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Different people become homeless for different reasons. Sometimes there is more than one reason why a person becomes homeless. Sometimes the chain of events and circumstances that have led to a person becoming homeless is not clear. HomelessHelp.com is providing the following information because we have not found it commonly available on the internet or anywhere else. We know the questions and answers posed are controversial to some people but we feel the issue fully needs addressing. While we do not claim to have the best advice and we cannot legally make any claims or assure you of any outcome, we hope some of these ideas will work for you. You can feel good that you are taking the time and making the effort to study and change your situation. We would like to learn from your experiences too. You can add your comments and share your thoughts here as well. Any useful tips or resource referrals are appreciated. Here are some of the questions we would like to ask if you are or were homeless.
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 600,000 men, women and children will be homeless tonight in the United States alone. Between two to three million Americans are affected each year by homelessness. The figure world wide is magnitudes higher.
What being homeless means
Causes of young people becoming homeless
What to do before you run away.
Dangers of being homeless
People who can help
How to help your friend
Having it make sense
What about staying in a shelter?
What being homeless means
In today's day and age there are 4 main types of homelessness.
1. Sleeping 'rough' - that is, sleeping on the streets, in a park, on a bench, on the beach, or in some other area that is basically out in the open.
2. Staying with a friend or relative, or 'couch-surfing' around from one place to another.
3. Staying in a shelter, refuge or short-term boarding house.
4. Staying in alternative housing where people may live for weeks, months or years when they are not able to find a place of their own.
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Causes of young people becoming homeless
There are many reasons why young people become homeless - it could be any one or more of the following:
Problems at home, eg. feeling unsafe, being abused, fighting between parents, fighting between siblings, feeling unwanted, parents' divorce, trouble with a parent's new partner, a new baby in the house, beingmoney worries, too many rules, not enough rules, not getting along with foster parents.
Problems at school, eg. bullying, teasing, finding schoolwork too hard or too easy, problems with teacher(s), not having any friends.
Problems with peers, eg. peer group pressure, teasing, spreading rumours, sexist or racist harassment.
Problems with the law, eg. drinking, drug use, stealing, graffiti, vandalism, assault, involvement with gangs, breaking in.
Problems with boyfriends/girlfriends, eg. breaking up, being dumped, not wanting to take 'no' for an answer.
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What to do before you run away
Ask yourself some questions.
Is there anything I can do to improve the situation rather than leave?
Who can I talk to about this?
Where will I go?
Who can help me?
How will I survive?
Am I being realistic?
Who will I call if I get into trouble?
What will happen when I come home again?
Is running away a safe option?
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Dangers of being homeless
Living rough can put you at risk of being harmed or manipulated by others.
You could find yourself doing things that you don't want to, just to survive. Some runaway kids get into prostitution, stealing and drugs, which can put them more in the control of others and in trouble with the Police.
You can be at risk of explotation, sexual abuse or rape.
It is hard to get proper food and rest.
There is nowhere to store any of your belongings and they could get stolen.
There may be nowhere to wash yourself or your clothes.
You could become very depressed and not care about what happens to you.
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People who can help
Try talking to another family member, eg. grandparents, a parent, older siblings, other relatives to see if they can help you out.
Talk with friends who may be able to give you somewhere to live for a while and help you get things organized.
Talk to your school counselor if you are still at school. A counselor can help you get into touch with the right people who can help your situation.
If you are homeless there are many free services that can help you. Many help organizations are your area can be located by typing in your zipcode on this website.
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Every person has rights. Services for people who are homeless should always be respectful of their rights. If you feel that people are not being respectful towards you, then you have the right to complain.
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How to help your friend
If your friend has become homeless, you could help by:
talking to someone you know and trust who you think might be able to help
being a good listener for your friend - you don't have to solve the problems
helping them out with food, or a place to for your friend to stay or to leave his belongings (make sure it's OK with your parents first if you live at home)
don't try to be a 'fix-it' person - everyone needs to have some control over their own lives.
not gossiping around your group - you wouldn't like it if people were gossiping about you
helping to make and going to appointments with your friend - to go get a health check up at a free clinic or seeing a social worker - as moral support.
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Having it make sense
Homelessness and poverty are tightly linked. People who are living in poverty often must choose between food, shelter and other basic needs. Some very difficult choices must be made when limited resources can only go so far. All too many times, it is shelter, which usually absorbs the most money. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, on average in the United States, a single worker earning minimum wage would have to work 87 hours each week just to pay for a 2-bedroom apartment with 30% (Federal definition of affordable housing) of his or her income. The rest would be barely sufficient to acquire other necessities such as food and clothing. For the poor, an accident, a medical crisis, a lost paycheck can all translate into not having a place to call home next week. As a result of low wages, many impoverished workers are forced out of their homes when extenuating circumstances come into play. In fact, up to 40% of the homeless are employed and working.
