Where should I go? AFAIK there are zero legal options for me when I’m unable to pay for an apartment. I do not own a car.
If I insist on being an upright citizen and following the law…do I just show up to a police station on January 1st and turn myself in for vagrancy and hope they throw me in jail?
There’s also HUD or similar entities if you’re not in the US. There are also private nonprofits like churches that help with homelessness
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/...
I’m also a bit concerned about the safety and conditions in the shelters, being that close to unpredictable strangers. But I’d prefer that over doing anything illegal.
It's honestly shocking that the US has absurdly wealthy churches and we have greater than zero homeless people on the streets. Helping the poor is the core tenet of the christian faith. If they practiced what they preach, it should be impossible to lay down on the street for more than five minutes and not be swarmed with offers for help.
* Housing is dangerous/scary (robbery, rape, physical violence, etc...)
* Housing is a conspiracy (to control people or other irrational ideas)
* The rules of housing are too restricting. (can't have a pet, visitors, noise rules, cleanliness rules, curfew rules, behavior rules, etc...)
There are others as well, but can't recall immediately.
A church can't fix these problems, no matter how rich.
While some churches do physical charity, that’s not the nominal function of a church in the general sense (it may implicitly be part of why churches are legally treated as charities in the US, getting not merely tax exemption but deductibility of donations for donors, but that is more an indictment of that policy than anything else.)
People in shelters use lots of hard hard drug and fight or sexually assault each other, shelters are full of tons of illness (physical and mental), rampant theft, you'll end up with awful pests like bedbugs, body lice, scabies, fleas... and you aren't even guaranteed to be let in, after hours of waiting in line, due to lack of availability.
They aren't well funded enough, aren't taken care of, don't have enough staff to keep you safe, and have too many troubled people in too close quarters. The ones sponsored by religious organizations are usually just as bad and add an extra layer of judgement and religious propaganda on top of it all, rudely implying that all your problems are because you don't follow their faith.
I'm not saying I have a good alternative in mind; being outside can also (obviously) suck for different reasons, but there are tons of legitimate reasons to avoid shelters even when you're homeless.
Well in most cities in the United States, there are numerous open spots in rent assistance or shelter programs. For example, in my city of Portland, there is a lot of money spent tackling this problem. In fact, each night, the city has empty rooms available for anyone, but they go unused. Unfortunately, part of the problem is the narrative pushed by the media that America has no social welfare. We have quite a lot. Unfortunately, the narrative we don't prevents people from seeking it out.
This is similar to how narratives about COVID swamping hospitals led to so many people not seeking medical intervention that they died or let a preventable illness go untreated. And it's what caused so many hospital closures.
Moreover, if you cannot pay the rent next month, you can contact your local st vincent de paul, and they will often cover it for you: https://www.svdphouston.org/
Below you said you are simply going to be late, and able to resume making payments in January. If that is the case, there are numerous programs available that will help you to make your rent so you don't take the credit hit. Again, if you lived in my city of Portland, I know several charities that will simply pay your rent no questions asked, not even expecting the money back. Please contact your local social services agency or one of these charities. Many have funds that go unused each month.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/...
I’m also a bit concerned about the safety and conditions in the shelters, being that close to unpredictable strangers. But I’d prefer that over doing anything illegal.
https://hchatexas.org/housing-choice-voucher-program/voucher...
It can take a while to go through all that, though.
You can see available inventory here:
https://www.myhousingsearch.com/dbh/SearchHousingSubmit.html...
(Disclaimer: My day gig, speaking on behalf of meself only, etc. We are sponsored by the HCHA as their housing search provider.)
Is section 8 fast anywhere?
If it takes 3 years to get through.. that means now is the time to apply!
edit to add: I don't know of any solutions. Sorry for sounding so hopeless.
The story is largely truthful, except for the character who has a pathological need to follow every rule. In reality, I’ll be late on my rent, my various credit scores will take a hit, but I’m not going to get evicted that quickly and should be on my feet again before the end of January.
The lack of employment is entirely my fault, with the peripheral assistance of crippling anxiety and self-doubt. But I can choose to make ends meet bagging groceries, etc for $15-17/hour. I’m also a reasonably median performance programmer in C++ and Python so I should be able to find salaried work in the next month or so!
If I was actually post-eviction / move-out negotiation with my apartment I’d probably sleep in a car if I owned one or set up a very hidden tent far away from other homeless people near a $10/mo gym with showers and lockers.
Those plans may be illegal currently, but they are also still probably the best choices for a homeless person looking for work. Done properly, this doesn’t result in harm, inconvenience, or cost to the public. IMO, if someone can notice me enough to complain about me…I’m not being safe.
The practical answer is you do become homeless, but not out in the open -- you'll set up a tent somewhere somewhat hidden (maybe in the middle of a park, for example), and hope nobody notices it. Every so often your camp will get discovered and cleared out, which will be inconvenient.
It certainly seems pretty mean-spirited to harrass the homeless in this way, but it does have the benefit of (mostly) preserving the beauty and safety of public space.
If it comes down to it, I'd definitely recommend trying to get your hands on a van before going full homeless.