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Have you been homeless?

I've been homeless... Well evicted out of my home and mom ended up in county (had to stay there and she couldn't afford her bond). My sister and I were sent to children services but ran away.. We did not last long and had to turn ourselves in. So being stuck in placement and my sister in a group home (I got kicked out of there for threatening to burn the house down and was sent to this even more psycho place fml). Finally left when I turned eighteen but had to live in a domestic violence shelter with my mom. It sucked we had curfew and had all these set rules. It was as if we were prisoners, we only were allowed to stay for 30 days so we were freaking out and did not know where to go. We had to put all our pets in a kennel and that cost us 1000... Now we're in transitional housing and ths is worse than being homeless!!! We aren't allowed pets or anything. They also do inspections all the time. We snuck two of our cats in because we had no other choice, they found them so we had to put them at a kennel or the humane society was going to put them down and our other pets are at friends. So right now we're saving up money to move but its really hard.

Its either this or go back to being homeless... But when you're in these types of programs you lose all your rights and privacy. Yeah shelter sucked but it was better than here. It did feel weird knowing you had nowhere or any other choices but to live with woman you didn't know. Many drug addicts or running from people. Having to live in a place that had alarms on window and deal with woman stealing your shit all the time. It sucked, some days I didn't want to comeback and just sleep in the park. Even now its harder than ever.

It was weird from going from a house with your own room to sleeping in shelters. And even having to share a room with your mother. Also having people ask where you live when you didn't have a place.... It sucks more that my dad took my sister but left me in PA. Even at court he told me he wasn't taking me and used the excuse he has no room for me. Didn't even offer the couch.

Becoming homeless allowed me to realize who really mattered and who didn't. I ended up writing so many people out of my life... Its funny how you've been there for them in their times of needs but when you need help they aren't even there for you. Also the system sucks!! They treat us like incompetent idiots. They act like they will help you but only fuck you over in the end.
 
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I was homeless for months recently after my girlfriend changed the locks on me. I spent a few weeks in the car and then I checked myself into a psych ward before moving back to my parents.

Being homeless shows you who your true friends are. People will show up in your time of need and people will leave. You know which ones you want in your life.
 
I was homeless for about a month after I ran away from home at 15. I did not sleep in shelters as they were required to report runaway teens to the police. As Venrak said earlier, downtown Montreal is quite a good spot to live on the streets - you can easily get two hot meals a day if you show up on time at the soup kitchens and there's easy access to clean needles. I slept in a squat, along with a few street kids and their wonderful dogs; that squat was actually an abandoned church (on St-Laurent and Sherbrooke St, if anyone remembers that one!). The cops did show up once in a while to kick us out, but we were always able to go back to that squat the following night. So I didn't have to sleep in parks or on the street. I panhandled and played guitar in the subway for money. I bought drugs and beverages for me and my fellow squatters with that money. They did the same for me whenever I didn't feel like panhandling that day.

I do not have fond memories of that month spent outdoors. I had run away from home in a fit of rage but I was too proud to go back home when my rage dissipated. I met a lot of disturbing, shady guys and was scared of being raped (I'm a F). If there hadn't been a lot of big dogs at the squat I'm pretty sure that it would have happened, probably by one of the old winos that slept in the next building. Homelessness really opened my eyes and helped me become an open-minded, compassionate person. I always try to help Montreal street kids by giving them food and money whenever I can afford it. It pisses me off to hear idiots complaining about the presence of homeless people in the city - they obviously have no fucking idea what it's like and they act as if it could never happen to them...
 
^ Exactly. Ever since moving from the 'burbs to downtown, I've had my eyes opened as to the homeless, and am outraged whenever I hear of people dehumanizing them. They are people like anyone else, who, for incredibly varied reasons, society has failed. The thing that really makes me see red is then someone tries to tar them all with the same brush. Not all homeless are addicts (although many are), not all homeless have psychological issues (although many do), not all homeless 'want' to be homeless, etc....

