. At the age of 6 months my parents drove us to Santa Barbara, California. Unable to find housing since it was few and far between, especially for the veterans coming home from the war, we stayed in our vehicle until housing was made available to us. I grew up in Santa Barbara as a third generation person following my grandfather and Dad. In the 1980s we all started to see a change in the way people viewed housing. Money was to be made in Santa Barbara. Affordability soon became a thing of the past. Rents and mortgages drove many people onto the streets. I was one of them. So, alternative housing became my choice. There were no shelters at the time so I purchased a pick up and camper and with my son I lived in her. Stories of the street life are in the book that I sat down to write. It is a good book. Educational in the fact that I worked, sometimes three jobs just to try to save a way back into conventional housing. It did not happen. Being a single mother most of my time on the streets I had to spend all my income on my family and my alternative housing, fighting off the police, trying to work with the City and County to provide housing of some sorts that might put a roof over people's head. Homelessness grew along with the prices of housing and the lack of ability to keep up with the housing stock. So I became an activist for myself and others in my condition. I now am the owner of two homes. One inherited and finally marrying the love of my life who was able to take out a VA loan to purchase outside of Santa Barbara. My book has done pretty well but now the sales have dropped and I would like to continue to share my life as an activist and advocate for people who have to live in the bushes.