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Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

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Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#11
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a place in Burbank that's hiring. The job market in LA is rough really h1b people go to the front of the line I've been through tough times here myself and was born here it's a really mean town. But don't give up if you can get to Midnight Mission they will help you it's in downtown.

hah about the h1b problem. Would you believe my last "real" dev job prior to becoming homeless was at a nationally known name-brand company and my job was to come in as the new guy and recommend to the management which American developers on my team to fire, in order to replace them with an "offshore resource" in India? the carrot on that stick was that each American I got fired, I would receive a small bonus and be…

[deleted]

Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#12
This may help you in california: http://dpss.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/dpss/main/programs-and-s... It's not much money but its 250 ish a month to start. If you can get on welfare then do it now and make a little progress forward for now.

See if you can contact someone there or go to a hospital and ask for an emergency case worker, they have all the contacts to help deal with emergencies including malnutrition if you are running out of money for food and help.

24-Hr Automated InfoLine: 1-877-96-BENEFITS or 1-877-962-3633

Upwork pays as well if you are looking for freelancing jobs that will get paid out. Again the rates are relatively low but it would be something. https://www.upwork.com/freelance-jobs/node-js/

Put up a go fund me or whatever and I think people here would want to help you out.

Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#13
To be honest, something is a miss. I have a few friends that traveled to the US with practically no money and were able to rent their own place, buy a car, dress well and they don't have any particular skills.

Drop tech/coding for the time being. Go take a minimum wage job, any job, that you can find. There are low-barriers jobs out there like washing cars for some random guy. This should provide you enough for food/gym and within less than a month you should be able to rent a room.

Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#14
I think you need a job, just any job. You can get back to coding later. If there are youth hostels, motels or other cheap lodgings near you, you might be able to strike a deal with the owner to have a room or at least a bed while you work for them for a reduced wage. You'll need some decent people skills and be able to present a clean-cut and safe appearance.

You also didn't mention credit but if you can agree with the owner that you have this place as an address, and you have some sort of income, you might be able to get a line of credit from a bank that can help further.

I'm afraid I don't live in America (or know too much about it beyond what I've seen on TV) so I can't suggest specifics. Remember though that everyone gets a story about the time in their lives that everything seemed to fall apart all at once and how they got out of that, and it sounds like you're going through the middle of that. Best of luck.

Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#15
post #5

hey man, it really sucks to be in the situation you are. I don't know anyone who is hiring in LA, but I can venmo you some money if it helps so you can last longer. Let me know and good luck. Have you tried reaching out to universities for IT jobs?

Same here. I'll send venmo.

Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#16
I've been in similar situations before (though my family situation is luckier); I sympathize.

I don't know what LA is like, but I had good luck some years ago in the Denver area finding grocery stores with good dumpsters.

A good dumpster is one where the staff throws out food that is still perfectly good to eat, but that they know is unlikely to sell. Stuff like fruit that's too ripe and starting to accumulate bruises, or bakery goods that will soon get stale. A good dumpster is one where the staff doesn't really try to keep you out, and doesn't mix gross stuff with the good food. Finding good ones is a crapshoot, but if you do find one, it can be a big help.

My experience was that cafes and restaurants weren't generally worth the effort unless you were friendly with kitchen staff. Not all grocery stores are good, but I always managed to find some that were.

Dry beans and dry rice can keep you going a long time for next to no money, but of course you need some place to keep them and some place to cook them.

I wish you the best of luck.

Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#17
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a place in Burbank that's hiring. The job market in LA is rough really h1b people go to the front of the line I've been through tough times here myself and was born here it's a really mean town. But don't give up if you can get to Midnight Mission they will help you it's in downtown.

hah about the h1b problem. Would you believe my last "real" dev job prior to becoming homeless was at a nationally known name-brand company and my job was to come in as the new guy and recommend to the management which American developers on my team to fire, in order to replace them with an "offshore resource" in India? the carrot on that stick was that each American I got fired, I would receive a small bonus and be…

You can't stick up for the American worker while starving on the streets. So in relation to your last paragraph about theoretical do-overs, I would argue that keeping the job until you actually have a replacement lined up would be the wiser choice both for your wellbeing and the potential to have a greater positive impact for others.

Re: Homeless Developer in Los Angeles Needs Work, Can You Please Help?

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hah about the h1b problem. Would you believe my last "real" dev job prior to becoming homeless was at a nationally known name-brand company and my job was to come in as the new guy and recommend to the management which American developers on my team to fire, in order to replace them with an "offshore resource" in India? the carrot on that stick was that each American I got fired, I would receive a small bonus and be…

You can't stick up for the American worker while starving on the streets. So in relation to your last paragraph about theoretical do-overs, I would argue that keeping the job until you actually have a replacement lined up would be the wiser choice both for your wellbeing and the potential to have a greater positive impact for others.

Of course in hindsight I realize that resigning was the dumbest decision ever, although there were others factors involved beyond the offshoring experience that I described. It was a company with a toxic culture that created too much stress over little things that shouldn't matter. I resigned as a pre-emptive measure because I had a good sense that they were about to fire me, because I had went straight to the CTO and told him that I was uncomfortable with picking which of my coworkers to fire. Then I found out from him that the offshoring plan was his idea all along, and that the consulting company I was contracting for had been brought in by him to take the blame for the plan. They moved me to 3 different teams in less than a month. That's a clear signal in corporate bureaucratic culture that they are building a case to fire you, by putting you on already late projects and under performing teams.

But I don't look back and say "well, I dug my own grave by resigning, therefore I deserve to suffer the consequences." Nobody deserves to be long-term homeless in the wealthiest country in history.

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