Homeless
Ideas to make being homeless easier.
Most of these ideas were either thought up from my own experience, or were submitted to the Homeless forum where I asked permission to copy them here. Many thanks to those people who graciously were kind in giving me permission to copy their suggestions. In every case they granted me free permission to spread their wisdom to other homeless people, free of charge, and without conditions. That's what this web site is about, getting the information to those that need it, at no cost.
Some of my advice.
First, just because you are not in a house does not make you homeless. It makes you houseless. People have lived nomadic lives for ages. Humans only started building houses after they developed agriculture. For thousands, if not millions of years, people lived nomadic lives with nothing more than animal skins and crude tents as cover. Just because you live in a tent, a car, a van, or under a bridge does not make you homeless. Home is where you feel safe and secure. If you have family and friends around, even a small tent can become a home.
Next, some practicalities.
About the best way to keep warm at night, is a sleeping bag and some sort of water proof shelter. Thankfully in Australia there are two charities that provide swags to homeless people. http://www.streetswags.org/ is an excellent service that creates swags for distribution to homeless people. They have given away, at not cost at all, over 10,000 street swags. So if you contact them, they may be able to advise who from your local area are distributing them. Then there is http://www.swags.org.au/ They're smaller and to be honest, I've not heard much about them.
Another way to keep warm is a hot water bottle. Now you can buy one for $3-5 but you can also fill almost any plastic or metal bottle with hot water and cover it with a sock and then tuck it into your clothing to keep warm. You'd be surprised where you can get hot water from. Almost every public toilet will have hot water. At least every one in restaurant, petrol station, library and many roadside toilets will have hot water.
Some times real estate agents will lend you the key to check out an apartment or house out. You can always make sure the shower works when you are checking out the place. You will have to leave a deposit, but you'll get that back
Another bit of advice, pride is good. But don't let pride get in the way of asking for help. You don't know if you don't ask, and you don't get, if you don't ask
Advice from others:
From Dumpster Dave - http://forums.homeless.org.au/showthread.php?t=2116
Hi I Was Asked To Share Some Tips And Things I Learned In My Nine Years On The Streets
1: Footwear A Good Pair Of Leather Workboots Is The Best If You Walk Alot As I Do Good Workboots Protect Your Feet And Good Woorkboots Will Outlast A Dozen Pairs Of Tennis Shoes Bear In Mind If You Are Not Used To Wearing Heavy Boots It Will Be Uncomfortable At First But Once You Break Em In You Will Never Go Back Also Change Your Socks Twice A Day And Use Foot Powder
2: Hygiene: There Is No Excuse For Lack Of If You Put Your Mind To It You Can Be Clean And Quite Presentable YMCA Is Relatively Easy To Sneak Into Even If You Do Not Have A Membership Simply By Loitering At The Sidedoor "please Note This Is My Town Your YMCA May Be Different" And Wait For Someone To Open It Then I Can Shower And Do Laundry In The Sink And Use The Spinner To Dry Em. IN LARGE MAJOR CITIES THE YMCA MAY HAVE HOMELESS PROGRAMS SO MY METHOD MAY NOT BE NECESSARY AS I SAID CIRCUMSTANCES VARY FROM PLACE TO PLACE. MANY CHURCHES AND SHELTERS HAVE SHOWERS AND LAUNDRY ON DIFFERENT DAYS AS WELL. Also If You Find Odd Jobs Usually If You Ask Politely The People Will Let You Shower And Do Laundry And Feed You A Meal As Well.
Money Alot Of People Panhandle And That's Ok But There Are More Dignified Ways To Make Income On The Streets
1. Cash Jobs A" Homeless AND Do Odd Jobs For CASH" Sign At A Good Location Particularly Where Elderly People Shop Alot You Can Fetch Cash Jobs Such As Lawn Care,Snow Shoveling, Etc And Sometimes You Will Build A Customer Base While You Are Standing There Some Folks Will Hand You A Few Bucks Out Of Pity As A Bonus Some Will Try Not To Give You Cash Because They Think You Are Buying Beer Simply Tell Them You Are More Than Willing To Do The Work To Get The Cash And Be Ready To Do It Mornings Are The Best Time For This Hustle
2. Plasma Centers If Your Town Pays For Plasma Donations And You Can Go Twice A Week Every Week I Get 55 Bucks Every Week Steady Stable Cash Income But The Money Will Vary Depending On Circumstances.
3. Temporary Services Apply At Everyone In Your Town You May Not Land A Dream Job But Often Enough They Need People For A Day Or Two Here And There And You Had Nothing Better To Do Anyhow Some Will Contend That They Cant Get Ahold Of Me Well Go To Your County Job Center Early When They Open And Call Them Don't Wait For Em To Call You The Phone Is Free At The Job Service
4. Recycling When I Have Nothing At All Going For Me On A Given Day I Take A Shopping Cart And Dig In Dumpsters For Cans And Scrap Metal You Can Find Aluminum Cans, Insulated Wire, Piece Aluminum, And Electronic Items Can Me Smashed Open As Well Vacuum Cleaners Have Motors, TV Sets And Monitors Have Lots Of Wire And Copper Yokes On The Tube That Can Be Had With A Good Hammer Whack And Cut Them Cords With Ever So High Copper Prices They Fetch 40-60 Cents A Pound At Many Scrap Yards. Always Clean Up After Yourself And Put Everything Back Into The Dumpster Also For Your Safety Wear Work Gloves And Be Careful If You Do This For 10 Hours Straight You Can Have 25-50 Dollars In Cash But You Gotta Move Fast To Find Alot Of Shit If Your Slow Maybe 10-15 Bucks.
5. Do Not Party Use Your Money To Take Care Of Your Basic Needs Alcohol And Drugs Just Eat Up Your Funds And With A Clear Mind You Will Find More Opportunities To Make Money Instead Of Pissing It Away On Dope That Money You Spend On Dope Could Have Bought You A Weekend At A Cheap Motel Off The Streets And Meals Lets See A Habit Of Dope Or A Couple Nights Good Sleep And Cable TV And Steak Dinner On Friday Night That Should Be A No-brainer
Cree-Spirit wrote
Hi Dave... I've just read over your Tips and have a few I think you could add...
Use the library...most are open late in the evening...at least in my city...even if you don't have a card...you can still read...look at mags...litsen to music...and if you do spend the 10 or 15 dollars to get a membership...you can utilize the internet...it's safe...warm
Find out where they serve free meals(hot)...and make sure you get there early so you can get a spot...I contacted a shelter and they gave me a list for the week...for all over the city...I keep it on me at all times...addresses...times...etc...on a cold day....a bowl of hot soup is better than nothing at all...and if I have to walk a mile to get there I will...
Choose your friends carefully...especially when you first hit the street...I hate to say...don't trust people...but...one lesson you will learn quickly...is if they can take advantage of you...they will...so choose wisely...it's a lesson I had to learn...a little to late in the game...
If you can manage it...don't carry valuables on you...money especially...if you do....keep them hidden...out of site...it's a magnet....draws attention to you...something you don't want on the street...another lesson I had to learn...
I also keep some of my belongings in a locker at the bus station...(I will move lockers every other day...so not to bring attention to myself from the staff)....I know the times the buses arrive....I can blend in with the people milling around....I don't hang out there...just get my stuff and go...it's safer than hauling it around with me all the time...
I don't know if these tips would help anyone else...but they've served me well so far...
