Not important Reba, 53

Single Lourdes, 42

Married Maximo, 34

My mother, sister and I spent a couple of months at the transition house. She ended up returning to my father (- story) so it wasn't a total rebuild, but between my experience, and friends' experience naked wishes Brewster Washington there is absolutely a way out. What kind of mailing address do you use? PO Box. For employers, the address of the shelter as place of residence if needed. Cell phone? How would I pay my which I used to on-line? Pay as you go purchase $10 cards at a time, have it forwarded to a cheap answering service instead of voice mail. Or you can pay bills directly at the bank. Is there anything I need to know? Find out where the free lunches are. They're usually at community centres, outreach shelters etc. Go to the food bank. Volunteer for the places you're staying at or eating at. Get on low income housing waiting lists. They'll tell you the lists are 20 years they are but there are ways of jumping the cue. You have to get to know the people who manage the housing projects. Help them with the community garden, show them you're going to make the neighbourhood better not worse. Stuff like this get you in after six months to a year, instead of 20 years. Go to thrift stores like Goodwill and look for wool things. Wool sweaters, blankets, socks, pants. Wool do a lot to keep you comfortable if whatever shelter you're in is drafty or under-heated. Get a small thing of powder sprinkle your shelter bed with it. It's supposed to inhibit bedbugs. This is a backpacker trick it's not just poor people who do this stuff, some people travel around the world sleeping in hostels for fun. While you're at it, read up on backpacker tricks. Travelling through hostels has a lot of skills overlap with surviving in shelters. Contact various social programs. Contact social programs in other cities to if they have better services sometimes people take a bus ride to a different town if it means access to better help. Try not to hitchhike. peanut butter with you in case you need food. Single Sheldon, 56

Single Lorri, 25