Finding Homeless Housing - Getting Started

HOW CAN PEOPLE CONTACT YOU?

1 - Get A Phone - a Mobile Cellphone

When you are homeless you cannot have a home landline phone. A mobile cellphone you can take with you anywhere. Make sure you have an AC power adapter too.

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GET A FREE MOBILE PHONE WITH FREE MONTHLY CELLPHONE SERVICE!

Seriously.

If you are over 65 years old or are disabled you qualify for a FREE phone and FREE monthly service. This is also referred to as an Obama phone.

In this day and age we all need a mobile cellphone.
You MUST specify that you want FREE mobile phone service, otherwise they will bill you instead of the government. The mobile phone service provider will typically also give you a free mobile phone.

Having a telephone or mobile cellphone is crucial to being able to communicate with people today who can help you. This is especially true once you become homeless. Also, if you do banking online or need to access various services, people will need to be able to reach you, and they will call your mobile phone.

2 - Get A Email

An email account that YOU will have access to yourself on your own mobile cellphone.

Having an email account is crucial for people to be able to communicate with you. This is especially true when you become homeless as email can be sent to you directly at any time regardless of where you might be, or if your mobile phone needs to be charged.

People will want to communicate with you. Email can be sent or read at anytime, especially if you are somewhere that your mobile phone has no signal, looses the connection or your battery has run out of power.

Also various agencies and organizations that can help you will need at least one email address to contact you about services and potential apartments.

3 - Get a Postal Mail Delivery Address

Get a mailing address like a Post Office box, or connect with a local agency such as the Berkeley Drop-in Center as they offer mail service.

4 - Get Document Ready

Applying to a potential housing option such as an apartment usually requires that you be ‘Document Ready’.

What is meant by the term Document Ready?

Being Document Ready simply means that you have collected copies of these documents. -Social Security card -Driver’s License card -State ID card -Senior ID card -Birth Certificate

Different housing options may require additional documentation, this is a basic list to get you started.

You will typically need to provide appropriate copies of these documents along with copies of your income verification such as your Social Security Monthly Benefits statement.

As soon as you get connected with your social worker, case manager or housing navigator they can help you make sure you have these documents and they will keep copies of these documents on file for later reference.

Now is the time to be ‘Document Ready’, which you will need to be before you begin applying for housing options such as an apartment.

5 - Social Security - Monthly Benefits Information

Social Security will need your mobile telephone number and an email address in order to reach you.

The local Social Security office can also show you how you can view what your current monthly payment is as well as email you a copy. This will become even more important once you start applying for an apartment as many landlords will require income verification. Getting an electronic copy that is emailed to you directly saves you time - the time that you would have to directly to your local Social Security office to get a copy printed paper copy of this very information.

Emailing a copy of your monthly income amount will be something you need to do repeatedly before locating a suitable apartment. Most landlords will also require you to send them an up-to-date copy of your monthly income from Social Security. Many landlords will also require you to provide an updated copy even while you are in a new apartment.

6 - Call 211

- Do I need to call and when should I call?

Many may suggest that you call 211 first, which is a good place to start IF you know what you need. You need to be concise and brief.

The staff at 211 will ask you various questions to determine what you specifically need when you call. Because each answer you give the operator will determine what their next step and answer will be, you need to prepare some of your most important points or questions before you call 211.

If you are not properly focused on your specific needs, when you call 211, it can be very challenging to help you get what you need. Assess your needs and be specific when you call. These folks are trained to help you - based on the answers you provide.

7 - Transportation

If you are 65 or older, various transportation options might offer discounts to seniors and people with disabilities. For example, BART, AC Transit and many more use ClipperCards and there is a Senior discount card which saves you 50% off each trip on these transportation services.

8 - Get Help From A Social Worker

Finding a Social Worker can be a challenge, however, once very good place is to start at your health clinic. If they do not have one on staff, they can probably refer you to a social worker who can help you.

9 - Food - Where To Get Food To Eat?

There are numerous soup kitchens available to people who need them. Some are run by various city agencies, organizations and many local churches run soup kitchens. Some also offer daily or weekly meals and food for homeless people.

