Have you ever been Homeless?

I left home at 13 due to an abusive father in 1979.

My first memorable experience was getting a push button rambler from a friends father, we made it to Ontario Oregon, and as we were driving down the road, I heard and felt a thump and saw the right front wheel take off ahead of is as we skidded to a stop. I sold everything in the back of my car (including the Rambler) for 50.00.

That's where my foot journey began.
I worked my way to Florida with day temp farming jobs, and sometimes at nights it was so hot I could not sleep. (under a bridge or in a alley or sometimes in the forest) Swam a lot at night to cool off. (I even broke into a local swimming pool to cool off in Arkansas)

6 months later I ended up In Florida ( I figured it was a warm place to be)
At first being 13 seemed easy, but it was not the age of someone who could just go out and get a job. I remember even forging a note from my mother to work at a Burger King. But they did not hire me.

There were times I ate out of Dumpsters (fudruckers), begged and once I even stole 1 string cheese from the store and was chased for about 12 blocks. (glad i was 13 and a fast runner) geez it was just string cheese, and I needed to eat. No one gave a crap about me, I was just another American Reject. I stayed in a crack house one night for 20.00 (never did the crack :-))
and on and on and on.......time went by slow, very slow.

Did you know that rescue missions will not take a minor, and food kitchens kept wanting to tell the police I was living on the streets. And would not feed me, neither would the food banks. I even stole a lawnmower and got several jobs out of it, I returned the mower about a week later after I made a couple of hundred bucks. taking baths in lakes and streams was not getting me clean enough. and some people may wash clothes on rocks, but all it did was tear up my clothing.

Then I stumbled across some really nice Bikers who not only put me up in their warehouse (storage units they partied, hung out and build Harley Bikes.
They build be a 1965 police bike for a few hundred dollars in labor I traded them for work they had me doing for them. It was awesome.

Then January 25th 1982 I was hit by a drunk driver, changed my life forever.
I spent the better part of a year in recovery, then when I was able to I left for Prescott Arizona (where they filmed Billy Jack)-(where my older sister lived) Started as a breakfast cook, and started making a life for myself.
Left a year later and I ended up hitchhiking the entire country over a 4 year period of time. I have seen more things then the average person, and would trade nothing for it. My Brother says I should give him the rights to my life, so he can write the book....whatever.....

I lived it, not him and it is personal.

I now own my own home, Harley and 2 dogs, a great girlfriend and I graduated from collage (penn state-Theology major) Own my own Computer Service Business for the last 15 years.

In the end.......

I Appreciate the simple things in life, and take nothing for granted.
And I am grateful for everything I have.

Rarely wish for something I do not have, very humbling to say the least.
These were only a few of the thousands of experiences I had on the road.


I would not want to do it these days.....Strange place we live this USA.

Now you all know one tenth of the story. Man was it awesome.. Glad I did not mention the packman acid some gave me..... waka waka waka waka waka.

reply to post by Dometheus


Wow, what a story Glad you are with us today and made a life for yourself out nothing. What an experience you must of had.

Originally posted by Dometheus
I left home at 13 due to an abusive father in 1979.

My first memorable experience was getting a push button rambler from a friends father, we made it to Ontario Oregon, and as we were driving down the road, I heard and felt a thump and saw the right front wheel take off ahead of is as we skidded to a stop. I sold everything in the back of my car (including the Rambler) for 50.00.

That's where my foot journey began.
I worked my way to Florida with day temp farming jobs, and sometimes at nights it was so hot I could not sleep. (under a bridge or in a alley or sometimes in the forest) Swam a lot at night to cool off. (I even broke into a local swimming pool to cool off in Arkansas)

6 months later I ended up In Florida ( I figured it was a warm place to be)
At first being 13 seemed easy, but it was not the age of someone who could just go out and get a job. I remember even forging a note from my mother to work at a Burger King. But they did not hire me.

There were times I ate out of Dumpsters (fudruckers), begged and once I even stole 1 string cheese from the store and was chased for about 12 blocks. (glad i was 13 and a fast runner) geez it was just string cheese, and I needed to eat. No one gave a crap about me, I was just another American Reject. I stayed in a crack house one night for 20.00 (never did the crack :-))
and on and on and on.......time went by slow, very slow.

Did you know that rescue missions will not take a minor, and food kitchens kept wanting to tell the police I was living on the streets. And would not feed me, neither would the food banks. I even stole a lawnmower and got several jobs out of it, I returned the mower about a week later after I made a couple of hundred bucks. taking baths in lakes and streams was not getting me clean enough. and some people may wash clothes on rocks, but all it did was tear up my clothing.

