What should one do?

A scenario:

You can't land a job for sh-t because you've been living on the street with no home address or dress clothes for an interview. You have no cell phone. You have no relatives to go and stay with either. So the question is, how can you get back on your feet? Tell me step by step for someone in this situation X.

Salvation army / YMCA / Charity shelters? as that will give you an address and alot of those places have clothes banks so you can get some decent clothes but as for phone i'm not sure how american systems work but you can pickup a second hand phone for less than £10 from a store and slap in a sim with some credit and job done

My state has a program called the Road Home, I have volunteered there during the holiday seasons for the past few years.

The Road Home provides temporary shelter, clothing, food and showers. Their goal is to get people in a position where they can find gainful employment and become independent again.

Their motto "It's a hand up, not a hand out."

My advice would be to look for a similar program in your area.

reply to post by WarJohn


1. Get into a shelter
2. Get vouchers for interviewing clothes at Salvation Army, Goodwill ect.
3. Use computer room for making application
4. see board for job listings
5. Get referral from Shelter
6. Get a job, save money for down payment for apartment
7. Keep job
8. Be responsible
9. Remember where you came from
10. Help someone else

The whole process can take anywhere from six months to five years depending on the type of person you are

I am one step away from there bud..

I have no idea. I don't look at it as an end however. You can't. You need to see the issues you have, and not see them as problems, or things to solve. You need to make room for them in your brain. Give them space, don't let them have power over you -- that is the only way. Sure if it's dire enough that you can't eat.. well, what thoughts are helpful?

"I will starve, I hate the world" -- that's not helpful... what WILL be helpful.. there is something, always something..

Even someone with terminal cancer can see a way to spend the rest of their life with completeness, as opposed to the absolute futility life dictates...

Homeless... well, I know I will be able to keep warm. I have a set of skills that worked 20 years ago, I can surely use them, somewhere..

any negative thoughts you have are this : stories. Stories you tell yourself. words and images..your brain is good at making you FEEL from these things.

what helps? what thoughts help?

only you can answer that...

but I'll see you on the cold dim mornings, as the sun rises, and we share a beer, breaking bread brother...

reply to post by WarJohn


1-go to nearest church-parish or shelter like Salvation Army and express your @ the bottom and want to try to get on your feet and need some clothing and shelter as much as they can provide or direct you to.

2-Seek out a job that may be easy to obtain like fast food/janitor or even car wash worker. I know these are not the best jobs but they can help you to generate some capital to help out later.

3-after about 3 paychecks donate money back to the system that supported you say about 10% of your total earnings and express to them you are getting things slowly together and to please be patient with you if providing shelter and clothing locations like goodwill. Let them see your progression it WILL help them to take you more serious then others around you.

4-6 paychecks later approx 2.5 months of savings seek out cheap motel/hotels for maybe 30$ a night this will begin to help you to set up financial structure to get used to paying a bill(s) maintain the hotel/motel living for about 4 more paychecks or 2 more months then begin to seek better employment but keep the primary job so then you got 2 jobs now a hotel room and your sending money back to those who helped you and some money in your pocket. Work BOTH jobs maybe a waiter in a restraint or dishwasher hard nights heavy days for about 3 months save ALL the money from your second job get a prepaid credit card and set up a separate account. SAVE SAVE SAVE after saving for 3 months start looking for an apartment (efficiency) for starters something cheap may not be the best but it will be a step up from the shelter phase and hotel/motel phase and WILL BE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT.
FROM THIS POINT ON MAINTAIN BOTH JOBS AND KEEP SAVING ALL THE MONEY FROM THE SECOND JOB. IT MAY GET HARD WORKING DAYS AND NIGHTS BUT IT WILL PAY OFF.

Good Luck

reply to post by WarJohn


If it was me , I would get out of the city and get to the country . Find some work at a farm or ranch maybe they would offer you room and board . I don't know what your appearance is but try and clean up , shave , short hair . Find a used tent somewhere if u can't get room and board , and like the above post Said , remember where you came from and help someone else when you're on your feet ! All the best to You !

Stand in front of Home Depot with the others, you can actually claim to be legal to work if you were born here.
Save up, save, save, save!
Some of the other replies are excellent advice, better than mine most probably.
Hope it helps

reply to post by WarJohn


Clean up, get an ID, and go find a job even if it's just a temporary low paying job. Work hard and get a good work attitude and a room somewhere and start building a future. It's not hard if you are determined to start. You may never get rich but you can survive. We don't need to be rich to enjoy this world, we just have to enjoy what we have. A soda used to be a treat, a reward, for everyone when I was a kid. Now it's an every day soft drink. We made our rewards everyday things. This guy may not be as off tilt as we think he is. We are the ones who started to take every reward for granted. A burger patty is good enough for everyday living. It makes you appreciate the New York strip or Filet if you have it occasionally. Once you get used to always having the best there are few less rewards in life..

Why you're in your current state is really important to the choices you consider, but I've done a bit of research into the farm angle, and you probably could find a way onto some farms where you work as a hand in exchange for food, shelter, and sometimes money.

In fact, there are programs where people who want to save their farms but don't have anyone to continue their legacy deed them over in exchange for x years of work. If you've gone so far to get off the system, there's no reason to get back on if you don't need to do so.

Turn your internet off and sell your computer and buy clothes... But like everyone else has said there are numerous shelters that aid with this kind of thing.

reply to post by WarJohn


You go down to a shelter and get pissed on in your sleep. Smelling like piss will help you get a job. You go to a soup kitchen and eat some food that even Paul Bunyun couldn't stomach and then you go # in the woods for half an hour. Then you go to a public place and ask people for spare change until you get arrested and locked away.

In all seriousness, live off the grid if you have to be homeless. It has much better options.

Originally posted by WarJohn
A scenario:

You can't land a job for sh-t because you've been living on the street with no home address or dress clothes for an interview. You have no cell phone. You have no relatives to go and stay with either. So the question is, how can you get back on your feet? Tell me step by step for someone in this situation X.

It would be a start if we knew what country and area you were in.

I've gamed this several times over the years just in case I were ever in that situation.

Turns out on paper it's a lot easier than I would have ever thought. On paper.

Resources for a physical address are plentiful. From churches to shelters to town employment resource centers and more.

Trouble is a lot of employers know these addresses so there will be some bias.

Clothes a meal and a shower are also pretty easy to come by. I dont even live in a city or a highly populated area at all but still I can get two meals a day everyday of the week if I dont mind walking a few miles between kitchens.

Phones can be a little trickier. Free ones are there but seems only the larger urban areas have access. To get one by proxy to you in a rural area is doable it just takes a little time.

Libraries have public access computers. Most will even have resume writing and job seeking workshops open to the public.

It's not all that hard. On paper.

What makes it harder in reality is not everything will be available all the time. You may have to hold on longer than you'd like. But hold on.

The community down there is really hit or miss. There will be mentally unstable people, substance abusers, lifer homeless, scammers, etc.. who will try to take advantage of you at every turn. Dont trust anyone. Even the ones trying to help you out. Dont be stupid and take as much as you can on your own because other people will drop the ball more readily since it isnt their ass on the line.

An important key to getting yourself back on your feet is to start right away and dont stop. The longer you wait to get the wheels moving the more ingrained you are in that society and the tougher it will be. Your perception will change fast making the non-homeless world seem foreign to you and you seem foreign to it.

It can be done. It's done everyday. It's the difference between the people who are just on hard times and the people who are career vagrants for whatever reason.