Homeless in America: Get Creative to Survive

In thinking about my own situation and not having anything to do but loiter, I often think of what the options are for homeless people. I've had my bouts of homelessness and I know hundreds more, of whom I met years ago, who are still homeless. It is a hard sell, having no address, no phone number (heck, no phone!), people telling you just to get a job. With no traceable ID and not the greatest hygiene, it isn't going to happen without a miracle.

But miracles do happen, like the time I was hired for a job because I was homeless. Of course, my boss had been homeless before, too, living out of a car for several months in his youth. So he not only understood, but he gave me a job at that time in my life. It's a place you never want to go back to and the "fear keeps you from ever going through it again" as he put it. Well said. So for those who are homeless, or are about to be, what do you do? State and local organizations can help, but they are limited and often you are put out on the streets during the day and hoping for a place to lay your head at night.

Creative homelessness may sound a little strange, but if you're out on the streets you really do have to get creative in order to survive. Sometimes you have no other choice. Like wintertime, for instance. I was desperate for a place to stay once so I contacted an international student I knew and asked him to hook me up with a roommate. And he did.

Miracle again. I moved in without a penny in my pocket. It worked because she was from a country I had lived in years ago, so we had an instant rapport. She agreed that I could pay starting the following month as long as I made up the difference in the end. It worked out nicely. And that prayer went a long ways.

For some people this might be an option. Let's stick to the student scene. Why not let it be known (you stand out anyway, like it or not, when you're homeless) that you need a warm room to stay in as a "visitor" and offer up your skills to students. For instance, help with the research for research papers in exchange for a weekend on their dorm room floor to get out of the elements. Offer to clean off-campus houses or apartments for half the price in exchange for use of their bathroom amenities. Just chose your clientele carefully and your neighborhoods wisely.

Be careful in libraries. Librarians are a breed all to themselves. Necessary, helpful, but sticklers for rules and details of rules with computerized brains that can spot and track a homeless person coming down the street from two blocks away. Most will watch you like a hawk, just waiting for you to put your weary head down on a desktop. Then, wham! You're targeted--and most likely asked to leave after an abrupt warning. Tell me, homeless folks who use the Internet at libraries, if this isn't true!

As long as you are at a library--and awake--and using the Internet, keep in touch with all the people you can by email. Yeah, sure, many will scorn you, but some might have little bits of useful information down the pike that could spare you yet another season of finding something other than a dirt bed.

Look for odd jobs and take them when you can. Check out free newspapers, flyers, the Internet. Some states have a job system on the Web that you can put your resume on through an unemployment office or a work corps program. Ask about possible phone numbers and an address you can use for your resume. And definitely get word-of-mouth highlights about jobs, where free meals are served, clothing give-aways and where to get a hold of much coveted personal items like toothpaste, tooth brushes and deodorant.

Get creative and your life won't be so bad in the long run. I don't know if a boss will ever consider it a skill to be homeless and creative, but you survived and you did something that many civilized people may never do. You learned what a real survivor is and what it takes to make anything work, even homeless in America.