Then I stumbled across some really nice Bikers who not only put me up in their warehouse (storage units they partied, hung out and build Harley Bikes.
They build be a 1965 police bike for a few hundred dollars in labor I traded them for work they had me doing for them. It was awesome.

Then January 25th 1982 I was hit by a drunk driver, changed my life forever.
I spent the better part of a year in recovery, then when I was able to I left for Prescott Arizona (where they filmed Billy Jack)-(where my older sister lived) Started as a breakfast cook, and started making a life for myself.
Left a year later and I ended up hitchhiking the entire country over a 4 year period of time. I have seen more things then the average person, and would trade nothing for it. My Brother says I should give him the rights to my life, so he can write the book....whatever.....

I lived it, not him and it is personal.

I now own my own home, Harley and 2 dogs, a great girlfriend and I graduated from collage (penn state-Theology major) Own my own Computer Service Business for the last 15 years.

In the end.......

I Appreciate the simple things in life, and take nothing for granted.
And I am grateful for everything I have.

Rarely wish for something I do not have, very humbling to say the least.
These were only a few of the thousands of experiences I had on the road.


I would not want to do it these days.....Strange place we live this USA.

Now you all know one tenth of the story. Man was it awesome.. Glad I did not mention the packman acid some gave me.....

waka waka waka waka waka.

Nice! I love hearing stories like this with a good ending because I was in a similar situation.

Its really inspiring, imo!

Great post!

I usually help serve dinner once every month at the local shelter

In answer, yes.

I was at the Red Cross shelter for about 2 1/2 weeks while I was processed into The System.

It sucketh, as I am still in the system, having applied to all jobs I can do and always being beaten out by a 20-something or a 30-something locally (I am 50-something with gray hair), or by someone local to the employer for internet applications.

They are laying off in my field here, and I guess I should be grateful for the roof over my head, albeit a crack house roach motel.

reply to post by Dometheus


Being a homeless kid is a whole nuther story. Not wanting to be locked up for my own safety, I avoided "help" like the plague. I knew a few kids who were in the system. Not good. Fortunately for me, I looked older than I was and nobody questioned me when I applied for my first job as a busgirl at 14. I was one of the lucky ones.

reply to post by whaaa


Exactly! I had a lot of time to myself. I was far enough into the cemetery that I could hear no sounds of the world outside it. I never saw another person the whole time I stayed there. It was as if every night the world disappeared and it was only me left. My only worries was not getting up in time and being late for work after just starting it, and coming back to find my few belongings gone.

I saw someone post about shelters, but you know, I wouldn't trade my time in that cemetery for anything. I learned so much about myself there.

In January of 2005 I was kicked out of my apartment by my now ex fiance. I was too embarassed to go back home (so yes, it is technically my fault for being homeless) because the the big fuss I made about making it on my own when I turned 18. For about 3 weeks I shacked up with some people around my age that were squatting in an abandoned trailer. When the nights got too cold we would pool our money together to get a couple dollars to put gas in my car so we could sleep at least an hour or two with heat. A couple of the guys did the cliche thing and played music in the park for tips while some of us girls did odd jobs like cleaning houses for enough money to get food and ashamedly we might have taken a little bit of food from them.

When my family didn't hear from me they called my ex and found out I had been gone for a long time. I had a few friends that knew where I was so they told my parents. My parents came and literally plucked me out of the trailer. They were kind hearted enough to buy a weeks worth of groceries for the other people I was staying with.

I learned a lot from that experience. I give to anyone I see in need. I used to just avoid them but now that I've been through it, I know just how much having someone be kind to a stranger in need can be worth.

i have traveled the world seen a lot, but in order to do this some times meant just going to a country i new nothing about or new no body there, just turn up & some how i always managed to land on my feet so to speak.
most of the time i had heaps of fun, met loads of good friends, created some amazing events along the way, learnt so much about life & my self, i am glad i took a leep into the unnown, how ever in my care free life, one day it was 36 degrees c sunshine & every thing was a ok great friends a fantastic place to live in the rain forest a child my own company then 5 days later.
i had the cloths i was wearing it was -5c windy ice on the floor no where to stay no food, to say the least it was first the most physical shock that made my mind have to think i dont care where it comes from but i need help, now
it was the drunk homeless & junkies who showed me where i can get a hot meal, how not to freeze to death, after finding first help, the ony way i can describe it is, the most soul destroying journey i have been on in my entire life.
i had to start every thing from scratch, with a new level of distrust of humanity.
but i have worked hard & rebuilt my life with all the knowledge of the journey, i have no regrets only good memories.
& now things are a lot better again for me, the journey must continue.
any advice ide give to others is dare your self step out of your comfort zone, hop on a plane or some form of transport into a new country you know nothing about, & force your self to live on your wits, you will learn things about your self you never new existed.