Children who are homeless are one of the fastest growing segments of the general homeless population as for every four homeless persons, one of them will be a child. Families with children make up 37% of people without homes. When children become homeless, they face additional setbacks such as in education. Homeless Help is a member of
Another group singled out by homelessness is the elderly. An Urban Institute study indicated (1992) that up to 31% of homeless persons were over the age of 45 and this percentage is growing. With less income from work and more necessary expendictures such as medications, many elderly people are having to make a choice between food, shelter and medications. Here is an interesting news story about a Senior Survival School. It has been said that every human being has a primary and fundamental right to adequate food and shelter. Yet so many people in our world are deprived of this basic right. This right of feeling a warm bed at night, in a place called home.
The good news is that many people like you are becoming more proactive and are doing something for the homeless. Some people donate food, clothes, money and volunteer time. Many are able to talk with homeless people and helped them to meet with their families, work things out and go back to live in their homes again.
New programs and ideas have helped poorer people to find accommodation and work, and can be supported by service organizations until they can manage their lives.
Unfortunately, there are many people for some reason or another become and stay homeless again for longer periods of time. You can help us help them by giving right now.
Maybe you can help by doing some volunteer work in a shelter or some other organisation that helps the homeless. You would be doing something worthwhile and at the same time learning about the reality of being homeless. If you or a friend are having problems at home, it may help you to have a better understanding of how to communicate and to whom.
Community Progress has a Peace Conference mediation website that can help you work out conflicts and relationship problems. Go to www.PeaceConference.org
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What about staying at a shelter?
1 · I have no place to sleep. Who can help me?
2 · What arrangements can I make in advance to survive being homeless.
3 · What should I bring if I need to stay at a shelter
4 · Can married couples stay in the same room?
5 · Will this affect my benefits such as TANF, SSI or SSP funding?
6 · Will I get my children removed because I am in a homeless shelter?
7 · How do I get a bed if I’m a single adult?
8 · How long can I stay at a shelter?
9 · What does the future hold?
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1 · I have no place to sleep tonight. Who can help me?
After you have called all your friends, family, work associates, neighbors and community organizations for help you can still find yourself in a situation without a place to stay. If the situation suddenly happens that causes you to have to leave as a result of violence or another emergency such as fire or flood in many cases city services will come to your aid. If you are a member of a church or have a religious affliation you could ask for their assistance or be referred to an organization that will help you. If you are being released from a hospital or jail without supervision and do not have a place to stay ask to talk to a social worker who can help guide you. If you have some money you could possibly make short to longer term arrangements with a motel or YMCA that may be willing to rent you a room at a discounted weekly rate if you explain your story. Its best to talk to the General Manager regarding special circumstances but it is possible to find cheap rooms in safe areas if you make the effort to do as much research as you can and phone calling ahead of time. The sooner you deal with an impending reality the better more time will be had in getting help and your situation straightened out.
If you end up having no place to stay and find yourself out on the streets or living in your car, the following advice in answer #2 comes from people who are doing it right now. They are surviving on the outside and they will tell you what they have learned. Again, as you are willing to keep talking to city/county/state services, advocacy groups and professional aid workers, they can find government and other community grant funded social programs out there for you. You must be willing to make the effort to research alternatives before you sleep in the streets. (Always be polite when dealing with shelters and social workers. They may be your only hope)
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2 · How can I survive being homeless?
As you are able to make arrangements ahead of time make sure important papers and personal documents are either kept with you or kept safely available in a place you know and can return to. If you have a bank account you may be able to rent a small inexpensive safety box to store valuables renewable up to a year or more. If you have willing friends or family they may let you store some of your items or a set of boxes for you. If you are still working find out if your job can arrange for employee storage space. If you have larger items such as appliances, clothes, books or furniture that you feel you must keep or cannot sell or give away, the alternative is to rent a storage locker. Many places run specials that give you the first 30 days for free (in hopes you'll rent it longer) but you will most likely have to have pay with a debit or credit card and they will bill you montly storage fees. Look in the newspaper for people renting garage or basement space or call around to negotiate what offers are available to you. Be sure you clearly understand the arrangements: Find out how much space are you getting, what the full cost is going to be (if any) and how long the agreement/contract goes for (month to month or year lease).
The most important items you will want to have with you if living in the streets is a sleeping bag, foam mat and warm clothes such as a hat and gloves especially at night (seasonal considerations implied). Fresh from being homeless, a street veteran we interviewed wants to tell you that "you can go through hell while learning to meet your needs. You talk to others who are homeless to learn the ropes, where the free food kitchens are, shelters, resource agencies etc. The people who are employed to help often don't and can become abusive due to your situation. When you become homeless, normal society works in reverse for you and you find yourself in the twighlight zone, ignored by most and vulnerable to all." To read or write comments about giving homeless survival advice click here.
