If you’re experiencing homelessness, or finding yourself without a secure place to stay, you don’t have to navigate things on your own.
Depending on where you live, nonprofit organizations, groups, and government agencies exist and are often able to provide you with support and resources. There is nothing ever wrong with asking for support when you need it, with this as with everything else. Support might look like case management services that can help keep you organized, shelter and housing support, or help finding jobs or support to stay in school or get back into school.
Finding Supports
Unfortunately, sometimes it can take a little while after becoming homeless to learn about or become connected to any of the supportive services in your local community. (This is why it’s an excellent idea to look them up if you aren’t kicked out or homeless already, or think you might be in the future.) If you’re struggling to find a way to start accessing services, it’s useful to first talk to any supportive adults in your life, like teachers, counselors, case managers, or librarians, to see what they know about any programs locally or more broadly that provide services for youth experiencing homelessness. It’s also a great idea to talk with other homeless youth and ask what supports they know of or use. You can also talk with other youth experiencing homelessness to vet services: you can ask them about their experiences at different shelters, drop-in centers, food pantries and other programs has been like. These reviews are especially valuable because they will be able to provide you with honest reviews of if they felt safe, comfortable and supported while accessing services at different programs in your local area.
Self-Advocate
When you are homeless — as if things aren’t hard enough! — you are likely going to need to be advocating for yourself in a lot of circumstances, including, ironically, when you are accessing services. Although drop-in centers, shelters, food pantries and other programs providing support to people experiencing homelessness are supposed to exist to serve your needs, sometimes people can fall through the cracks in these systems. But ultimately, their job is to support you. If you feel like your situation and needs aren’t being taken seriously, or you aren’t getting help, don’t be afraid to keep checking in.
Be respectful as you follow up with staff, but don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself and your needs. Remind them that you are struggling and that you need support.
Know Your Rights
Being homeless can leave you feeling disempowered, but depending on where you are located, you will have different rights to protections and access to services. This means that in some cases, people have to provide some different forms of support. For example, in the United States the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Actexternal link, opens in a new tab is a federal law that ensures educational access to youth experiencing homelessness. Depending on where you’re located, you may also be entitled to immediate access to shelter or housing because of your age.
While sometimes being a young person can be helpful because it means you’re entitled to access services, there can also be some challenges by that same token. If you are not a legal adult, it can limit your access to some programs. Staff at organizations may need to notify local authorities such as children’s protective services to let them know that you are an unaccompanied minor. In some places, organizations can be required to call the police to find out if you’ve been reported as a runaway. They may also have to connect you to foster care or return you to a home you were kicked out of or ran away from. Some social services programs, though, especially those that focus on providing street outreach to homeless youth in particular, may not or do not ask for identifying information that would require them to notify authorities automatically.
Navigating Waitlists
While your situation is a crisis for you, that doesn’t always mean that everyone else is going to or even can treat it as a crisis. Patience is, unfortunately, something you’re going to need to have as you navigate accessing the support you need and are entitled to.
Homelessness, and youth homelessness specifically, is an epidemic globally, and with so many youths experiencing homelessness, it can take some time to get access to the services that you need. There’s simply more demand than supply when it comes to help services. Don’t be afraid to talk with staff about the needs you have and the urgency of your situation; however, be prepared that you may need to wait weeks or even months to get support you need. If you find yourself on a waitlist, keep talking with your caseworker or the agency staff you are connected with to check your place on the waitlist. Checking back regularly can sometimes help with making sure they know you are still in need and interested in accessing programs.
Transportation Support & Overcoming Other Obstacles
Sometimes, one of the biggest issues with getting access to the support you need comes down to being able to get to the program or appointments you need.
If transportation is a struggle for you, it never hurts to ask if they have any ability to assist you with getting to and from appointments. This might come in the form of bus passes or reimbursement for gas if you’re driving. Not every program will be able to support transportation, but many can if it helps you to access the programs and supports you need, and it never hurts to ask.
Look For Specialized Services
Not all support for people experiencing homelessness is created equally. Many social services have a one-size-fits-all approach, which can feel impersonal and overwhelming. Especially if you are a young person experiencing homelessness, it can be best to seek out services specifically designed for teens. These programs will understand the unique challenges you are facing of being a teenager experiencing homelessness. They may include smaller caseloads for case managers so you get more one on one focused support, as well as help getting connected/ reconnected to healthcare, housing, education and support finding jobs.
Finding specialized services is especially important for LGBTQ+ youth, especially transgender and nonbinary young people experiencing homelessness. While every program and shelter should be safe and affirming, that often isn’t the case. Unfortunately, many mainstream programs lack cultural competency for working with LGBTQ+ youth and can even be explicitly homophobic or transphobic. This often manifests in requiring youth to receive services according to their sex assigned at birth and not their gender. Finding specialized services can not only help keep you safer, but also allow you to focus on your housing situation, and not defending your identity from staff who should know and do better.