Stay Clean: Advice If You Are Homeless

I have never been homeless but more and more people are becoming homeless each day. Here is some sound advice from Jimmy Pringles who responds to a distressed individual who will become homeless within a few days.

I was homeless from the age of 19 until I was 26. I’m 31 now and I have an apartment, a new-ish car I bought on credit and I just started my first semester of college. I can tell you what I learned from being homeless and what mistakes I made along the way that I wish I could change.

First of all, pack light. Don’t try and carry a ton of shit around with you because it’ll just mark you as homeless to the police as well as other homeless people. Some clothes, a book, pen and paper, important documents (birth certificate, social security card), toothbrush/toothpaste and whatever cash you can muster should be sufficient.

ALWAYS brush your teeth. Two times as day and never forget or put it off. Nothing will complicate your life as much as a rotten tooth and getting them fixed later on will be expensive and difficult.

First thing you need is a place to sleep. I was fortunate enough to have a lot of friends in college so I couch surfed as much as possible. It’s possible to hop between a few friends apartments without becoming much of a burden. ALWAYS help out the people who put you up. Do their dishes, take out the trash, tidy up the common areas and don’t make a permanent mark on their place. Nothing turns off a friend more than having their couch look like a homeless guys bed. Hide whatever bedding you used and leave no trace.

If you have no friends then your situation has become much more complicated. I spent a number of nights in the boiler room of an apartment complex. It was warm, dry and had a cozy cement floor to sleep on. It’s worth trying to get your way into one if possible, but remember to leave no trace. If you’re spotted or discovered then just move on, don’t stick around to see how people react. I’d suggest staying out of shelters unless it’s winter and you have NO other place to go.

Stay off drugs and don’t drink. Next to hygiene this is the most important part of surviving homelessness. I got on drugs and it took me YEARS to pull myself out of that downward spiral.

Work everyday. Look for a labor ready in your area and go there every morning at 5AM. You sign up and wait around until they call you with your work assignment. I made about $30 a day when i was going and they had free coffee in the waiting room. This company saved my life by exploiting me. I managed to stay active and save enough money to eventually get myself an apartment and a mailing address, which got me a dishwasher job. After that I moved onto my current job which gives me health/dental insurance, paid-vacation and about $12 an hour.

Guard your credit with your life. Find a free clinic if possible and go there only for emergencies. I used emergency rooms for my healthcare and I DESTROYED my credit. At the time it made things easy but I’m still paying for it. I’ve been denied loans and even apartments because of my history of non-payment and I still struggle to fix it.

Those are all the key points I can think of off the top of my head. So, to recap:

• 1) Brush your teeth
• 2) Stay off drugs
• 3) Couch surf and help out your benefactors
• 4) Guard your credit carefully
• 5) Work everyday

That’s the best I can do for you. Good luck and don’t give up hope, you can get through it if you try. (source)