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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?

#71

Post by jasonjmcghee »

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…

(to the top) take up this very generous person on the offer and start using their laptop. you've said in a number of threads using the desktop is the biggest hurdle - so use this laptop.

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

#72

Post by jbirer »

First of all, your situation is completely normal for the time period we live in. A few people I thought would never become homeless (web3 engineers who used to make 300K a month etc) are on the verge of it now. Pretty insane combination of a mental health and economic crisis we have going on.

>I’m willing to work. I know I can earn 3-4x more doing freelance tech, but I can’t do that from a car.

Why not? There are homeless people doing Amazon Turk from cafes in Hong Kong.

Second, you need to focus on fast money making sources. That's Lyft, shoveling snow, micro-tasks (I help people with Solana developer questions in the Raydium Discord for example, earning 100-200$ per small script), food stamps, church handouts, it does not matter. Cash quick. You need some quick money to ease up the stress so you can focus on the next big leap. You'll get to the big tech job, but until then, you need to focus on your current reality.

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

#73

Post by dvsfish »

reactordev wrote: post #69

I’ve been there. I lost my marriage, my house, my money, my parents, my job, everything. Literally $100k in the hole with $0 in the bank. Sounds like you know how to survive, which is perfect… here’s what you do. Ditch uber/lyft and get your CDL. They’ll pay you and train you and give you a job. Plus, you get a nice sleeper truck to sleep in that’s more spacious than your car. (If you have the cash, an RV works inste…

I feel like this would be great advice if "CDL" was unambiguously googleable. This might be regional but I have no idea what this is meant to mean.

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

#74

Post by AStonesThrow »

AStonesThrow wrote: post #44

Here's my thoughts, as I've been through this several times-- 1. I really believe that you need housing. Spending on motels and office space is counterproductive. (But many folks who need showers and hygiene will register for a gym membership, or use a municipal rec center.) 2. Figure out whether you're part of a special population, or have any distinguishing qualities, that would match you with a particular program.…

Also, beware of dated resources and the shifting ground of every social-service agency.

There are always changes in funding, in types of support, in areas of coverage, and qualifications to get that assistance. 9 times out of 10, when I pick up a flyer where someone's compiled dozens of resources, the numbers are disconnected, the addresses changed, and the services are no longer offered.

So you can collect scraps of paper and promising websites, but it's important to tap into knowledge/insight from people who are on-the-ground and know the landscape, in terms of what is offered in your region, in March 2025. And that may include fellow homeless folks, who are surprisingly good at spreading word-of-mouth type information, if you can discern the truth and usable facts.

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

#75

Post by danbrooks »

Sorry to hear about all that you are going through.

Looking at your profile - it appears as though you've worked extensively in technology in the past - and are reporting a cash crunch currently.

First order of business seems to be securing a place to live. Could be a friends couch or a room to rent.

Longer term, resuming employment in the tech industry seems to be a good path to financial security.

A couple of questions - is there a timeline for the inheritance money arriving? Will that enable you to rent a place to live? Do you plan on working concurrently with going back to school?

Again - sorry for all that you're going through - although it sounds like you have developed a positive attitude.

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

#76

Post by qgin »

dvsfish wrote: post #73
reactordev wrote: post #69

I’ve been there. I lost my marriage, my house, my money, my parents, my job, everything. Literally $100k in the hole with $0 in the bank. Sounds like you know how to survive, which is perfect… here’s what you do. Ditch uber/lyft and get your CDL. They’ll pay you and train you and give you a job. Plus, you get a nice sleeper truck to sleep in that’s more spacious than your car. (If you have the cash, an RV works inste…

I feel like this would be great advice if "CDL" was unambiguously googleable. This might be regional but I have no idea what this is meant to mean.

Commercial Drivers License

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

#77

Post by Nezteb »

dvsfish wrote: post #73
reactordev wrote: post #69

I’ve been there. I lost my marriage, my house, my money, my parents, my job, everything. Literally $100k in the hole with $0 in the bank. Sounds like you know how to survive, which is perfect… here’s what you do. Ditch uber/lyft and get your CDL. They’ll pay you and train you and give you a job. Plus, you get a nice sleeper truck to sleep in that’s more spacious than your car. (If you have the cash, an RV works inste…

I feel like this would be great advice if "CDL" was unambiguously googleable. This might be regional but I have no idea what this is meant to mean.

Commercial Driver's License. Other countries might have their own terms for it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_driver%27s_license

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

#78

Post by [deleted] »

dvsfish wrote: post #73
reactordev wrote: post #69

I’ve been there. I lost my marriage, my house, my money, my parents, my job, everything. Literally $100k in the hole with $0 in the bank. Sounds like you know how to survive, which is perfect… here’s what you do. Ditch uber/lyft and get your CDL. They’ll pay you and train you and give you a job. Plus, you get a nice sleeper truck to sleep in that’s more spacious than your car. (If you have the cash, an RV works inste…

I feel like this would be great advice if "CDL" was unambiguously googleable. This might be regional but I have no idea what this is meant to mean.

[deleted]

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

#80

Post by HenryBemis »

Is there somewhere (family/cousin/old friend) that can get you our of the street for a few months? Even if it's a garage or a tent in their backyard. Something where you can shave, shower, wash your clothes (perhaps get some of their spare clothes)? I sometimes listen to Dave Ramsey show, perhaps give him/them a ring? They sometimes help people out, or can help set you up with some local church (I'm not religious and I don't assume you are)(but some churches and priests do "god's work" to help people in time of need)(and you are in it). I know Ramsey would say "go to Walmart and start stocking shelves" (or something similar - find something that will pay -whatever is a minimum/decent in the US- and work 10-12 hours per day 6 days a week (rice & beans). And once you got a momentum going and got your fist 5k in the bank you can start thinking options.

Your desktop, can you trade it for a decent laptop?

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