Free Telephone or Voicemail Service
There are "pay as you use" cell phone services in which pre-paid minutes can be bought with cash and are available in many stores. Calling cards do not cost that much and dollar store retailers offer penny-a-minute phone rates (if a local exchange is called from a groundline). The challenge for many homeless people is the disappearing pay phones. Because most people have cell phones and cities banning street phone booths due to gangs and drug dealer usage - it has been difficult for homeless to maintain a "lifeline" to outside help, relatives and other contacts. More about this situation can be read here. (http://www.apcc.net/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=41)
Free community voicemail is available to low income and the homeless. Here is a list of providers:
CVM http://www.cvm.org/needFreeVoicemail.cfm CVM provides free, 24-hour nationwide voice mail to people in crisis - connecting them to jobs, housing and hope
Project CARE http://www.grandcentral.com/about/projectcare/ offered by GrandCentral Communications, gives free voice-mail service through local shelters
In addition to the above, inexpensive online services can help the homeless with internet access to retrive voice messages from email or websites.
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3 · What should I know in advance and bring with me if I need to stay at a shelter?
Bring several days of necessary clothing for yourself and children. Also bring your personal hygiene items, medications, favorite pillow and/or blanket. Space is usually limited so everything must fit into one or two small boxes or the size of a gym locker. Some places may allow you to keep an overnight bag in a common room lock up or under the bed but never leave personal items scattered about a common area. Keep your items neatly stored and respect the fact that other people are using your living space too. Make sure to bring your own lock because most shelters do not provide them.
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4 · Can married couples stay in the same room?
Usually not, most dorms are either for women and children and single fathers with children. In some instances depending on availability and policy you may get special placement in temporary housing that allows couples to remain together. It would be best to research what possibilities exist beforehand with a social worker or aid worker/counselor who can help you find suitable accomodations.
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5 · Will this affect my benefits?
Until proof of residency is given to the Department of Human Services, funding is subject to being lowered. Please speak with your government program provider for more details.
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6 · Will I get my children removed because I am in a homeless shelter?
No. As long as the children’s needs are being met the children will remain in the parent’s custody.
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7 · How do I get a bed if I’m a single adult?
Beds are often given on a first-come, first-served basis. There may be a "doors locked" policy which means shelters may have fixed times when they are able to accept new clients due to limitations of staff or beds. Many shelters lock their doors by 6:00 pm; so it is important arrive during the working hours of when a shelter can take you in. If all available beds are taken ask if there is any other alternative such as a vacant staff bed or ask if they have an (SVP) Shelter Volunteer Program, where if you volunteer and offer to trade your services to help a shelter's operation, it may open up another possibility. You may also ask a shelter's intake person or desk reception to call other places to find out if they can place you as a referal. When possible, be sure to call ahead to arrange an interview with an intake case manager. Find out the person's name & direct phone extension.
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8 · How long can I stay at a shelter?
Each client is individually case managed, which means the length of stay depends on individual circumstances.
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9 · What does the future hold?
For the first time since the rise of homelessness more than 20 years ago, communities can now articulate a detailed, practical strategy for ending family homelessness, a strategy that works. Learning from each other and studying "what works best" modeling, various homeless coalitions are coming together to share their insights into resolving homelessness from both a practical proven and effective process method. In time, with more attention (and your efforts) together we will bring greater focus in helping the homeless get out of their situation one person at a time.
Community Progress & Wise Decisions
Some communities are waking up and adopting proven program models and systemic reforms to ensure that children and their parents no longer have to sleep in shelters, in cars, in abandoned buildings, in storm drains, in mini-storage lockers, in caves, in tents, in the open or on the floors or couches of one acquaintance after another for a few days at a time. Communities are solving this vexing and shameful problem in ways that are cost effective. They are setting skepticism aside and moving forward.
And, they are getting results. In a small number of cities, the number of families with children experiencing homelessness has dropped significantly and continues to trend down-ward. While adapting their strategies to local conditions, these communities, and others that are on their way, have adopted a common set of approaches that focus on rapid assessment and intervention to strengthen families.
Finding hardnosed reforms to prevent families from ever becoming homeless; moving families that have lost their place to live back into housing as quickly as possible; recognizing that helping families pay rent is less costly and better than leaving them homeless; restructuring programs to give families social services they need to maintain housing stability; and using data to track and reward success - these are the steps that point the way to ending family homelessness. While there is still the social issue and stigma of tackling the problem of poverty on a national level it is wonderful to see community progress being made locally
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