# Ask the former homeless guy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359 "2011-12-16T01:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/1 "2011-12-16T01:21:09Z")
Prompted by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634833). I spent most of 1990 [in this shelter](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=falls+church,+va&hl=en&ll=38.847679,-77.132328&spn=0.001358,0.004823&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=49.490703,79.013672&vpsrc=6&hnear=Falls+Church,+Virginia&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=38.84768,-77.133354&panoid=S9EoaGG8qU02ld8kAteeDA&cbp=12,35.58,,0,0), which was run by Salvation Army at the time. This was a couple of decades ago but if anyone has questions regarding what it was like, I’ll do my best to answer. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/2 "2011-12-16T02:11:31Z")
Was this a nightly shelter or did you know you could count on a bed there for a few days in advance? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/3 "2011-12-16T02:16:33Z")
Were you friends with the other Falls Church regulars? What did you need the most? What would have been the best thing a local Good Samaritan could have done for you? (This is not just a theorectical question- there are some homeless guys I know in my college neighborhood, that I sometimes buy food for, and I wish I could just help them). ---
**Author:** ![BTEzra04](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9f8e36/32.png) [@BTEzra04](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BTEzra04)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/4 "2011-12-16T02:24:48Z")
How did you manage to get out of being homeless? It must have been very difficult, from the impression I get from things I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/5 "2011-12-16T02:29:39Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Was this a nightly shelter or did you know you could count on a bed there for a few days in advance? Little of both. I got there at exactly at the right time; there was an open bed. Having sprained an ankle the day before probably helped. Those who weren’t so lucky were stuck with an overnight cot in the meeting room until a bed was available and they had to be off the premises after breakfast. > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Were you friends with the other Falls Church regulars? Some. Not much to do during the day except play Spades, Rummy, or Scrabble. There also were a few educational games for the couple of Commodore 64s in the meeting room. > [@](#): > > What did you need the most? What would have been the best thing a local Good Samaritan could have done for you? New eyeglasses! Fortunately, one of the staff social workers got in touch with a local Lions Club and they covered the bill. New shoes would have been good, too. A bunch of donated ones arrived one day but none of them really fit me. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/6 "2011-12-16T02:34:32Z")
> [@Kemanchi](#): > > How did you manage to get out of being homeless? It must have been very difficult, from the impression I get from things I’ve read. I had been in touch with a social worker who was helping me get into her group home program when my housing situation changed. Drove me to the shelter herself. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/7 "2011-12-16T02:41:37Z")
I believe the Salvation Army has a religious basis. Did they require you to participate in services, bible studies, etc? -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/8 "2011-12-16T02:43:00Z")
What led to you getting out of the shelter? Do you donate/give change/have more sympathy for the homeless now that you’ve been through it? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/9 "2011-12-16T02:43:24Z")
Jobs were nice. Sometimes people would come by with offers to hire a few of us for day labor. Made like 50 bucks one afternoon as part of a crew helping a guy clear his very overgrown garden. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/10 "2011-12-16T02:50:34Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I believe the Salvation Army has a religious basis. Did they require you to participate in services, bible studies, etc? Only participation requirements were a Monday morning mental health meeting and, for alcoholics, the Wednesday (IIRC) night AA meeting. > [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > What led to you getting out of the shelter? A spot finally opened in the group home program I mentioned in post #6. Prior to that, one of the staff social workers had been trying to get me into the young adult portion of Job Corps. Turned down because Dad made too much. > [@](#): > > Do you donate/give change/have more sympathy for the homeless now that you’ve been through it? If I encounter a nice panhandler, more often than not I’ll give them some spare cash. Had a regular near Pentagon City Metro until my commute took me in a different direction. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/11 "2011-12-16T02:51:15Z")
Hope it’s okay to add our stories. I was homeless for several months too, with a child. We slept in our car and at a friend’s barn when I couldn’t get someone to let me spend the night. I stayed with a relative off and on until I could afford the deposit and 2 months rent for our apartment. The hardest part was not having good credit so I had to convince my aunt to let me get everything in her name. It was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever had to beg for but at least we had a place to ourselves. If she hadn’t done that for me I don’t know how I’d have ever found a place I could afford where the owners didn’t mind bad credit. I had no rental history because I’d lived for years in the house I grew up in, not in my name and then in my ex-husband’s name. I never bothered going to a shelter but I did go to a church for a food basket and I signed up for welfare. They signed me up for section 8 but they never had the funds. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/12 "2011-12-16T02:55:59Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Hope it’s okay to add our stories. Not a problem. 🙂 > [@](#): > > I never bothered going to a shelter but I did go to a church for a food basket and I signed up for welfare. They signed me up for section 8 but they never had the funds. My first place after the group homes was an apartment subsidized by section 8, until I got tired of the bureaucracy keeping me away from work twice a year. I was reaching the upper earnings limit by then, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/13 "2011-12-16T21:03:53Z")
