The ranking rule did not fit how I was actually living

By February 2026 I was moving between a shelter bed near East Liberty and a friend's couch in Homewood, but the Pittsburgh Housing Authority record treated me like I was only temporarily doubled up. The housing prioritization system put me below people who had been outside longer. I understand why the agency tracks time homeless, but the rule did not fit how I was actually living.

The caseworker could see that I had no lease, no steady place to sleep, and no way to keep my medications cold. She still said the score came from the system and that she could not adjust it during intake. I left feeling like the form understood one narrow fact and ignored the rest of my life.