Tips For A More Comfortable Homelessness

[Punter]

I agree possessions on the street become a hinderance and make you easily identifiable and a possibe target for thieves and even the authorities.

When I was on the street 3 years ago I had my bag and blankets etc removed from my secret stash place near where I was sleeping. Basically I lost everything and was left with just the clothes on my back.

This time around I had a backpack with my personal docs and a change of clothes which I never left unattended in any circumstances.

The rest of my stuff (mostly clothes) was being stored at a shelter I was in before ending up back on the street. Most shelters here in Oz will store your gear and keep your mail for at least a month. I have since re entered the shelter and collected my clothes and mail which was very handy.

Another storage option here in Brisbane is personal lockers at the 139 Club which is a drop in centre. For a refundable fee of $5 you can purchase a lock and are allocated a locker to store your belongings. The centre keeps 1 key you keep the other and you have access to your belongings during centre opening hours. It's a great service that I'm sure other facilities offer both here and overseas.

My tip is find suitable storage for the bulk of your possessions and travel as light as possible.

[Chaplain D]

Are the characters portrayed on TV giving the real impression of what to do to keep warm and sleep comfortable?
I see some actors there who have old rags and boxes and plastic bags and all in their
sleeping area. Does that portray real life on the streets or are they hamming it up a bit?
Just wanting to know.

Thanks

[Tom.]

The media always tend to show street homeless people in the worst possible light. The characters that they like to film or publicise may well indeed be street homeless, but not a fair representation of the majority of street homeless people.

In answer to your question Chaplin. Yes, some do sleep like that, but the majority of us do not. We like to keep clean and tidy. In my case, and I know many of my colleagues likewise clean up behind ourselves in the morning before leaving our sleeping places, leaving no sign that we have been there.

[badbobby656]

punter got the right idea and some change won't hurt to wash your other change of clothes !!

[noneshere]

There are times when some people tend to get too comfortable in the area they find .

Yes there are many in the northern Big cities that find old cardboard refrigerator boxes to make shelter in .

Packed with clothes from the thrift store dumpster, it makes a quite warm shelter even in the snow conditions.

Most of the people I see with bad "trashy" areas are (humm.....How to say?) below the average, or usual mentality levels. ( mentally ill or.... Addictions )

I met a guy one time who kept a heavy duty jumpsuit cover-all's .
He would pickup the free newspapers and advertisements in the evenings on his way to his spot, and ball the sheets of newspaper up , stuffing them in the cover-all's all over his body .

I watch him for months ..........It worked good for him , even on the coldest nights and mornings he never went to the shelters.

In the morning he would awake, get out of his cover-all's, and put all the newspaper balls in a plastic grocery bag and set them in the trash.

I thought he had a pretty nifty set up for himself .

The news papers seemed to work as excellent insulation inside the suit.

[mike22]

check skips round the back of shops they chuck food out by the sell by date not use by date, plus charity shops chuck alot of stuff out.I normally look for money at night around pubs,nightclubs,taxi ranks,phone boxes can find quite a bit if its a busy area.try and get candles from churches,great for in derelict buildings.As mentioned the cardboard is great easy to get hold off and stops those pains in the legs from the hard floor.I always try and use the internet, listen to music or kick a football around just to kill boredom and feel normal for a bit.Agree with the comment on being careful who to trust i made this mistake and now keep myself to myself,whilst trying not to seem ignorant.Keep everywhere tidy,and try to reduce the chances of people finding out where u sleep by leaving early in the morning etc.

[pok]

Originally Posted by noneshere

Possessions become worries and hindrances real quickly .

When trying to hitchhike It's pretty easy if you don't have a bunch of stuff and never keep a Dog.

You gotta be able to just get in and go .

And your more appt to be picked up walking down the road then at the intersection .

If you saw someone walking down the road with .......nothing........... in the middle of nowhere ..........wouldn't you offer assistance to the next exit at-least?

Yes it is civilized human nature to do so...................But not if you have a Dog or bunch of stuff................It become to heck-tick


Well I just figured I would offer some of my experiences to this post and look forward to seeing more ideas that will help people stay comfortable as they possibly could be when faced with the hurdles of homelessness .

TTFN

- noneshere

i hitch with a dog, my wife and we both have very large packs. we never have trouble getting rides.


pok

[pok]

i find it best to stay away from the " homeless circut" when finding a place to set up camp.


pok

[AnotherSun]

I maybe repeating someones here, I havent read em all yet.
But to pick a bunch of flowers place them into colored paper from a bin and sleep with them on your lap gets you a few hours nap on the waiting room seats of a big hospital on a wet day.

