10 Tips On How To Survive If You’re Homeless

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a report in 2017 revealed that there are over 554,000 homeless people in the United States.

Over 34% of this number makes up women and children, with the amount of displaced people in the West Coast increasingly rising at alarming rates. When people think of homelessness, immediately the mind may go to those who are living on the streets, dirty, unemployed, suffering from mental illness, or substance abuse; however, this is not the only face of homelessness in our country.

Our homeless population includes people who are seemingly able-bodied and sound of mind, who are just unable to hold down a job or exist in corporate and conventional spaces. These people are creatives, artists, free spirits, gifted minds, and entrepreneurs who often operate from a space of passion that rejects any level of capitalistic control. Oftentimes, these individuals are accused of being lazy, prideful, unmotivated, broke, and destitute.

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The emotional, mental, cultural, economical, and energetic effects on these individuals are detrimental, and disempowering to say the least.

As someone who currently faces this very scary reality, I know that it is hard to find someone that can understand your inability to fit in certain modes without judgement or projection. I recently left NY after being screwed out of $1,900 by my landlord, and left homeless. Before moving to the West Coast, I spent weeks going back and forth from couch to crash pad because I had nowhere to live. I almost slept at the Port Authority one night and shared a bed with my father a few nights. With the weather being too cold in New York at this time of year, I knew that I could not survive the winter in this way.

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Many people in my life, don't understand why I don't just go back to bartending like I have been for years. It becomes so exasperating to explain to people who cannot understand that my spirit will no longer allow me to do things that it is not aligned with.

I am currently living in a hostel, where I am struggling to keep my bed every week. I have considered the idea of an LA shelter just to save money until I can secure a viable income. The reason I felt inspired to write this piece was because I felt judged by one of my roommates in the same living arrangements as me who told me I was being "prideful" for not doing what I used to. That triggered my memory of freezing to death behind that bar in a corset, fishnets, and booty shorts, fighting off gross advances of sleazy men trying to get me back to their hotel room after my shift every single day.

This read will share some encouraging words of practical and emotional advice for those who will need it most, in a world where sticking to your ultimate truth pigeonholes you as a "bum."

1. First Thing First:

If you are facing immediate displacement, find shelter right away. Surely due to your free-spirited nature, pride and ego has already been checked at the door. Ask friends and family for a couch or spare room to crash in. If you don't have that option, there are also low cost hostel-type accommodations with crashpad beds starting as low as $15 a night in some states. You can find them on Airbnb. If your financial situation is more dire, call 211 for resources. Get inside, warm, and safe.

2. Get Some Government Cheese:

If you haven't done so already, utilize every resource your state has to offer in EBT, cash assistance, and health care. In some states, you will be able to take home food stamps the same day, as well as emergency cash assistance. There are some programs that will get you into "transitional living," and pay for all or part of your accommodations, depending on your situation.

3. Ask for Help:

Don't be afraid to ask for help. If you need cash, just to get through the next week, do not be above asking for it directly. Post your plight on Facebook groups that support women or artists specifically. Asking for advice might get you some leads to not only jobs and housing, but may also move someone to donate to your situation. I posted my situation to a woman's group on Facebook and was offered donations that helped me pay for another week at the hostel.

4. Try Crowdfunding:

You could start a campaign on platforms like GoFundMe to share with your family and friends. You would be surprised who could help you and these platforms also allow for strangers to get involved.

5. Travel Light:

If you are going to be moving around, take with you only what you need. Free yourself of excess belongings. If you can afford it, put the big things in storage. If you don't have that in your budget, sell anything that is worth money that you absolutely don't need. It is all material. If you let it go, the universe will eventually return that blessing threefold.

6. Securing Supplemental Income:

It is likely that your passions, art, or entrepreneurial business is not paying all of the bills. It is also likely that you engage in whatever that is because, on an energetic level, your mind, body, and spirit rejects working a "regular" job where you hustle to contribute to someone else's dream whilst being disrespected, underappreciated, overworked, and underpaid. Find an industry that you can stomach with the understanding that even that is temporary, but ALWAYS stay true to yourself and listen to your gut. Use this income to stay housed and invest in your passion.

7. Use Social Apps For Temporary Work:

Apps like Postmates, Taskrabbit, Uber/Lyft, and Rover (Dog Walking) can bring in some cash. If you have a license, Lyft will give you a free car to start driving. There are also freelancers sites where you can put your creative proficiencies to work. Try websites like Upwork and Fiverr. There are also a bunch of private and closed groups on Facebook that make up a network of creative and artistic people. "Inspired Women of Los Angeles" is a group that I am in.

8. Don't Beat Yourself Up:

Know that you have untied and deactivated a lot of societal conditioning. Many of us have been taught that in order to be successful, we have to follow one modality upwards. That same route leaves so many people unhappy and unfulfilled by the end of 50 years of their working lives. Pat yourself on the back for freeing your spirit and living from your heart center guided by intuition. Don't measure your external success and worth with the same measuring stick of someone who punches the clock everyday.

9. Use Meditation to Soothe Your Soul:

Going against the grain of social norms can be hard, but don't lose hope. Use meditation and positive affirmations to keep your spirits up, your mind grounded, and your morale afloat. Giving yourself daily pep talks will help you deal with feelings of inadequacy or failure.

10. Don't Worry, This is Temporary:

Keep writing, keep creating, keep doing whatever it is you do. Don't let your circumstances spoil your spirit to the point that you give up on your purpose. Stand your ground. Continue to find inspiration.

You are the master, the creator of your energetic reality. If you create it from fear, reality will respond accordingly. If you create it from trust and surrender, you will receive everything you desire and more.