Communities often have many services available for homeless people who are permanently in that area. But what services are available for people in poverty who are transient and move from city to city and state to state? Can they show up to the social services office and say “I just got here, don’t know how long I’ll be here, but I’d like food and housing assistance”?
It would depend on the city and state, I’m thinking.
If they’re only looking for short-term help while they’re in that city temporarily, my guess is that they would typically be directed to a shelter.
I used to volunteer at a Memphis soup kitchen. At that time, there was at least one soup kitchen open in the downtown area every day. Their locations and schedules were well known in the homeless community.
We usually had about 300 men (rarely women) show up. There were some transients who actually came through on a regular schedule. One interesting guy (he definitely had opinions, particularly about '70s rock and roll) stayed with a family member in Florida during the winter and hit the road as soon as the weather turned warm farther north.