Where I live there is also a racial aspect: somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of the homeless in my city are First Nations people. Anyone who tells you that Canada and Canadians (as a whole) aren't racist is, unfortunately, ignorant. We're just, by and large, racist in a different direction than Americans is all.

I do my best to help out when I can, and try to help out a couple of the same people: one fellow has tons of dignity, but bases himself every day to sell the local homeless press as an alternative to begging; the other is clearly an addict, so I help him with food and water so that his money (from others) can go to feeding the monkey. It is particularly hard to be homeless here, as the winters get to -30C regularly. I've been reminded of this lately as we've just had our first taste of proper winter this weekend, and while it is expected to warm up I've no doubt that there was at least one death due to cold. The first snap is guaranteed to catch someone unprepared, to the point where it's not even reported in the news anymore.
 
Dave said:
Where I live there is also a racial aspect: somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of the homeless in my city are First Nations people. Anyone who tells you that Canada and Canadians (as a whole) aren't racist is, unfortunately, ignorant. We're just, by and large, racist in a different direction than Americans is all.
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Oh this is so, so true. Drug abuse or alcohol consumption is *always* judged with more severity when it involves people from the First Nations. And we all know that dehumanization is the first step towards organized violence against a certain group. I just wish there were more people like you in this country.
 
Dave said:
the other is clearly an addict, so I help him with food and water so that his money (from others) can go to feeding the monkey.
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Help me understand. You want his money to go to the monkey, or you want him to eat, drink, and be well?

I am having a hard time knowing how to relate to the homeless who ask me for money. "Help out the homeless," they say. "I haven't eaten in 9 days." A great personality I know of has said to give food as to not encourage begging.

One day in a bad mood I said to this man, "It not good to beg. There are food kitchens and pantries." I felt bad for saying it, because I meant to always have copies of the list of the kitchens on me. But I didn't and I just came off rude and unsensitive. I mean, when I was homeless I didn't fly a sign or ask people for money. And I was really really messed up. Though what Dave said about mental illness, it makes somesense- Sometimes maybe it is too hard to coordinate oneself to get to the pantries on time, or to remember your punch card, or whatever. There are barriers to using services too.

Bottom line is I am SPEECHLESS when they ask me for stuff. Because I was just.there. And I can't explain to them that I "get it" because well...perhaps I don't get it. I am still trying to make sense of my homeless months. I'm not very forgiving of myself for my homeless time. Empathy for myself is lacking, so how could I ever feel it for a stranger?
 
When I see homeless people begging nowadays I still feel bad for them but I always have even before I experienced homelessness. Yet, I can't give them money because even I am struggling now. It just upsets me so many don't know where to go or what programs there are to help them get back up on their feet. To be honest I had no idea but luckily my mom was talking to crisis intervention... Because the day she got out of prison they just allowed you to leave with your things and walk back out into the world when you have nowhere to go. So luckily she talked to to the crisis intervention people beforehand or else we would of been loss.

Even when I signed myself out of placement when I turned eighteen it was like well you're out of the system go fend for yourself. So then I went to live at a shelter.
 
mami: I bring him food and water when I can, but he still panhandles. In my mind, if he gets a bite to eat from me, then its more money from others that can go to feeding his addiction (his other necessity). Maybe I'm just deluding myself-- perhaps on the days that I can bring him a bite are the days that he gets to eat a bite, but his DOC consumption remains the same.

Although they all beg for money to get food, I would imagine that quite often that's not what it goes toward. Maybe, for some of the more fortunate ones, it'll go toward a room in a hostel for the night or week. Quite often it goes to feed addictions, which correlate strongly to homelessness. One needs to remember though that correlation does not imply causation: not all homeless are addicts, and not all addicts are homeless. But for someone deep in an addiction, it is a necessity like any other. It would be better if it weren't there, but for that person it is not yet an option, for reasons that are theirs and theirs alone.

