I Am Going To Become Homeless, Needs Tips On How To Survive Living In A Car With Four Other People.

[Lucycat]

I am aware of child protective services and the dangers of losing the girls to foster homes. That is why I am trying so hard to get a job so I can rent a place.

I am so sorry that you are facing this horror, and do hope that you find affordable accommodation and a job soon. However I am very concerned about your comment regarding foster care. I realise that it is not what you would want, but would the girls not be safer and more stable in a temporary foster placement than sleeping in a car? Can you really expect them to keep this secret from their friends at school? How will they feel if they accidentally blab and drop you in it?

If this was in the UK - and I knew who you were - I would be legally obliged to report to Social Services that I knew homeless children were living in a car ( if you actually were, not just planning to). This is not a punitive measure but for the safety and protection of the children. The Social Services here would place you all in temporary Homeless accommodation until a longer term solution could be found. Only if there was absolutely nothing available would they remove the children into foster care - where they would be cared for, fed, able to study and able to meet with family members.

 

[scout86]

In most places in the US, there isn't much available as far as temporary accommodations for the homeless. In larger cities, there are shelters. You can usually only be there over night and may be limited on how many consecutive nights. I've never stayed in one (there's PEOPLE there! :wideeyed:) but I hear they vary in how safe they are, as well as how family friendly they are. In rural areas, you pretty much need friends or relatives who will let you camp out on the couch.

As far as the foster care system goes......maybe this is just me, being paranoid and venturing off into conspiracy theory land, but it's kind of a crap shoot. Some foster parents are great. Some aren't. You won't get to pick and you'll pretty much have to prove you're worthy of getting your kids back in the end. If the home situation is bad enough, foster care is better. Honestly, I think kids are better off living in a car with someone who loves them and has their wits about them than they are going into foster care. HERE, there ARE people who would be mandated to report a situation like this, I think, as they would be mandated to report abuse, and teachers might be part of that group. But the general public isn't required to. They can though. And they may or may not be listened to if they do. (I've done it twice, when I ran across situations that looked scary bad and the "adults" who were supposed to be responsible didn't look like they were. In one case, the parents had left and the kids were being cared for by an older, minor sister and her older boyfriend. They didn't know where their parents were, or when they were coming back. Looked more like "If they were coming back" was the question to me..)

All of this is part of why NOT living in vehicles is a better situation. It's also part of why you want to be discrete about it, if you have to do it. People stay in motels on vacation, you know? That's not such a huge big deal. It's expensive, but you have all the conveniences. That's not going to be AS stressful and it's probably not as likely to raise red flags.

 

[Lucycat]

In most places in the US, there isn't much available as far as temporary accommodations for the homeless. In larger cities, there are shelters.

That is a shame. Here (remote and rural area) we have houses that are designated for homeless, in the cities there are shelters. I know of a family with children recently that were made homeless here in Scotland. The children were in foster care for a couple of nights and the parents put into a Bed & Breakfast ( not big enough for the children at first) but within a week they were allocated a brand new local authority house that had never been lived in before. If they had not declared themselves homeless and got help from our Social Workers they would still be homeless. What's more the benefits support worker identified that they were entitled to money they were unaware of, so the rent would be paid.

I appreciate that this is not how it works where you are. Just saying.

Also - I am a nurse - that is why I am obliged to report concerns (even when they are outwith work. It is a part of my Registration)

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Thank you Whirlwind for all of the useful information. I have Triple AAA insurance and plan on picking up s touring book and a map of our state.

To clarify we have four cars. So there will be lots of room to pack things. My daughters is two payments away from being paid off so she can sell it if she so desires. Thank you so much for suggesting so many wonderful things for all of us. I did another online application today and will look for more places to get a job ASAP.

Thank you Recovery for the links. I looked them over and will do what I can. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much Spiderallis for the encouragement and good words to help me out today. I very much needed to hear them today.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Thank you scout I tend to agree with you about the girls. I am planning on using motels often. I do not like nor look forwards to sleeping in the cars.
I am really job searching daily and hope to get hired soon.

Thank you so much for all of the information you looked up for me. I really appreciate it so much. I know that there are bad foster parents out there and I do not want to get involved in this at all.

I am looking at it as a temporary solution. We are between a rock and a hard place. I have already rented a storage shed that is huge enough for all of our stuff. I was hoping that we would have some time to hire movers to come in and pack us up and move everything into the storage shed, but with the information you gave me on evictions we may have to pack up and move ourselves. My daughters boyfriend has lots of good friends that will probably help us.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Well I called a good friend who is a real estate agent and has been in the business for many years. First she agreed that I could use her address to get a PO Box.

She is going to call around and find out whether or not my Social Security Benefits are considered income, along with my savings in the bank.

I sure hope this is so and we can move right into a three bedroom apartment or house. I am waiting to hear back from her.

 

[scout86]

I sure hope this is so and we can move right into a three bedroom apartment or house. I am waiting to hear back from her.

That sounds promising! My fingers are crossed. :tup:

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Thank you scout. I can use all of the good luck I can get at this time. I am trying to remain patient and not to get my hopes up. I put two applications online today.

 

[falling_wave]

I'm so sorry. Google the 3 digit resource phone number for your area and they can give you any emergency resources you need.

I have only been homeless in my car by myself but I used library or starbucks wi-fi to look for resources or work and to get out of the car. I also went to parks a lot to lay in the sun. As for the car get a battery operated fan and lots of fluids in case it's hot. Don't leave the car on overnight to listen to music or air or whatever because the battery will die. I got an insulated car cover and went under it into the car at night which made it less hot, darker, and gave me privacy/made me feel safer. I also got a cheap gym membership to workout and shower daily.

I wish you luck and so sorry this is going on.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Thank you falling wave. I appreciate your sharing your story with me. I am sorry that you had to go through it. I appreciate you sharing the tips with me. I am so scared of this happening to us. I am so trying to get a job and a place to live before we are evicted.

 

[Tinyflame]

@gizmo my prayers++ are with you all. :inlove: :hug:

 

[Chincho]

You and your family are in my prayers @gizmo

I hope there was more I could do for you!