#houseless

[onlytiktoks]

[hellyeahscarleteen]

Staying Safe While Homeless

A SAFETY GUIDE FOR YOUTH EXPERIENCING ANY KIND OF HOMELESSNESS

When you are experiencing homelessness, it can be difficult to feel safe. In some cases, being homeless as a young adult might feel safer physically and/or emotionally than where we came from, or you might find you don’t feel safe anywhere. In survival mode, the idea of true safety can sometimes feel unobtainable. Safety can feel like a privilege that you can’t access at all, or can only have in parts. Safety can also take a variety of forms. When talking about safety, we want to think about physical safety, as well as mental or emotional safety. Safety, most broadly, can also include security of our resources, like personal belongings that we need to take care of ourselves. Ultimately, what feels safe or as though it is a reasonable risk to one person might feel incredibly unsafe to someone else. Here are some tips for thinking about safety if you’re experiencing any form of homelessness:

Staying aware

The key to trying to keep yourself safe is going to be focused on being aware of your surroundings and their unique qualities, and being aware of who is near you. Risks and safety are going to look different in each situation.

If you are taking any medications, utilizing any substances like alcohol, or are otherwise in a state where your reaction times, or your ability to process information, are or might be impacted, try to keep the company of people who you trust and who can make safety assessments for both of you while your judgment or responsiveness is altered.

Staying safe while couch-surfing

When couch-surfing, many homeless youth feel like they can let their guard down a little when it comes to safety. If you are staying with trustworthy adults⁠ who you know well, this might be the case, and can be a much-needed respite from feeling like you are in constant crisis.

However, couch-surfing can sometimes involve staying with people you don’t know well, or don’t know at all. These people might be well-intentioned, or could have their own motivations for why they are offering help. When couch-surfing, be aware of where your belongings are, and keep your most important documents (identification, important paperwork etc.) with you at all times. This way, if you have to leave quickly, the chance is low of you being separated from the things that you need most. Be aware of any kind of unwanted advances (emotional or sexual⁠) that make you feel uncomfortable. You do not owe anyone intimacy in exchange for them letting you stay with them. As a homeless youth it’s so important to trust your gut. If something feels off, it probably is. If your gut is sending you signals that you aren’t safe trust yourself and get out⁠ of that situation as quickly as possible. Tell someone you trust that you aren’t feeling safe wherever you are, or if you are alone, but have a cell phone, text or call someone you trust and let them know where you are and what’s going on. Get yourself somewhere where you feel safer, or at minimum where there are other people around.

Staying safe while on the streets

While it’s a challenge to keep from getting stopped/harassed by police or private security, as much as possible try to stay in well-lit populated areas. Stay with other homeless youth as much as possible. Try not to be alone: there is safety in numbers. Homeless youth sleeping together on the streets are less likely to be targets of exploitation or violence. While sleeping, hold your belongings, including your shoes, while you sleep to protect them from getting stolen.

Staying safe in shelters

If you know that you are going to need to stay in a shelter, and you live in a city with options, talk with your homeless friends about their experiences in different shelters. Other homeless youth may have had experiences at shelters that will help you determine which facility or program is going to be safe for you. Anytime a lot of youth are together, be it high school or a homeless shelter, there can also be cliques and drama. Be aware of what is going on around you, but thoughtful about how and when you do or don’t engage. Getting involved in shelter drama or politics could jeopardize your housing or safety if conflicts escalate, which could lead to unsafe situations. If you are staying in a shelter, you’ll also want to keep your belongings on your body or locked up to keep them secure from theft.

Trust your gut!

If you don’t feel safe in a situation, even if you aren’t exactly sure why, trust your internal sense of what does or doesn’t feel safe. Part of being a homeless teenager means sometimes needing to keep yourself safe when nobody else is willing or able to do so. If you don’t feel safe, make it your priority to do whatever you can or need to do to get yourself into a situation where you feel safer.

Trust your gut feelings. If you feel unsafe in a situation, try to leave it.

Read the full version by Sassafras Patterdale below

[chronicallycouchbound]

Let People On Food Stamps Eat Hot Meals

Particularly on cold, rainy days (like today), while unhoused, sometimes all I want is a hot meal but it’s so difficult (if not impossible) to cook outside in the rain.

On top of this, I’m physically disabled and chronically ill. Medically, I’m supposed to have assistance with making meals as part of in home care. But I can’t get in home care without a home.

I just finished making dinner for my partner and I, it took 2 hours (3 if you include clean up). My knees are burning, my back is aching in it’s core, I feel like I’m about to faint, and all my joints are screaming. But it’s the only way we could have a hot meal today and get some protein, which is vital for our health conditions.