When we become homeless our priorities in life change, dramatically. Whatever our top priorities were, when you become homeless your life has changed in ways you never imagined. Adapting to your current situation can take time and patience, but it is necessary to survive.

Food becomes a top priority because when you become homeless you have no place to store your food, and your ability to store food to prepare and eat from day to day requires you to have a home or apartment with services like electricity and heating. These changes dramatically change how and when you eat, along with what you are able to eat. Talk about your life changing.

Your ability to eat well and eat what you want when you want to change profoundly. You no longer have the ability to determine what you eat, when or where.

How do we move forward when survival is all you can think about and worry about. Where am I getting my next meal is your top priority. What your next meal will be is now. Beyond your control. You take what you can when you can, and as you can - just to survive.

10 - Clothing To Wear

There is no planning on what you will wear for clothes today, tomorrow, next week or even this summer. You wear what you have on you - because it might be all that you have to wear period.

Finding more clothes to wear and change into will be something that you need. You might not need more clothes right now, but you will soon.

11 - Housing - Temporary - Where can you live now, or even sleep overnight?

Finding a place to live is far more challenging when one becomes homeless. There are temporary housing options depending on your location. Sleeping in your car is only a possible option IF you have a car.

Different cities may offer different services that are specific to a city, county or area so check with your social worker to see if they are aware of any such services.

For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area in Alameda County there is a service called BACS or Bay Area Community Services, this agency may be able to help you find temporary housing in your current city or area in Alameda County.

12 - Housing - Permanent - The Real Search Begins

How you became homeless now is not important. What is important now is finding a place to live now. A place to call home. A place to keep your belongings and clothing.

I can just go find an apartment in a location of my choosing, right? Wrong.

The housing market for affordable housing is so tight in the San Francisco Bay Area and the demand is so high, that people windup becoming homeless before they are able to find an available apartment. This process can take many months and even years before they can find an apartment they can afford.

Just picking up and going somewhere else is not easy or realistic, and takes money, time and resources - which you probably do not have much of, now that you are homeless. Lack of funding may be the very reason you have become homeless. And this lack of funding can virtually prevent you from moving anywhere else.

Only old folks looking for an affordable apartment, can just get one right away, right? Wrong. All ages need housing that they can afford here and now. This is no easy task for anyone, but the San Francisco Bay Area has an increased demand for affordable housing.

13 - Storage

Where can you keep your things and belongings when you no longer have a home?

No home usually means no place to store your belongings. You have no place to store or keep your things because you are now homeless.

If you are fortunate enough to have a storage unit to keep your things, great. However, you CANNOT LIVE in a storage unit - you need an apartment or home.

14 - Who Is Homeless?

How did they become homeless? If you do not have a regular home to live in, you are homeless. How this has happened is not important now - you are simply homeless now.

Things To Ponder About

We are seniors and disabled folks in the community who are seeking to help ourselves, each other and our communities by sharing helpful information and resources that we need as we age.

We seek to learn, document and share information about resources and services we senior citizens and disabled folks need.

We are striving to improve our local communities for ourselves, our friends and families by connecting, networking and helping us find the resources we need as we age and become disabled.

Finding the services, organizations and housing we need change as we age and become seniors and disabled, this group strives to share helpful information for us seniors and disabled folks specifically in the community.

We are a diverse community of seniors and disabled folks with diverse knowledge, skills and experiences. Our hope is to connect with each other to network, share information and help us feel not quite so alone as we folks age.

We must network with each other and the service agencies that help us - to create a visible and unified presence at city halls that fund what we need. Government and elected officials who spend our tax monies need to hear and see we are alive, and have real needs for services.

Most importantly city hall meetings need to see we are real, we are still alive and we need services and support now. Unless our voices are heard and we are seen, we become invisible - resulting in services and programs we need lose funding and get eliminated entirely.

We are real people who need our senior centers and services! Our voices must heard! We must be seen!

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FindingHomelessHousing.org -> or masspride.net/findinghomelesshousing