Ask HN: How Do I Escape Homelessness After Rebuilding My Mental Health?

I’ve been homeless and am now an employed engineer, so I know it’s possible to make the leap. You can’t make it in one go, though.

Get a better job, that can get you stable housing. I don’t know the job market in your area, but try looking for temp agencies. They will do a basic interview and help you find something that uses your existing skills. Until you get stable housing and your basic needs met, focus on what you can do with the skills you have now.

Seconding what others said about going to the library. In my community they serve almost as social workers, and have lists of places like food banks that can help you until you have better employment. Your county will also have resources for you; you can get on the waiting list for housing vouchers (they’re years long, but just in case), get food stamps, get leads for programs local to you.

Yes, it’s possible to end up with a tech job. There’s a big gap between where you are now and there, though, and having stability in the short term will help you get there.

Ignore 95% of comments here. Research your options for local support through the government and religion. Religion may be more helpful in your area, even if your beliefs don’t exactly align. There is housing, food, etc available to you but you’ll likely need a social worker for help find it.

https://switchpointcrc.org/ is local to you with food, shelter, etc.

More info from a gov source: https://sgcityutah.gov/business_detail_T18_R270.php

https://switchpointcrc.org/how-to-get-help/

The local access points to the coordinated entry system provide the assessment, information and referrals, and other resources to the person seeking housing.

Stop by or call for more information 948.N 1300 W. St. George, Utah 84770. 435-628-9310

1. Ignore the haters.

2. Sell or trade in the desktop for a laptop. Portability and space is your friend. Join a local Facebook "buy nothing" group, and ask for a trade or someone's spare old laptop. Any mobility improvement is a win.

3. Immediately make a free account for Salesforce's Trailhead program https://trailhead.salesforce.com/ and start learning everything you can. Badges can be added to your linkedin, and you should go heavy down the path of force.com development if you can.

4. Once you have a few badges, polish up your linkedin (and resume) and start spamming recruiters for salesforce positions.

The ERP/CRM world pays very well but almost all platforms have a stupidly high barrier to entry, EXCEPT Salesforce. You could have a $100k/yr job in a few months if you follow this path, and then branch out to Oracle or NetSuite or SAP from here.

edit: I should add that ERP/CRM consulting is largely remote friendly and your prospective employers/consulting firms will probably not give a rip where you live. They never did for me.

I've never been in this position so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Get a job- anything where they will hire you and pay you. Use that to bootstrap yourself out of your car and into any kind of housing. Anything at all. Work that full time while you do freelance gigs until the freelance gigs pay about 2/3 of your income. Use the freelance money to fix your car etc. Now quit your job and uber 1/3 and freelance 2/3.

Oversimplified? yes. But it's not designed to be a foolproof plan, just food for thought.

Also that's fantastic that you've pulled yourself out of depression. I once had the worst clinical depression my psychiatrist had ever seen. I pulled myself out of it and got rid of the things that caused it, including some pretty bad internal programming.

You've got this. You can do it.

> I drive Lyft/Uber full-time

Stop driving Lyft/Uber. It's for those who don't have any skills beyond driving a car.

Sit down and determine what are the skills that you currently possess that are the most valuable on the market right now. Then sell those to the highest bidder.

My two cents, that isn't a job.

> I know I can earn 3-4x more doing freelance tech, but I can’t do that from a car.

Yes, you can. That's a limiting belief; it's just holding you back. All you need is a laptop. Need to make a meeting? Go to a local cafe. Nobody will even notice. More importantly, if you're doing remote contract work, perfectly acceptable to ask a percentage of the total upfront. That will go a long way to get you out of a car and into an apartment quickly.

> What would YOU do in my situation to break the cycle?

1. Stop driving Uber, stop renting motels, stop paying any bills, bring my costs down to near zero.

2. Start taking on as much contract work doing "freelance tech" that I can find, with as much paid upfront as possible.

3. Once I have 10k in the bank, rent an apartment and start cleaning up whatever mess is left.

4. Start making quality of life decisions. Maybe you don't want contract, but want a job? Maybe a nicer laptop? Closer to your kids? Live your life.