Having any ticket even an old one but clean one in your hand visible gets you a longer nap in a train waiting room.Check the times pick a train that leaves in a few hours time if your asked.

[Jordan_]

• I love to take what I call a 'country shower'. I know of 2 ways doing it. Number One is to buy 4 purified water jugs (super cheap), body wash, washcloth/body sponge, and deoderant. Find a private place outside where you are not visible to public (under a bridge, abandoned building). If you have long hair, wash it first, this will take all the water in one jug. Use the next 2 to wash your smelly parts and dirty spots. Use the 4th jug wash out the soap from under you, your body sponge/washcloth, body wash bottle, and extra suds on your skin. Number Two is if you stay near a river all you need is one water jug, a mat or two separate portable flat surfaces to lay down on the end of the shore beside the shallow water. You will have to stretch your body a little to dunk the water jug/bottle with the opening in it upward underwater so that water enters the jug faster. Showering this way makes it easier to wash the suds off your hands.
  AND REMEMBER, IF NOT SO OBVIOUS, TO SHOWER THIS WAY ONLY IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER.
  
• Try not to stare hard at police cars often. If they find out you are homeless they will bug you frequently.
  
• Always save up for a day bus pass to get a food box if you run out of money. You can find out what churches give out food boxes buy typing in 'food bank' in the Google Maps search engine.

[Tom.]

Try not to stare hard at police cars often. If they find out you are homeless they will bug you frequently.

Very good advice Jordan ... Police react a lot to 'eye contact' so if you wish to be a part of the crowd do not draw attention to yourself by staring.

Also worthy of mention is not to loiter near banks or 'hole-in-the-wall' cash machines if you want to be free from police harrassment.

[Brian Marriot]

I recently bought a gadget that may be useful for people experiencing homelessness, indeed many people would already be using them. At K-Mart, for $7.00, you can get a small wind-up torch (no need to change batteries), that had adapters included which can charge your mobile phone. Ive just bought one to test-drive, and I'll post my opinion of it sonn if anyone is interested. With many homeless youth I work with, they all have a mobile phone, but most have either got a flat battery or no charger anymore. This cheap device solves both problems I think, and is very portable. The LED torch is practical too, and the gizmo is no bigger than an older type analog nokia phone, or modern cordless phone handset (wearable on a belt, or easily fits into a bag).
(K-Mart is in Australia, other models of this same kind of gadget, around $12.00, are in Woolworths) This is the kind of thing I'm talking about..

[torrentula81]

This is my first forum post so heres my background. I've been homeless in a few different cities Miami FL, mobile AL, Spokane WA, Seattle WA, and most recently Portland OR. I think god figured i had suffered enough being homeless and met girl, have child now, but I regularly on rainy nights never forget where I've been and still could be. Were all one paycheck away it seems.

First tip I have is research. The city you choose to ride out your homeless stretch in is probly the biggest most important choice if your goal is to get off the streets. Life is hard enough as it is you don't need law officials passing ridicules laws and cutting funding from programs needed to help you out. I've kept to bigger cities thinking theres more resources to get help. That mey not be true but you do need a decent transit system to find work.

Shelters are ok for winter but to be honest I was afraid of getting all kinds of deseases sleeping side by side not to mention day after day of sermons just to get a meal grows old. So find a spot to squat. An abondoned house is real nice. Anywhere really where your out of site from public is considered good.

Get all the free services you can for laundry, bus tickets, and clothes. Use those supplies wisely cause when they are gone, you may not have a second chance to get more any time soon.

rent a storage for 30 bucks a month. Great place to change clothes, regroup.

Day labor jobs were never kind for me. Found job on weekends for business hold sign. Donate plasma. Ask people for work. Literally ask. I found a 2 yr construction job in New Orleans at a truck stop. Thats the one big break your looking for so have to ask strangers constantly for work even if it does take 6 months of asking.

Stay away from drugs. I became an addict for 3 months on meth. Thank god I wasnt truely addicted. I could have easily been though. I even tried heroin 3 times just because I was curioud. What kind of a reason is that. And here I have a sister who struggles with drugs in and out of rehab. It could have been me, it could be you so just don't go there.

Everyone is talking about physically comfortable but to me the challenge was staying mentally sane. Not letting the streets rip apart the good qualities inside and turning me into a cold bitter man with no passion or hope. Sitting at coffee shops to stay warm I would hear people talk about there daily lives and it was hard not to have someone to talk with like that let alone have a life like that as well. So to keep mentally stable I wrote alot in journals. Probably had 10k pgs in 3 years. Its what kept me going. I met friends who were in low income free housing programs. Better then the homeless people I ate and slept next to for sure. Too many mental cases. Nothing to gain knowing them, I didn't know them.

