I’m sorry if it looks like I’m just shooting down everyone’s suggestions here, but I know you’re all trying to help. Thank you for your help so far.
Years ago, a friend spent time camping from park to park while he was looking for both home and employment. The parks in his state had a three-day maximum limit on how long one could camp (tent, not RV) in that park, so he stayed three days in one park, moved to another. The parks cost something like $2 a night to stay and the benefit, of course, was shelter, showers, and latrines. This was about 40 years ago. Does your province or city have any such thing that would be workable and even affordable?
Why are you curious about this? Either you have something useful to say or you don’t. If the latter STFU.
Since it seems as though one thing that’s severely problematic here in terms of possible solutions is the autism, I would look for any non-profits in the area dedicated to helping those with autism. There was one around here that did a whole lot for me, and just by finding them my life improved a whole lot. They had the resources and the experience of dealing with people like me to know exactly how to find a job for me, which they did pretty quickly, and it’s the best job I could imagine having. Housing might be a different issue, and I might have just gotten lucky, but autism does have a severe stigma of having plenty of people think that you’re just an asocial asshole, so trying to find people who are dedicated to helping those people, and can do some of the legwork of social interaction necessary makes a big difference.
Maybe put up with it until you can find a place on your own? When you’re begging for something (like housing), you can’t be selective. Not that I don’t sympathize - I find smoking offensive as well.
Legit question, IMO. She gave the answer, so it’s all good.
I was curious, too. The type of help that might be available to someone depends on the context of their impending homelessness.
If I understand correctly, EmilyG:
-Has an apartment
-Believes the landlord is abusive
-Is choosing not to renew the lease for other reasons
-Is unwilling to live in a place that allows smoking
-Is unable to maintain a steady job
-Is unable to tolerate/be tolerated by housemates
-Doesn’t drive
Those factors all affect what kind of housing is available. Are there other limitations, EmilyG?
She answered this. She is autistic and has health issues. Yes, she has government disability. Yes, she works when she can. No, she is not being difficult.
EmilyG I think glowacks has a good suggestion. If you’d like any help tracking groups down, please let me know. I would be glad to do some digging.
Yeah, I get all that. She listed the limitations I posted about mostly in response to folks’ advice, and apologized for looking like she was shooting suggestions down. I’m just wondering if there are other unusual limits she has that she hasn’t mentioned yet. She’s not being difficult, but laying the limits out there might result in more useful advice.
That said, I’m not exactly a font of useful advice here, so I should probably shut up, and I’ll bow out with an apology for threadshitting and best wishes for finding a place.
I don’t think it was a good faith question. I’m pressing against the forum’s rules now so I won;t say more.
If you do become homeless, will you be able to maintain a mailing address where you can receive mail and packages? (I hope the answer is “yes” but I’m not familiar with the Canadian postal system.)
My recollection from another thread is that you have some issues around food you can eat. I’d like to know that I have the option to send you a care package or two through Amazon with some enjoyable, non-perishable food items, if you do end up homeless.
I’d be happy to figure out details with you via PM, and share them with anyone else through PM who might want to do something similar.
I’m completely on board with this. Em’s a lovely, kind, talented, and creative person. I hate that she’s in this position.
ETA: I was replying to CairoCarol although obviously, I didn’t quote properly.
I’ve PM’d EmilyG asking about options, including if she’d be comfortable with having information shared via PM regarding a mailing address and what items available on Amazon would work for her. If anyone wants to PM me, I’m happy to be clearinghouse for whatever we can do that respects EmilyG’s wishes.
That’s a bit rough.
It’s understandable to be curious. Crafter_Man asked politely enough and the OP was free to decline answering.
I use to work, albeit in the US, for an agency that found community living situations for disabled people, and many were autistic. You may feel you are “not autistic enough” to need something like that, but if you get disability benefits, and you are about to become homeless, maybe you need to rethink. We had a lot of really high-functioning people we assisted-- many who just needed help accessing all the different kinds of aid that were available, and someone to advocate for them when they faced discrimination.
Also, it doesn’t have to be forever.
Once we got people set up, we just checked in once a month for two hours, and that was all we saw of many people, because that was all that was necessary. We had to make sure the bills were getting paid, and the apartment was clean enough not to be in violation of the lease, and that was about it.
Of course, we were there to be called upon if problems arose. If the client was having trouble getting the landlord to respond to a repair request, or if (this is a real example) the nearest branch of the client’s bank closed, so there was no longer a branch in walking distance, and the person wanted transportation and a little help switching to a bank with a close branch, we could do that. Really, anything at all. We assisted someone in getting an emotional-social animal, and explaining to the landlord why it didn’t violate the pet policy that the dog weighed more than the maximum for dogs according to the policy, then we continued to help by providing transportation yearly for the animal to go to the vet for vaccinations. That was about all we did for that particular client.
On the other hand, we also did things like help another client get a lawyer when she had a baby, and CPS tried to take the baby into custody while she was still in the hospital.
FTR, I have changed details slightly, so I’m not breaking confidences. Also, I had this job a long time ago (but yes, I do know that these services still exist, because up until COVID, I volunteered for a literacy program that served many people receiving such services), in a city I am not naming, but not where I live now, so the chances of tracking down these people through this post is all but zero.
Since you have access to a computer, try Googling “Community Living Services disability [your city].” Or you could even enter “autism” instead of “disability.”
You will still have independence and autonomy. A good agency wants every client to be as independent and autonomous as possible. We helped many people get driver’s licenses and register to vote who had previously been told by schools or family that such things were not for them.
It doesn’t hurt just to contact them and see what they offer. If you don’t like their answers, don’t go forward with that agency.
The response to ‘contact a women’s shelter‘ and ask to be directed to resources, was met with, ‘I’m not an abused woman, so no.’
It’s a phone call for goodness sake! And the people running such shelters are networked with every other woman’s aid org, in the city. Some outside the lines. They are aware, much more than most, that keeping a woman from falling into homelessness is much easier than lifting one out of homelessness.
No one is likely to understand better, that there are women who have special challenges and may need direction to assistance and aid for their very specific circumstances and conditions.
I know people who work in this sector and they are amazing advocates for finding access to resources, for those who don’t fit into the system easily.
But the OP feels it’s not even worth a phone call, so I’ll just wish her Good Luck!
If you knew how bad I am at phone calls - how difficult they are for me, and how my phone is expensive and hard for me to figure out - I wonder if you would maybe be less judgmental of me.
Since you asked, here’s a list of my limits. I don’t know how unusual each one is.
–Must be non-smoking. This is mandatory because I have lung problems. I know. I lived with a smoker for decades. I don’t hate smokers but I have to look after my health.
–Must be near public transit. Yes, I don’t drive. No, this isn’t a personal flaw. Also, cars and all of the associated costs are expensive.
–Must not have an abusive landlord. I can go into detail about the things my landlord has done, if you want. No, it’s not just me believing that he’s abusive when he’s not, or me being quick to judge someone as abusive.
–Must be by myself. I have health problems such as chronic cough, that tend to be annoying to those who live with me. My current landlord hates my coughing (I don’t live with him but he lives below me and this building is very not-soundproof.) Also, I find that other people tend to be overstimulating. It’s an autism thing. It’s the way I am.
–Many places are reluctant to rent to unemployed people. Society in general (and a lot of people on the internet) are very judgmental of unemployed people. It might be worth noting that if I had fewer health problems, and was better at selling, and had more time to work on things, I could maybe get off social assistance money.
No judgment here - we’re sorry you’re going through this. Maybe ignore the occasional comment made out of ignorance.
Stay strong! Take Carol up on her offer to PM