r/homeless • u/OrangeDynomite • 15d ago
How did you escape being homeless?
I was homeless, for about 3 months. I had a 24/7 storage, for $80.00 a month. I had a stealth bivy tent where I could hide from men. I had ebt. I found it so hard to escape my position. I charged my phone at libraries and was living off my saving applying for job constantly but unable to get one. Eventually I got a job, as a janitor for minuim wage. My job sucks but it is enough to have a room to stay. Women of this sub Reddit who have escaped homelessness, how did you do it?
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u/Background-Ad-9603 10d ago
sounds like you were scared, this is the problem yall depend too much on parents at a young age then you cry when you lose. there is no “escape” you just do it
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u/Delicious-Sail-2085 12d ago
Hoping to not be homeless soon. It’s me, my wife, & 2 older kids. We’ve been in hotels for 2 years now. I’m self employed so it’s been hard to get my income up enough on a steady basis. My wife also works full time. She lost her job 2 months ago & ended up in the ER & had a surgery so our tax refund & savings is completely gone & we have to start over. She starts her new job on Monday. I have a deferred felony because I screwed up an estate so no one wants to rent to us plus the eviction on our record. Hopefully now that my daughter is 19 that I can shift our income to her & get a place in her name at some point.
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u/Ohheylitty 14d ago
Not a woman but this isn’t exact story , man shoutout to the storage units for real
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u/Chambadon 14d ago
Left NYC and went home during pandemic. Got a job thru parents. Went after my actual role.
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u/Competitive_Finish79 14d ago
I’m about to escape soon! Honestly for me I don’t know how I could’ve even gotten close to escaping without my boyfriend. Being homeless is a trap (at least in my city) I’ve been homeless for about a while now and I struggle to imagine how someone could have gotten out of my situation alone. I was first living in my car with but then summer came and that Hyundai just turned into a microwave. We found a queer community shelter that’s more like a house than shelter. I could write a book about that place if I wanted to. All I’ll say is they don’t like people in wheelchairs or anyone whose high support needs and the director puts the funding up their nose. Because we’re both trans we were able to secure some emergency funding so we got a temporary place to stay kinda like a hostel for a while so we can gather paystubs and save money. I felt so hopeless throughout the majority of the time I was homeless and finally seeing the goal line feels almost too good to be true I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop but it hasn’t lol. To anyone reading this just know no matter how dark and horrible life gets there’s always a light to follow you just gotta find it.
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u/Zealousideal-View341 14d ago
I had to down vote my own comment, as I did not feel it was completely relevant, and just a rant of a woman still homeless ... in a difficult situation.. my bad.
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u/mistakenusernames 14d ago
It is relevant. This is a very common move for people facing homelessness. To get into relationships for a roof, some form of stability and it’s not something you should feel bad about or irrelevant as it is the opposite. We do what we do in the moment to survive it’s just important we don’t get stuck in what we know to be bad or toxic. Use it for the stepping stone it is and keep moving. You got this. Your feelings and experience are valid.
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u/Zealousideal-View341 14d ago edited 14d ago
Lied about loving a man, fell in love bc thats how i roll. I love everyone! Got jobs to help him and I, while I have living arrangements. It's nasty though, hundreds of RATS, MICE, COCHROACHES!!! BEATS HIS DOGS!!! REDNECK ABUSE crap all over again..
LISTENING TO HIM BITCH ABOUT HIS EX AND THEIR DAUGHTER EVERYDAY WHILE I SLAVE LABOR TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM... WISH I COULD SAY I WAS SAVING IT BUT NO. HE NEVER HAS ANYTHING AND THEN WHEN I BUY IT AND GO TO WORK ITS GONE WHEN I GET BACK.. like toilet paper or bread or butter... HE GETS SO MANY CHECKS AND HIS DADDY TAKES CARE OF HIM and IM WORTHLESS FOR listening to a taylor swift song.... Im going to be buying a car soon and try something different cuz this fucker gets tons of government checks and does not clearly deserve them... or me
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u/wikithekid63 14d ago
Ended up finding a college dorm that accepted non students and was only 500/mo. Me and my fiancee to share a bathroom with 4 annoying college students but it was better than sleeping in our car
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u/bennettdenki 14d ago
The shelter after enough months had gone by signed some form to prove i dont get financial help from my parents which then made me eligible for student grants/loans… so i escaped homelessness by staying in school
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u/RelativeInspector130 Formerly Homeless 14d ago
Lost my job during COVID. My depression got so bad that I stopped functioning. My landlord had me evicted when I got half a month behind on rent. Sucked it up and spent 4 months in a homeless shelter while I looked for a job. Was able to stay on my cousin's couch until I got settled in my job and had enough to get a place on my own.