Reading your stories really makes me realise how lucky I am living in New Zealand.
Our welfare system helps everyone no matter who you are.

You get pregnant - you get the DPB (Domestic Purposes benefit) The kicker is if you have more kids you get more money.

Teenager on your own - Youth Allowance and Study allowances.

Lost job - Unemployment Benefit (No time limit)

Have a accident - ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) all medical paid for.

Need a house - (Housing NZ - low rent charged.)

Have to ask doesn't America have a welfare system. If so how does it work. Federal, State, Local levels.

First, I have to say that many of your stories are absolutely inspirational. Thank you all for sharing your trials.

I was homeless for about six months. I'd moved to L.A. after graduating high school. I moved there with a friend of mine who couldn't take the anonimity of the big city, and he left. I couldn't afford the apartment bill on my own, and had to move out. I wandered around Hollywood area for three months, always avoiding the pitfall of the chicken hawks. I would've died before going to that dark place (dark for me at least).

I frequented soup kitchens and at one on LaBrea, I met a woman who was a cook who needed a carpenter, so I carpented, stayed in her garage and saved $200 and bought a 1960 Mercury Comet -- my brown batmobile. Man, I wish I had that car now. I converted the back seat into a bed, and lived in the thing for about four months, until I landed a job with Digital Equipment Corporation as a manuals stock clerk. That springboarded me to even better paid employment on contract to the US government. By that time, I was sent out of the U.S. and the grande whirlwind ride that has been my life began.

The Middle

I never have been, but I know a few people who have.

Makes you think about how lucky you are, you know?

I am homeless. Thanks for asking.

no problem though, I saw it coming a mile away.

I have always had insecurities and social anxieties so I have a hard time finding friends and not counting work.
I sleep in a 10-10 storage locker illegally

better than sleeping outside. food is scarce, but I just got ebt.
shower is the hard part and no shower definately means no work.

I'm writing a book though, at the library, Appocolypse series. And the Headless Horsemen as a screenplay featuring some guys from the x-games, and maybe something about Annunaki featureing ats. or maybe
opperation goo with terrorists unleashing nanos in America.
like my writing style.
too bad editors are so damn expensive.
& circle r coppyright on all that.

I went to the army res. when I was 19, and squandered that, then I went to school for criminal justice for a year and faild out. Couldn't handle the math. or computers.

I don't drink much, smoke, or do any drugs I used to smoke weed but i've been clean for three years, homeless for one and a half) only addicted to ATS. The real problem is keeping my driving lisences.

I went to the army recruting office today and they told me the only thing they could offer me was infantry. I said no thanks. If my options are kill somebody or be homeless, I will sleep with the mosquitos.

Oh. and of course the hardest part about being homeless is dealing with the cops. You can't sleep just anywhere.

I hope there are enough replies to burry this post. kind of imbarrassing. ATS needs speelcheck.

Whatever though, S&F for you.

reply to post by president


being homeless is not imbarrassing, its all part of the journey, as you can see theirs a lot of people posted on this thread who have been homeless at some point or other, i hope things turn out better for you soon

I first went Homeless as an infant and I was last homeless in December 2008. I'm 38 years old; father fell during social unheaval of the Vietnam Era. Even though I have lived in America for many hundreds of years, I don't seem to know anyone. I basically consider myself to never really have ever had a house to live in...you know a place where noone can tell me to leave; not even a patch of land to pitch a tent.

While I prefer the indoor life...I'd go homeless in a heartbeat rather than live as a slave. For a long time I didn't understand what the problem was with all the people around me. I thought to myself...look at those people in the housing projects or trailer parks, they complain about their social situation, but unlike me they have a home and a family and support.

I have a place to stay now, but I know it could end at any time. I take comfort in the fact that just as certain as having a home is fragile so is being without one.



[edit on 27-7-2009 by IDK88]

Originally posted by whaaa
What prompted this question is this article I recently read.

www.reuters.com...

Technically, I have never actually been homeless. However in my 30's, after a painful and financially devastating divorce, left with only my clothes, a dog and a Ford pickup I lived on the road as a gypsy, traveling the American southwest, working at any job I could find and living in my camper. In retrospect it was a very matureing experience but I was so devistated by my divorce that all I could do was whine and feel sorry for myself. And drink.

I would like to hear of others experiences, living on the road, jobless, at wit end, and how did you deal with your situation, emotionally, physically, spiritually.