People judge us for using what little funds we have on McDonald’s some days. Because sometimes, it’s the only hot meal we’ve had in days. And sometimes I’m physically unable to stand, move, and do all the actions needed to cook. Or I faint while cooking. Or the rain doesn’t let up. Or we don’t have access to a kitchen for the day. Or the fire danger outside is too high. The list goes on.

Without my own kitchen to use, I don’t get to sit down while I cook (right now, everything is wet from the rain), I can’t meal prep, I can’t stock up on freezer meals, I can’t use an oven or a microwave to reheat leftovers, I can’t just reach across the kitchen for a fridge item (we have a small amount of fridge space friends let us use), everything about cooking is exponentially harder.

And even if I had 24/7 access to an accessible, full kitchen, it’s not even physically safe to cook my own meals. Even then, having a pre-made, hot, ready-to-eat meal could keep me safe and give me independance.

And all the safety needs for hot meals aside, emotionally, hot meals are also life saving and comfort. Meals are a part of community, culture, love and art.

So many gatherings we have as communities center around food. Most people in the United States would think of ones that often hold great value to Western culture. Mother’s Day breakfast. Spaghetti fundraisers. Wedding cakes. Birthday dinners. Bake sales. Carnival treats. BBQs on weekends. Holiday roasts. Lunches with friends. Casseroles brought to grieving neighbors.

Our world revolves around food.

I firmly believe that no poor person could ever ��take advantage” of a system designed to feed us by using food stamps on hot food. This restrictive rule serves no purpose but to punish the most vulnerable of poor people— unhoused, disabled, and those of us living in unsafe conditions.

It also serves to restrict our access to joy and comfort. The joy can sometimes come from the food itself, but also the joy from having shared experiences solidified by the sounds of laughter and forks clinking on plates. The comfort can sometimes also be from the food itself, but also the experience of being loved and cared for while your close friend brings you pizza from your favorite restaurant because you lost your drive to eat three weeks ago and they worry about you. They know you. Those slices of pizza bring color back into your world.

Poor people deserve to be able to have the comfort, joy, and care that goes into a hot meal. We deserve the autonomy to choose foods that are best for us ourselves. We deserve to be able to eat in ways that are accessible to us.

Above all, we deserve access to hot meals.

Originally posted to my blog on 6.3.22

[typhlonectes]

[sunanthrope]

Homeless people are not a problem. Homelessness is a problem.

I was homeless within a week after my 17th birthday and well into the winter. We went from privilege via my mom's rich (ex-)boyfriend, to living in a friend's house while he was out of town, to deep in debt and well below poverty line.

I don't know about other libraries in larger cities, but in mine, we have soft couches and food/coffee/hot chocolate available for homeless people who ask for them. they're also welcome to sleep in the back until we close and we have many resources for helping them find jobs, medical help, and even places to stay short-term.

Please know that there will always be good people who do actually want to help you.

[all-socialism-is-democratic]

[atticollateral]

When everything is an emergency, nothing feels like an emergency anymore. ⚠️

When you have the means, support the people around you. Help those in need. Share with the people you love, and the people your people care about, too. Community is important now more than ever as our economy continues to disintegrate for the lower majority class, and the political climate in America has shifted to horrors nobody wanted to believe would be true. Care for your siblings and stand with them in these times, especially with the rapidly growing cold.

If you're looking for ways to support your local community, a quick search for "soup kitchen in my area", "homeless shelter in my area," "volunteer opportunities in my area," or a gander at some bulletin boards should give you a clue. Schools for those 13-19 and Universities + Colleges for those 18-30+ should have lots of information for you, as well as local Libraries, Community Halls and other institutions, such as Hospitals and Mental Health Outreach Centres.

There's always something you can do and people willing to help. You are never alone. Do not abandon hope.

Blessed be your nondenominational winter holiday(s),

Atti

[RB this post with crowdfunding, fundraisers, information/links, etc. if you are in need of community support, dig through the tags and my blog if you're looking for stuff like that! Reblog and pass them around. I usually tag stuff I reblog with #community support, #crowdfunding, #fundraiser, #paid content, #emergency fund, and for artists, #artist support. Transgender & queer crowdfunding are usually tagged as such, as well as Gazan and other endangered and war torn populations.]

[tuliptiger]

Hi uh I started a GoFundMe for myself.

https://gofund.me/001e1417

My paypal is dragongard87 @ gmail . com

Long story short for the last 2 years I've been trying to build a house.

