You can do it, but the fear of losing employment, housing, etc is a very real day-to-day thing I still have in the front of my mind.
It's going to take a movement to raise awareness about felons not being a Protected Class, and the legalized-discrimination that implies.
The way I usually phrase it is:
"What would you do if you were black/hispanic/asian and someone said:
'Yeah there's nothing technically WRONG with you as an applicant.
'But we just don't really house/hire YOUR KIND around here. Just policy, nothing personal, sorry.'"
This is just an expected occurrence as a felon, regardless of how long it's been.
But who is going to raise such awareness? Someone who can afford to lose their job?
Which unfortunately isn't me at the moment, and it sounds like isn't you.
Have you ever been so hungry that you literally had no choice in the moment between blacking out from low blood sugar or shoplifting? It's a very traumatizing experience, my time as an Emergency Medical Technician had less effects on me than abject poverty did.
Companies will hire if you use your network to make it happen.