If he were communicative, I'd maybe ask him about it, but I don't like to imply that he owes me anything. Even the answers to a couple of questions. Because: would you ask a complete stranger something so personal? Is the removal of privacy not also dehumanizing?

I'm genuinely asking. I don't know the answers-- I've never been homeless, although I feel as though it could be very easy for me to become homeless. A bout of depression severe enough to lose my job, and that could be the end of it... if I weren't living in the same city as the rest of my family.

Here's an interesting documentary on the homeless in London. Not universally true, of course, but tells the story of one aspect of homelessness.
 
Tripman said:
Being homeless shows you who your true friends are. People will show up in your time of need and people will leave. You know which ones you want in your life.
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True for any type of any hardship. It's always those who say "Call me any time" who never return a phone call.
 
i just stumbled into your thread and unfortunately dont have time at the moment to go into the realities i dealt with, but stand by because i will in very near future...
 
Homelessness

I'm not currently homeless, but I will be on December 1st.

Heroin addiction played a big part in my situation, and my landlords got fed up with me and my constant attempts to recover. I was paying rent on time and do not owe them any money, they just thought it was time I moved on. And I don't blame them...they don't deserve to witness me in the state I am in.

If you have any other questions, fell free to PM me.
 
The only question I have is: what right do they have to make that decision for you? If you're paying your rent on time, and not destroying the place, then it's none of their business what you do. Homelessness is far more harmful than opiate addiction in and of itself. It's people like that that really bother me. Someone may have troubles, but it is not the job of a landlord to do anything other than provide a place to live based upon the agreement signed when you moved in. How do they think this is helping? Or are they just uncomfortable with having a 'junkie' (man I hate that term) living in one of their units?
 
Its a combination of not wanting a junkie living in the house and their daughter is having another child, and is moving back in with her parents (my landlords) so they need my room for the new baby.

I was paying rent on time, and was actually very conscious about keeping the room tidy and neat at all times. I even cleaned up around the house if I had spare time.
 
drscience said:
I was paying rent on time and do not owe them any money, they just thought it was time I moved on.
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Wait a minute - what province are you in? If you're in QC, there is an organization that can help you fight your landlord's illegal decision. Here is the link to the Regie du logement: http://www.rdl.gouv.qc.ca/en/accueil/accueil.asp.

Your landlord cannot simply get «fed up» with you; your lease is a contract and its terms must be respected! If you don't owe them any money and are not thrashing the place, he CANNOT LEGALLY kick you out!!
 
Thanks InvisibleEye...

The thing is its kind of complicated. My landlords happen to be the parents of a very good friend of mine who also lives here, and I don't want to ruin our friendship over something like this. Does that make any sense?

And BTW I really appreciate you guys sticking up for me. It really means a lot. <3
 
Sure, but does this friend want to see you homeless over this? Sounds like a pretty asymmetric friendship to me.

But then again, I don't have anywhere near all of the information at hand. IE is on the right track though: in pretty well every province you need to give a lot of notice, and usually just cause, before booting someone out. I'd look into your options, if it means the difference between offending a relation of a friend and spending time homeless in a Canadian winter.
 
When I was 18 my boss used to call me the gypsy as I always had a rucksack full of things with me. I moved from sofa's to hostels etc for about a year. I was studying so got my rent paid, then I moved house, my rent was a lot more and I had to make a new claim to benefit. It didn't get paid for months so I had to move out, eventually quitting my studies as I never knew where I would be sleeping that night. The hostels were awful, I could never sleep for fear that my possessions would be stolen, I preferred to sleep rough than stay in most hostels. It definitely opened my eyes to homelessness, even though I'd always been quite sympathetic to the majority of people that I saw begging, I used to buy them food and hot drinks etc rather than give money. You always knew genuine cases as they accepted food and were so happy, others demanded money so it was obvious what it was being spent on. In a world so advanced this shouldn't be an issue anymore but sadly it is, politicians don't care about people sleeping on the streets as long as they still get their expenses paid.
 
