What to do if you suddenly find yourself homeless
FOOD
- Find your nearest food bank or mission, for food
- grocery stores with free samples, bakeries + stores with day-old bread
- different fast food outlets have cheaper food and will generally let you hang out for a while.
- some dollar stores carry food like cans of beans or fruit
SHELTER
- Sleeping at beaches during the day is a good way to avoid suspicion and harassment
- sleep with your bag strapped to you, so someone can’t steal it
- Some churches offer short term residence
- Find your nearest homeless shelter
- Look for places that are open to the public
- A large dumpster near a wall can often be moved so that flipping up the lids creates an angled shelter to stay dry
HYGIENE
- A membership to the YMCA is usually only 10$, which has a shower, and sometimes laundry machines and lockers.
- Public libraries have bathrooms you can use
- Dollar stores carry low-end soaps and deodorant etc.
- Wet wipes are all purpose and a life saver
- Local beaches, go for a quick swim
- Some truck stops have showers you can pay for
- Staying clean is the best way to prevent disease, and potentially get a job to get back on your feet
- Pack 7 pairs of socks/undies, 2 outfits, and one hooded rain jacket
OTHER
- first aid kit
- sunscreen
- a travel alarm clock or watch
- mylar emergency blanket
- a backpack is a must
- downgrade your cellphone to a pay as you go with top-up cards
- sleeping bag
- travel kit of toothbrush, hair brush/comb, mirror
- swiss army knife
- can opener
Reblog to literally save a life
if there is a Dollar Tree near you, they have entire food aisles
Planet Fitness also has $10 memberships. you can shower and they have free food days! pizza night 1st monday every month, bagel tuesday the 2nd tuesday every month.
Save a life reblog
i am so glad that i renblogged this however so long ago. i saw this post and shared it with others in mind, but now i am the one who really needs this. id like to think of this as good karma i guess
also a good list if anyone ever needs to run away from home for whatever reason.
I’d also like to add that some YMCA’s will let you like,,, live in there (my dad lived in a ymca for a bit while he was in grad school till some guy who turned out to be a murder later on invited him to live on his couch BUT THATS A DIFFERENT STORY)
Pls reblog
Reblogging again, since we’re homeless now
Reblogging always. Some of that stuff is not applicable to people not in the states but there are usually some equivalents (personally not in the states but this is one of the things that can save many lives and is on my list of things to remember especially now when Im in (more) risk of going homeless). Also many beaches have showers in them that you can use for free! Swimming is good but its not as good as a shower