[edit on 27-7-2009 by whaaa]

I'm more interested in how you got out of that bad situation...Maybe explaining might give others who could be in a similar situation some hope..

Well my experience was I left home at 15 ( no other choice)
I lived with a gay man who was a very nice gentleman and let me pay rent.(on another hard luck story I ended up with an assault charge for getting in a fight with him at 3 in the morning for leaving me shoeless by the highway in a town a couple hundred kms from where we lived)
He left for Greece and i was screwed and lived in an old abandoned apt with another street kid.
The place was dirty and i lived in a closet at night so if cops shone their light in i was hidden.
I lived off the proceeds of crime and came to the city I am in with literally all I could carry.
Somehow I managed to land where I landed and have been doing well since.
In between i did alot of hitchhiking and trying to find myself.
Always respect the spirit of life and the look in the eye.

[edit on 27-7-2009 by DrumsRfun]

I have lived on the streets before. Almost four months. I had a job but couldn't afford first/last months rent at one time so I slept on the streets. Some nights I managed to get a bed at a shelter or a hostel but more often than not, I was still working at the cut off time to be in the buildings.

I was in a city that was 3000 km from my family. There were three of us there at one point but they all got home sick and left. I couldn't bring myself to go back home so I stayed and did what I had to do. Thankfully, it was June and it was warm.

I worked as a dishwasher in a small Italian restaurant, so I wasn't hungry usually. The owners let us eat if our shifts were long or if it was really busy.

You see and meet some interesting people on the streets. You also meet and see some awful things and people on the streets.

Near the end of September, as I was pondering whether it was time to swallow my pride and just go home, an amazing thing happened to me.


I was sitting on the sidewalk with a fellow talking. He was panhandling and we were chatting between "Can you spare some change?" A fellow walked by and and my friend asked if he had some change. He said sorry, nope so we continued our talking. The fellow turned around and came back and asked me where I was from as he noticed my accent. I told him and said he was from there as well. He asked me why I was sitting on the street and I told him, I can't afford rent. I have a job but it doesn't pay enough for me to save that much money. We talked for a few more minutes about home and stuff then he said, "where's your things?" I told him my backpack is my things. He said grab 'em and come with me.

He and two other people from my home where renting a big house in the North End. He took me back and talked to his roommates. I ended up living there for almost two years.

This was almost 20 years ago now and I still keep in touch with those three people even though I haven't actually seen any of them in over ten years.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
I hope this doesn't offend any of our ATS members that have been unfortunate, but I truly believe that if you live a good, honest life, it is impossible to become homeless!!!!

I have gone through the typical scenario, divorce, left with dog and truck and country song..........but I literally had friends arguing over where I would stay!!

I have had a house foreclosed on, but I had family members arguing over where I would stay!

I had a great-aunt and great-uncle that could not have kids of their own. They outlived all of their brother's and sister's and in their nineties, they had no direct family left. My mother and father built them a "mother-in-law's" suite, and they stayed there for a few years!!

If you find yourself homeless it means you have alienated all the people in your life that could have helped you! It means you have not made good connections, or treated people well. It means you have made poor economical and social decisions.

I know that it happens. And it is very unfortunate, but I cannot possibly see anybody that I personally know, ever becoming homeless! In jail maybe, but not homeless! My network of friends and family would never let that happen to any of their own!

If you are worried about this happening to you, begin to treat your friends and family better! Reach out and help those around you, because you may need help someday!!

Not everyone is as blessed as you to have these good friends.....Maybe you are more social than others...

You have not gone through many of the scenarios others have so saying what you said is very arrogant and ignorant.

Sometimes people get Sh*tted on while making all the Correct decisions in life.....

What you speak of only applies to half the people........And in that half , yes what you say is true.......

But do not pretend for one minute that you know the individual experiences that certain people have gone through...

that alone shows me you are not as bright as you could be, and have not reached your full knowledge potential...

You have much to learn...


And no I have never been homeless, but I don't pretend to know the who,what,where,why,when,and How's of other's situations like yourself...

never been homeless but i know i could survive. but i wouldnt stay in one spot honestly id travel all over the state or country, either working or crime to get money to eat or gas. and dont flame me im talking what if. and dont even act like other people wouldnt do the same if not worse. i wouldnt be suprsed to see it more now with the economy. america sucks to be honest. not the same. to many crap laws that make it not even worth it to put up with when life is to short and you could live somewhere else, and yes i have looked into it and still may do it before people say "well if you dont like it leave". i am former millitary and have earned my right to complain, have you. if i were to become homeless it would def have something to due with the gov and/or economy. so f$%^ em. livin life on the road to the extreme...... who's with me