I was homeless 2 yrs ago.
I was 19 then and living with my ex. It was the beginning of December, cold as fuck outside. We were already broken up and I was out with friends one night, and got all fucked up on xanax, ritalin, beer, pot...I hadn't done any sort of drugs in awhile cause the ex had a problem with me doing drugs. So I felt guilty after doing this, drove around town and called her...confessed (why the fuck did I do this, I don't know)...she told me not to come home. So that's how it started.

That night I stayed at the house of the friend I had been partying with. Me and this friend, we were really close and really good friends. I didn't regret doing what I'd done to get kicked out. I had a paper route at the time, my only job. So me and my piece of shit car were all I had, along with all my belongings which luckily fit into my car. So I did my paper route in the wee hrs of the morning...got done..and thought to myself..."what now"...I wouldn't feel right sleeping on my friend's couch. I had nowhere to go, nobody to fall back on. I called 211 and got the numbers of local shelters...checked into one that day. Met a guy there who would later become my best friend and would help me get out of homelessness. I stayed there for a couple weeks. Eventually my car broke down, I was literally driving on bare rotors and using my E brake to stop. I couldn't keep my paper route under those conditions, so I lost my job. When that happened I started selling my food stamps for cash. At that time in my life I wasn't addicted to drugs, but I did use occasionally. The timeline in which things happened is sort of a blur. I know that while I was homeless, I did take the Greyhound to the nearest big city to try to start over...stayed in a shelter there...that lasted a week, I took the bus back home. When I got back of course I was still homeless, so I met up with my friend who I'd met in the shelter. He was good at finding and befriending sketchy people...and he knew of places where we could bum around and stay. We partied with random strangers. We did alot of dxm. I wasn't comfortable with this randomness really, but I went along with it. I never felt safe. Eventually I got brakes put back on my car. At that point I didn't want to go to another shelter, so we slept in my car in 14 degree weather. Then one day, the car just wouldn't start, so I sold it to a junker. With no car it got ugly. I missed out on xmas cause we weren't in a shelter at that time. I checked into another shelter at one point and spent a few days there, until new years came around and they didn't allow us to be out of the shelter on new years eve and I wanted to go party, so stupidly...I sacrificed the shelter over my head to go party. We did that. Came back. Were still homeless. I don't even remember where we slept then. For some reason I don't remember alot of that period in my life. My friend got hooked up with an agency that provided housing for homeless people and he got his voucher and I lived with him for awhile...before getting my own voucher...then the two of us started working through a temp agency and slowly got back on our feet...it was a hell of a time, I wouldn't have traded it for anything actually
 
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I've been homeless several times, the longest period being about 3 or 4 months.

I would stay at a shelter sometimes, pretty rare actually. Usually I would have a secluded spot somewhere, or sleep on the beach. In the moment I blamed my shit on other people, thought I was the victim, but I know that I was in that situation, repeatedly, because of me. And my drug use specifically. All I did was trip, smoke, shoot dope, and drink, whether I had a roof over my head or not. I couldn't stand reality, couldn't stand myself sober, so I escaped it the only way I knew how, which was to get fucked up, and damn whatever else happened. Sometimes I would go a week with no food, or bathing, sleeping in the winter rain. My family had shunned me. I would get my clothes out of a thrift store dumpster, or steal an occasional sandwich. Probably the worst feeling in the world is to wake up in an alley somewhere, dopesick or withdrawing off alcohol, and just pissed off at the simple fact that you DID wake up.

I'm 5 months sober from alcohol and drugs now, which is the longest I've ever been truly clean. As shitty as that part of my life was, and as painful, I don't think I would change it. I regret hurting all the people that I did, but going through what I went through made me the person I am today... and I'm starting to like me.
 
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