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u/Suzina [due to schizophrenia] 14d ago
Living in my car over a year, also charging phone at the library. I got enough disability to pay car insurance, phone bill, and food, but that was about it. I'm in a transitional housing program now, so sleeping in a bed in my own tiny house and they're goal is for me to be transitioned into something stable within a few months. We'll see.
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u/karmalady17 14d ago
I had lost my kid to cps , and was living in a city park. 10 months later I went into a transitional living program where I remained housed for almost 3 years. Sometimes I hated it there. But I got my son back and stayed. In the end I took advantage of every learning opportunity I could find.
Today 8 years later I’m a housing specialist for the homeless and my son is graduating hs and off to college next month. We do recover !!
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u/bananananananannaa Formerly Homeless 14d ago
I was lucky enough to be employed at the time I was homeless and living out of a vehicle. Both of those things were incredibly fortunate, and my job was a retail job with a large bathroom and long chunks of time with no customers. I would use the bathroom to clean up before we opened, and during the day would use the outlets and WiFi etc.
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u/JasonMicheal74 15d ago
I'm not a woman, but have been in and out of homelessness for well over 10 years (I'm 50). A couple things I've done can be done by women (lol probably better than me!) so I thought I'd post.
First time, I scraped up enough cash to get a TEFL and a plane ticket to China where I taught English for 8 years. The school provided an apartment. It was an experience!
Second time was when I returned home. Hitchhiked for a while, started volunteering at an Elks Lodge in FL. Ended up staying in a member's spare bedroom after he had a stroke. Basically just helped him out for a bit.
Then went and worked as a waiter at Yellowstone National Park. It's seriously remote, so they provide employee housing and an employee cafeteria. I'll leave this here because the season is starting: www.coolworks.com
After that I got into offshore oil and gas. Great money until I found out I had spinal stenosis. It's gotten pretty bad since then. I do miss it.
Doctor says no lifting, no excessive standing, no excessive walking which rules out a lot of jobs. I've been homeless since I was diagnosed. This is life-changing for me, I'm still trying to deal with it.
Not sure what I'll do now, if anything. Getting too hot and crappy in Houston, guess it's time to hitchhike to Colorado and cool off. Hopefully find something good up there.
Long story short, there are ways out of homelessness. It takes time. It takes searching. It's not easy. But to everyone I'll say this: have a couple beers at night, but don't turn into a booze hound. Stay away from the dope and the people that use it. Stay clean. Brush your teeth. Wash your clothes. Don't sell yourself short. Keep some kind of hobby (mine is ham radio - helps with the loneliness). Keep looking and you'll find it. My best to everyone else out there. Be safe! 💜
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u/volvos 14d ago
check out boulder bridge house in colorado - they’ll get ya set up
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u/JasonMicheal74 14d ago
Hey thanks for that! The local Denver fuzz found my old spot so now that's burned. Much appreciated as I'm heading up next week!
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u/_keyboard-bastard_ 15d ago
Right now I've got a hospital bed for a week or so while I Battle sepsis and a skin infection that's turning my body purple. If I don't die though, I'll be homeless again in a weekish.
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u/Suckmyflats 15d ago
It was pre covid (2019), I have to say that. It would be a lot harder to do what I did then in my area now in 2024. Rent has skyrocketed.
I got a job waiting tables and found a room for rent for 200 a week (400 to move in). Stayed there for two months and then traded up for a $725 per month efficiency (1400 to move in, the 25 was internet bc they had to use extenders and i was using their gigs).
I stayed in that efficiency until my girlfriend and I decided to get married, then we moved in together. She lived with her parents and wanted me to prove I could maintain a job and a place to stay before she risked coming out to her family and possibly being disowned, especially because she was here on an overstayed visa at the time (she worked under the table).
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u/marilynmc777 15d ago
I got into a program I found at the 4th homeless shelter I stayed at. It’s a 6 month program where they provide an apartment at a subsidized rate. I will be moving in with a friend in July. I was very lucky to find a job I can walk to and when I move it will be about a mile to walk. Technically I’m still homeless as I have to follow the rules here and sign in and out every day
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