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Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#231

Post by Breza »

kaikai wrote: post #9

I’ve been homeless and am now an employed engineer, so I know it’s possible to make the leap. You can’t make it in one go, though. Get a better job, that can get you stable housing. I don’t know the job market in your area, but try looking for temp agencies. They will do a basic interview and help you find something that uses your existing skills. Until you get stable housing and your basic needs met, focus on what y…

> get food stamps

Great advice all around, but I'll emphasize this part. SNAP is becoming a de facto indicator of eligibility for all sorts of programs, from reduced price transit passes to Medicaid, depending on the state.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#232

Post by Breza »

eraviloi wrote: post #89
quickslowdown wrote: post #59

I have a spare laptop I could ship, it's running Linux now and cannot "officially" run Win11. It's a little older, Lenovo X1 Carbon with a chipped case & wonky touch bar for the Fn keys, but it works perfectly fine. If you're interested and want to drop a way to contact you, I'll figure out a way to ship it to you. Otherwise, as much as I loathe sending you to Facebook, the local "buy nothing" groups another commento…

Use General Delivery, it is an elite USPS hack. https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-is-General-Delivery

A great service. Commonly used by long distance hikers.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#233

Post by ENGNR »

mattzito wrote: post #211
ty6853 wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Of course it does - because both parents are responsible for the welfare of the children, and so if they both decide that they want to lower the standard of living that is a shared/joint agreement. So a couple points here 1) we've now moved the goal posts, we went from the child needs the same standard of living, to now it is OK to lower it if both decide, to whatever extent that happens in dual custody situations.…

I didn’t move the goal posts, I was referring to your married couple example. If you are married and you jointly agree to change the standard of living because of your shared goals/values, that’s your business. When you’re not married anymore, I’m in favor of the idea of making it easier to change child support payments in situations where things are amicable and jointly agreed to. I am very much aware that is not th…

You don't have to jointly agree though. If one person is just burned out being a middle manager at a tech company, they can choose to quit and move over to being a construction site traffic controller (holding road signs), for half the pay but a huge boost in happiness. Their partner might not like it, but they're not going to jail over it.

But then they get separated - you no longer have that choice, or you go to jail. It seems orwellian.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#234

Post by jart »

whatamidoingyo wrote: post #230
jart wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My best guess is he's a very unlikable person. Ask yourself: 1. why his wife kicked him out 2. why none of his friends would let him crash on their couch 3. why his best buddy is a sycophantic robot The donation thing isn't malicious I think, but an indicator of poor moral character. Donations should go to selfless people who are working hard to better society. Not someone who does drugs and sleeps in a car. I'm sure…

> If he wants to reform himself, then he needs to stop thinking about how tough his own life is and start devoting himself to others. I think we all needed to hear this. Good perspective. Yeah, I skipped over the OP and went directly to the comments. Bad judgment on my part. It's funny though, I checked his profile, and he indeed has PayPal and CashApp links. facepalm . It's clear what his intentions are.

Oh wow I assumed he was anonymous. So his LinkedIn says he's done a lot of web development gigs. He's had a GitHub account for 15 years but hasn't shared any projects and there's lot of suspicious activity in previous years. His X account allegedly has 11k followers but his timeline gets almost no engagement.

Now are you ready for the smoking gun?

He told a nearly identical story on Hacker News back in July and managed to raise $765.

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40714641

- https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-patricks-fight-for-stabil...

It's like I said earlier, whatever you incentivize, you'll get more of it. He's apparently been doing this since 2014!

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7854029

- https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=1&prefix=false&qu...

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#235

Post by immibis »

liamwire wrote: post #156
john_moscow wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No point in setting yourself on fire to keep others warm though.

If the alternative is that your kids go cold instead, let me be the first to offer you a match.

And what should that child do for warmth, when both of their parents are dead?

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#236

Post by devdlord »

I'm truly sorry to hear about your situation. What you’re going through is undoubtedly both physically and emotionally exhausting. Losing loved ones is heartbreaking, and when financial hardship adds to the burden—leaving you without even a roof over your head—life can feel unbearable.

But please, don’t lose hope. There are ways to navigate through this difficult time, and I’d love to share some ideas that might help improve your situation.

Steps to Rebuild and Find Stability: 1. First of all, get out of the whirlpool of despair. These few articles can help you.

https://www.themoneyprinciple.com/what-to-do-when-you-have-n...

https://www.quora.com/How-can-someone-deal-with-hard-times-i...

https://www.lifelords.com/lifestyle/how-to-be-happy-again-in...

2. Seek Temporary Shelter: If you have a trusted friend with their own home, consider asking if they can provide you with a place to stay for a short time (2-3 months). You could later offer some financial contribution as a gesture of goodwill. If that’s not an option, look for affordable housing on the outskirts of the city where rent is cheaper.

3. Explore Freelancing Opportunities: If you have a place to stay and access to the internet, freelancing can be a great way to earn money. Depending on your skills, platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer can provide opportunities to work remotely and generate a stable income.

4. Leverage Your Assets: If you own a car but are short on cash, consider renting it out or working with a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft to earn quick money. These services provide a flexible way to make an income when you need it most.

5. Take Any Job to Get Started: I know of someone who, despite being highly qualified, struggled to land a job in his field. Sometimes, tough times demand tough decisions. He took a temporary job as a waiter in a three-star hotel, saved money, and eventually secured a stable place to live. With time, he regained his footing and pursued his original career path. Today, he is a successful manager in a reputable company.

6. Trust the Process and Keep Moving Forward: Starting over is never easy, especially during difficult times, but have faith in yourself and in the journey ahead. Every small step counts. Believe that this phase will pass, and better days are ahead. Stay strong, keep going, and trust that life will turn around.

You are not alone in this, and there is always a way forward. Stay resilient!

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#237

Post by gremlinsinc »

jameswatling wrote: post #203

Hey, so I live in St George.... crazy small world - my email is on my profile. I work at the new Kiln co working space (they also have hotdesks), send me an email and let's connect

my email is on my profile didn't see yours on yours, would love to connect though.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#238

Post by gremlinsinc »

mirnoc wrote: post #64

You need to trade in (or sell) your desktop for a dev-capable laptop my dude. You can't freelance tech using a desktop computer from your car, but you sure can from a laptop in a cafe, local library, church.. etc. You'll also need one anyway if you're going back to school.

someone on here bought me a used MacBook. so yeah going to try freelancing that. I'll still do Uber (it's helped my mental health l but I don't want to rely on it and I want to save wear and tear on car so maybe just Saturdays...

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape homelessness after rebuilding my mental health?

#240

Post by gremlinsinc »

prawn wrote: post #63
gremlinsinc wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was making 50 per hour doing freelance programming two years ago but I've had trouble finding clients and then I didn't have a place to work from, making it even harder. That's my biggest obstacle. I've got 10+years experience with PHP, JavaScript, laravel. etc...

Is there a reason you're hooked on the desktop computer? Maybe you invested a lot in it as a gaming setup? I'd offload it, get a laptop and you're then capable of charging at a library, working there or in the car, in a park, etc. If you're on the cusp of a worsening situation, gaming might be the least of your worries. Lots of people live in vehicles quite intentionally. It's harder and very often not ideal, but I d…

it's got PHP and tooling and Arch Linux it's just what I'm comfortable with but I've got a MacBook (someone gifted me one from this thread) so yeah I'll definitely be using that for freelancing soon.
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