What You Can Do If You Suddenly Find Yourself Homeless

In The United States, most of us are just one paycheck away from homelessness.  There are many instances where a lot of people are homeless due to things beyond their control, like fire, loss of a job, domestic violence and illnesses.  If this is happening to you, there is a feeling of shock and great anxiety.

The first thing you can do is get all birth certificates and social security numbers for everyone in your family if possible.  Call family members to see if anyone can take you in.  A lot of times, family members will not be able to take you in but try anyway.  If you are in a situation where no one will take you in, you will have to make yourself a checklist of the different options that I will  set forth.

Call your local Salvation Army to see if there are any programs that will help you with shelters in your local area and check with your local churches to see if they know of shelters that are safe for you and your family.  I know that this is a tough step because no one wants to be in a shelter but this may be your only option.  Salvation Army sometimes will help you with security for another apartment.

A big tip is to call your local Catholic Church  because they are known for helping people in a crisis and they will help you sometimes before some of these other programs will or they can tell you what to do and who to contact.

 If you have lost your job please contact your local Social Services Department in your town and make an appointment to get assistance, they can also help you with security for another apartment and help you with finding another job.

When you are in this situation you will have to do a lot of running around because one program may not have the funds to help you at this time so please be prepared to go to more than one place.

Below I am listing agencies that you can contact to see if they can be of assistance to you:

• To find help with emergency housing and help with utilities call 211 or go to their website at: 

http://www.211.org/services/housing-and-utilities. You can go on the same website if you need to find out where to get food.

• To get information regarding jobs and job training:

http://www.goodwill.org/find-jobs-and-services/get-training/

• To find help with food and shelter, you can go to this page and put in your zip code and it will provide you with the address and phone number where you can get help.

http://catholiccharitiesusa.org/

• Information on how to get low cost home phone or wireless service:

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=22888

• To see if you qualify for Safelink Wireless:

https://www.safelinkwireless.com/Enrollment/Safelink/en/NewPublic/index.html

• To see if you qualify for Assurance Wireless:

http://www.assurancewireless.com/Public/Welcome.aspx


I hope that these tips are helpful and remember to not be ashamed to ask for help when you need it.  Soon you will be back on your feet and don't forget to help the next person who is in a desperate situation. 

Please share this information with people who may need it.