What were the circumstances that got you into your situation of being homeless? ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/14 "2011-12-16T22:55:02Z")
What’s your take on what (mostly) causes homelessness? What one thing or handful of things could the government or private individuals due to best combat homelessness? I’m pretty passionate about homelessness and have volunteered to build houses and have helped at shelters, but I’d like to try and get to the root of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/15 "2011-12-17T00:29:01Z")
Were you offered drugs a lot? Ever? Did you ever take up any such offers? I know that addiction and homelessness are often comorbid, although that seems to be changing in the recession. It seems that lots of the recently homeless aren’t addicts or losers or uneducated, they were simply unlucky. I’m wondering if there are significant temptations to fall in with the “addiction lifestyle.” ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/16 "2011-12-17T01:32:09Z")
Being homeless several times in my life has really helped me. I am willing to take financial and other risks I would never have done otherwise. As being homeless is about the worst thing that can happen. And it ain’t that big of a deal. It is slighly better than almost homeless. Much more assistance and the fear of losing everythign is gone. As it is already gone, almost liberating. When things get really bad in my life I sometimes fantasize about being homeless or finding a way to go back to jail. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/17 "2011-12-17T01:43:55Z")
Other than saving money, staying healthy, and making good friends (who could help you out in times of trouble), what are some good things a non-homeless person who is making ends meet can do right now to help prevent them from ever becoming homeless? ---
**Author:** ![dragoncat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@dragoncat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragoncat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/18 "2011-12-17T01:52:24Z")
While you were homeless, how did you spend your days? How hard is it to hold down a job when you are homeless? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/19 "2011-12-17T02:51:10Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > What were the circumstances that got you into your situation of being homeless? Lost - technically encouraged to quit by Personnel - my job just before Christmas. Ended up crashing with my brother while I looked for work but got fed up with my prospects, and he got fed up with me when he came home early after a bad day. > [@phreesh](#): > > What’s your take on what (mostly) causes homelessness? Lack of affordable housing. Some of us aren’t cut out for subletting rooms from others and my little 1BR apartment was $650/mo in 1999 when I was notified that my lease would not be renewed. > [@](#): > > What one thing or handful of things could the government or private individuals due to best combat homelessness? All I can think of at the moment is “Don’t go all NIMBY on proposals to build low-income housing.” > [@rachelellogram](#): > > Were you offered drugs a lot? Ever? Did you ever take up any such offers? Nope. Salvation Army runs very clean shelters. Anything stronger than nicotine required a prescription. Anyone caught with illegal substances were quickly removed, and there were a few when I was there. > [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Other than saving money, staying healthy, and making good friends (who could help you out in times of trouble), what are some good things a non-homeless person who is making ends meet can do right now to help prevent them from ever becoming homeless? What really helped me when I was on the verge of losing my apartment was a first-time homebuyer’s program run by my bank. Still had to come up with three grand for a down payment but one of my sisters gave me that. Those who have a mortgage need to keep abreast of which lender owns it and don’t fall for anything that says to stop making payments, even if it comes from your lender. > [@dragoncat](#): > > While you were homeless, how did you spend your days? When not looking for work, or hired as a day laborer, I found ways to keep busy. When not playing games, I had a Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball and spent most of the time making notations in it for use with a computer baseball game, which I never got around to. After a couple of months, I started making sure I was elsewhere on Monday mornings in order to avoid the mental meeting. > [@](#): > > How hard is it to hold down a job when you are homeless? Surprisingly easy for those who can use a shelter as a permanent address. The majority were employed somewhere while I was there. One of my friends was a security guard and another was a night stock clerk at a nearby hardware store. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359/20 "2011-12-17T03:20:04Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Some of us aren’t cut out for subletting rooms from others What do you mean by this? Are you saying there is some fraction of homeless people who could afford to sublet a room or something, but choose not to? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-homeless-guy/606359.md?page=2)