This is a post I should have started with and thought of while writing the last post. When you find yourself homeless and 300 miles from everything you own don't freak out. I have a few helpful ideas to help you along the way.
First off if like us you put what you can in storage, make sure you get the smallest storage unit you can for your stuff. Before becoming homeless cull everything you can that you know you can later replace. We lived 4 months in the old house just off the money I made from selling things on Craigslist. One thing to remember is not to over price what you are selling. Remember this is an object not a memory. Also if you store it what would it cost in storage and could it be nicely replaced later with a newer model cheaper then the storage cost of it.
When we packed the truck we packed one week's worth of clothing, two weeks worth of food, meds, toiletry, towels, pet's needs, medical paperwork, important documents for starting over and finding employment, and cooking items like and electric skillet and microwave so if need be we could plug in somewhere and cook. Also if taking pets remember they will need their shot records.
Now before we became homeless we knew about 3 weeks before that this was where we were going to end up by the end of the month. There was nothing left to sale and no one to go to for help. So at the beginning of March I started planning for life living in a tent or the truck. We started looking for other cities to live in because the town we lived in in North Carolina all the industry was gone and the town is dying.
I decided I would like to live somewhere flat and warm for medical reasons. See I have a list of medical problems and the doctor wanted me to walk a lot and that's hard when you live in the mountains and cold makes you hurt worse so we decided on south Georgia because I'm originally from the Atlanta area. See this is were a lot of people screw up. We were willing to relocate to where there were jobs not where we knew or where our family was. We ended up in Brunswick because it was one of 7 different cities we were looking at where there were jobs and the first to find a place to live.
After find our target city I then started planning on living in our truck or a tent. I start culling our stuff and selling the cheaper items to thrift store for one low price to buy camping supplies. Other stuff went in storage. I also went online to find boat docks where we could park our truck without being bothered by the police and shopping centers. Then I looked at camp grounds to check the prices of places to set up and tent because then I thought this was going to be short term and my husband would have a job within two weeks and we would be in an apartment. It doesn't happen that fast.
While checking camp grounds I discovered about the work camper program and came to understand that if you own and RV you can live in the campground for free in exchange for working there a few hours a week. This sounded great but we didn't have an RV so I contacted the campground where I am now about staying in a tent spot and explained about losing our home. Well my email wasn't returned so I went on planning to live in the truck with 3 dogs, 1 husband, and a cat. Then 2 days before climbing in our truck to live the campground called us and offered us one of their RV's to live in for free in exchange for work. This was a dream come true.
To find something like this first find your target city or cities that you plan to relocate to and then look for RV parks. Call and talk to the owners. Be honest about how you ended up in this situation and how you are trying to rebuild your life. There are no promises of an RV but they may let you stay in a tent location.
Once you get to your destination you will quickly realize all the things in storage that you need, like sheets, more clothes, food,... this list can go forever. Once again don't freak. We needed sheets and went to a local food pantry and didn't ask but told the lady that we needed this and to find out they had a set to give us. Mind you they didn't match but who cares when you are in need. As for clothing we found another church that had a clothing event for the needy and they helped us out. I was extremely happy about this because upon moving I lost of 30 pounds in 2 months.
Now it's time to rebuild and one of the quickest ways is to get to know your neighbors. In RV parks you will find 4 different kinds of people; the one's like you that can't afford anything else, the work travelers they stay long enough for a current job and then move as they job moves, the vacationers (these can be good or bad), then the Canadians (yes they deserve their own group and I'm not explaining why because not all deserve that grouping, just most). The first two groups are where you will get the most help. The ones down on their luck like you tend to know the area and where people are hiring but be careful of this group, a lot of these people are also vultures and thieves and will use you if you let them. The working group is great but most tend to stick to themselves. This group has the inside on jobs where they work. A lot also know of other companies hiring because more or less these are modern day gypsies and they move with the job.
Another source is the RV park office. You will find it tends to be a hangout spot for some locals and RV old timers. They tend to know somebody who knows somebody that knows somebody that's hiring. Sometimes they are hiring themselves.
Also I should note that you need to be prepared when moving to make sure you have all the tools you will need for the job you are looking for. If the job requires you to have tools they don't care if you are down on your luck and your tools are 400 miles away, because there are at least 10 other guys looking for that same job that have the tools already.
Good sources to also look for work are the local labor department, newspapers (online is best because more papers tend to be linked into the same source), Facebook (you will be amazed but there are pages for local employment), and Craigslist. Be the most careful about Craigslist because you don't know who is posting that ad so don't give out vital information online. Tell them that due to security risks you will provide that information during the interview. This also shows them that you are responsible.
As for finding local food banks and clothing banks look online for resources. Here are a few good links:
http://feedingamerica.org/foodbank-results.aspx
http://www.suntopia.org/
http://www.foodpantries.org/
you can also check with the local church and they may be able to help. Please remember not to abuse these services because there are so many people in need lately and when possible return to favor by giving to the people that helped you.
So now you have a roof and food you need furniture. Here is an unlikely source for furniture but believe me they can help you... Apartment complexes. I'm telling you because my sofa and dishes came from there. See people abandon apartments and tend to run owing money and they leave behind their items. Then by law they have to hold these items for so long encase the person comes back and then they throw the items away. I kid you not! We got our stuff in exchange for a little hard work. See the apartments pay maintenance men to clean out the apartments. We made a deal that we would clean it out for free in exchange for the stuff left behind and would throw the rest away. So we got what we needed and they got free labor. Most apartment complexes won't and don't do this but it doesn't hurt to ask.
We have also exchanged work for things we need too. Like cleaning someone's RV inside and out for groceries, driving people around town in our truck in exchange for gas money. There are ways to rebuild without being a blight on society. We have never gotten food stamps or rental assistance. I do get disability now but don't think that's they way to go because unless you used to make millions a years and paid in millions more then you aren't going to get enough to live on. Mine is enough to cover the doctor's bills most months.
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