I'm generationally and personally poor. I make roughly $36,000 and that's if I'm allowed to work the full year since I'm a temporary seasonal employee.

The last contractor I had working on it for 1 and 1/2 years lied to me, wasted materials, was inexperienced and didn't let me know when things got bad. I'm pursuing legal action but it's expensive and time consuming.

I've been living in my car since April to try and make this work. Not only were his mistakes wasted time and effort but it was a lot of wasted money I wasn't expecting. I started working with a second contractor and he's been great so far but gave me an estimate of redoing the foundation. It ended up being double the price by the end and he didn't give me a heads up towards the end.

That's the general situation. I hate doing this, I know it's towards the end of the year and Christmas so people are pretty tapped out for money. I'm at the lowest point I could be and please know I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate. I already took out a personal loan and have 2 jobs, my family is poor and can't help.

Any help or sharing of this is greatly appreciated. Likes are honestly appreciated too and at least I know I'm not shouting into the great expanse. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope everyone has a good end of year/new year.

[bigsharter666]

yall i have so much hope for the future. i have a five year plan and a plan A and a plan B and i have a savings account because there are things that are worthwhile. i have a body to look after until i get there, i have half a degree and i have shoes with supportive arches. i know thats a ridiculous milestone but i once walked around barefoot for a year straight and now i spend money to be comfortable, so my feet dont ache. i dont feel like i have to earn anything by suffering.

i care about things now and its scary but that makes me happy. i have fear! i have anxiety! i worry about my diet and my joints. i worry about my teeth and my sister. i never used to, ive never felt this much concern for myself. i cant believe how cruel i was, the way i treated this body.

[mars-da-volcanic-elemental]

In regards to these Ko-fi uploads…I need to be real for a moment. I don’t have a therapist right now so I’m venting it here so I can just get it out.

…*sighs* I’m not exactly good at moving. I hate change to the point where it worsens my fatigue into immobility or extremely limited mobility. Even if said change is good for me. I don’t exactly have a space where I can just hide and nest for awhile.

I’ve been suggested to go to a crisis center in case things worsen. It’s free walk in but-

It’s…not the cost. I’m moving on the 15th. A lot of my trauma stems from psych wards, hospitals, and crisis centers. I’m…not exactly the most willing because of that. But I appreciate the sentiment this person was looking out for my sake.

My housemate (who owns the place I’m currently residing) didn’t see me here in June. Which meant I needed to find a place to go. It’s fine. I knew this wasn’t home. But I was subconsciously hoping it would be one day. Despite my housemate making it clear a couple times that he didn’t see me here in June. When he said that, I realized this wasn’t home. I feel so displaced that…anywhere I go, I have that hope. So it hurts to be disappointed in that hope.

However, I did. But…it meant leaving where I am and back to the county where my abuser and ex-friend who SA’d me is. Not the same city. But still, my partner is in the vicinity I’m moving to. I trust them, and I know that if I’m not staying indefinitely at the place I’m couch surfing to, I’m not getting kicked to the curb.

She said she’ll ensure I have another location to stay safely that I won’t be on the streets again. Which I am grateful for.

I’m exhausted, I haven’t packed much but-…I might start tossing shit in the garbage at this point. …. There’s a lot of things I’d rather give away to better homes but I’m not certain anyone’s going to take them despite my situation. Plus these are things from people that no longer…are in my life. For various reasons.

I’d love to give them new homes…a lot of em are useful and cute mini plushies…because I don’t got a lot of space.

All this to say…if none of these get taken.. then they’ll be tossed. I hate to do that, but it is what it is.

[chronicallycouchbound]

Disabled joy looks like me zooming down the streets in my powerchair at full speed, fall leaves crunching under my wheels.

18 year old me, sobbing as I was forced to crawl up the ice-coated steps of the local youth homeless shelter, never could have dreamed of this.

[typhlonectes]

[nando161mando]

Denver Unhoused Advocacy Group Releases Winter Shelter Survey Data [Pres...

[fenmere]

New Homelessness Subreddit

Are you houseless or homeless and looking for solidarity and peer support?

Are you someone looking to help and support the general houseless/homeless population?

A friend of ours who is homeless has started a subreddit for that purpose. It is absolutely brand new, and could use some community members to make it something useful and good.

[orthodoxadventure]

Crisis have launched their 2023 Fundraiser Campaign A gift of £29.73 to Crisis at Christmas could give someone who's homeless:

Help with a safe place to stay

Hot meals and a Christmas dinner

Access to health and wellbeing programmes

Support to leave homelessness behind for good

You can access the fundraiser here:

https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate-to-crisis-at-christmas/