In the end I didnt get myself off the streets directly per say. I met a girl who owned a home, and we have a child now. I survived the streets for 5 years with my soul still intact. That's the key message I want to urge people about. Keep who you are on the inside alive cause all the rest can be replaced.

[Dominic]

solid first post there, welcome to the forums.

[Jor-EL]

Originally Posted by noneshere

There are times when some people tend to get too comfortable in the area they find .

Yes there are many in the northern Big cities that find old cardboard refrigerator boxes to make shelter in .

Packed with clothes from the thrift store dumpster, it makes a quite warm shelter even in the snow conditions.

Most of the people I see with bad "trashy" areas are (humm.....How to say?) below the average, or usual mentality levels. ( mentally ill or.... Addictions )

I met a guy one time who kept a heavy duty jumpsuit cover-all's .
He would pickup the free newspapers and advertisements in the evenings on his way to his spot, and ball the sheets of newspaper up , stuffing them in the cover-all's all over his body .

I watch him for months ..........It worked good for him , even on the coldest nights and mornings he never went to the shelters.

In the morning he would awake, get out of his cover-all's, and put all the newspaper balls in a plastic grocery bag and set them in the trash.

I thought he had a pretty nifty set up for himself .

The news papers seemed to work as excellent insulation inside the suit.

I remember my late uncle Art telling me that soldiers during WWII would often slept in much the same manner during cold weather. They would first get out of any wet clothes they might be wearing and then pack what ever newspapers they had on hand (Stars & Stripes) between themselves and the blankets. My uncle said that getting out of any wet clothes first, played a big part in getting some warmth generated inside the blankets.

[Slum Jack]

I found bicycles to be important equipment, and to gear them up with the ability to carry quite a bit too. I used a plastic "coca-cola" tray attached to a rear rack to increase the payload back there, and got a front basket on sale at a bike store. I also picked up a two-seater "child" bike trailer that I adapted to gear use too.

This all allowed me to carry far, far more than was possible otherwise and it can be done pretty tidily which avoids the stigma of shopping carts, etc. I can park that rig even in biz districts and outside of cafe's. And, for those recycling, it improves the collection and delivery routines.

I also obtained a "thermarest" camping "self-inflating" sleeping pad and a "closed cell" shorter one. These two provide enough cushion to make sleeping on concrete far more comfortable and insulate against cold AND moisture.

A waterproof "bivvy" (bivouac) bag as an outer shell for the sleeping bag(s) cuts wind, adds a good protection against lighter fogs, drizzles, etc. but also is a "breathable" type fabric (goretex) which avoids moisture condensing and collecting inside. MUCH more comfortable and cleaner. It can also be used alone for groundcloth for sitting/napping on grass that's still damp during the day.

A rockclimber/spelunker's headlamp is an ideal type of flashlight, as it directs the light where you're looking while keeping your hands free.

[dragongirlhellfire]

On the streets, is it smarter to have a bunch of friends to stick with all the time or go your own way?
Just out of curiosity, because I don't know much except what I've read on these forums. I would think it would be safer to have a group, even a small one, to stay with at night and watch out for each other etc., but I have no experience in homelessness and all of the people with that kind of experience whose posts I've read have seemed to not be part of any sort of 'gang' or anything. Can someone please tell me?

[findingmyself]

Also important, aquire a metro pcs/cricket/boost mobil cell phone at all costs, even a safelink or trac phone. sure its a expense, but let me tell you what. You can get job calls on it, call for food banks, get a place to stay, and talk to people, go online and ask for help if you must fly the sign. Its a tool you need, if possible 40 to 50 dollar unlimited plans are best and pay for themselfs, trust me, women who are hooking or guys, this is what you need, as a lifeline...

[findingmyself]

I also disagree about classes of homelessness. That is very much true. You have the non working type, the sell food stamps for beer kind. Then the working ones who want out, then the ones with cars, the young junkies, the hookers, all types, its a whole caste system in it self....

[professionallynasty]

~ Germ X®...and liquid bacterial gel in general is a great 'shower in a bottle'.

Along the lines of keeping mentally sane:

~ Smiling politely, polite conversation etc may help people not to fear you
as the big, bad, criminally insane houseless guy they think you are.

~ Clean up your surroundings even if public area. You are useful and shopkeepers
around the square may think twice about calling the police to roust you off 'their' turf.



That's all I got for now.

I haven't been homeless for eons (and hope never to be) but those a few of the things I picked up.