#1 is the hardest, because you're risking everything on your ability to deliver. You have to believe in yourself.

You can work from a local library.

Do you have anyone you can lean on? Cousin? Uncle? Anyone? Just a little financial support could go a long way.

Do you have any programming experience? Instead of making school a priority, I would try to get an actual job. Non-tech can be stupid simple, the pay can be decent, definitely better than Uber. Plus, you will have a space to work and a work machine.(this can be a bit hard right now as tech is going through a down cycle)

You need a job.

After you stabilize your situation you can think about AI/ML imo.

> How do I climb out of this? What programs, jobs, or options are out there for someone like me who’s got skills, drive, but no resources?

Go to your local libraries; the most beneficial programs are likely to be local to you, and the librarians are more likely to know about them than we are.

1. You are in a short term situation. It is critical to see the situation as something that will end once you are back in school.

2. I'd look into local food banks and other resources. There are a ton of life lines out there. Nobody wants to take a handout. But sometimes, you need one. Pay it forward when you are on your feet, and solid again.

3. If you have the skills you say, sell the desktop, get a cheap laptop and freelance out of Starbucks or wherever you can get internet. (Library, whatever.)

4. Uber/Lyft is a long term losing gig for most people, I realize it's what ya got, but... don't dig the hole deeper.

5. See if you can shower at a local CHEAP gym. (Remember short term deals are fine here, you are going to have money and be in school soon enough.) You may even find some peace in the weight room, and with some cardio. $10 a month is cheap if you don't have to pay for hotel rooms. I realize it sucks, and a bed rocks. But, money you don't spend, is money you HAVE.

6. To get out from under the car, you may have to sell it? That's alot of money if you are scraping by.

7. Career advice from someone with a 25+ year career, fads come and go, the fundamentals, stay with us. Yes an AI will know how to program quicksort and other algorithms etc. But understanding how things work, is possibly the most important skill. Over AI/ML which may be overheating at the moment, and involves some fairly heavy math. Systems people aren't going away tomorrow.

8. Might consider help desking somewhere? Best Buy? Who knows. Remember, short term... You need a real cash flow without driving the car into the ground.

9. Get an address somewhere. You'll need it for so many things. Even if it is just a PO Box.

... Don't reach for the rope. Let it come to you here. Just keep swimming.

When I was younger I moved somewhere without a backup plan, and took some seasonal work (which actually paid fairly well), then did some construction (didn't pay so well). The seasonal work offered food and boarding so I was able to essentially vanish, coast on the awful camp food and live in a tent, and save every penny. The construction work, I just rode a bike there and did my bit from 9 to 5. Rent wasn't cheap, but I didn't have a lot of other expenses.

I lived a bit like a bum and had to sacrifice a lot, but it worked. It was temporary. I left where I was because I had a room mate with mental health issues, and rather than subject myself to them (they were becoming violent), I realized I had to take a leap. If I kicked them out, I was inviting trouble for myself and setting them up for a hard fall. If I left, they at least had a space to live and sort themselves out for a while.

This was when I was teaching myself programming. I read books when I couldn't use my computer, but once I could afford a place where I could use my computer, I spent a lot of my spare time doing that, finding freelance work, and getting out of the hard labour scene. It worked out fine. You've got a leg up since you've already got skills and proof of ability.

Good luck. I know it's hard, and it feels like garbage a lot of the time, but you sink in the hours now to get relief later.

Good luck.

I lived in vehicles for 11 years until eventually resettling with family after circumstances changes.

1. Find the local county or city social services agency.

2. Apply for emergency aid and shelter, including Medicaid and SNAP.

3. Apply for section 8 housing. This usually will take a great deal of time.

Your dreams of making it in AI sound far fetched to me. I would look for a more solid career path such as within a trade. Learn basic plumbing or electrical work. You might be able to find someplace to work as an apprentice as you learn too.

Maybe just switch out of tech and join a union with a paid apprenticeship or training program. Do you like to build/fix stuff with your hands?