Get a Home
- Adam Garrett
- Dec 27, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Dec 29, 2023
Above: Adam in a shelter he made exclusively from the wild & stayed in for a 3 day camping trip (including a storm the first night, where he stayed warm), excepting the bag filled with leaves for the door.
In this article, I wanted to go over some of the various avenues to acquire a home, primarily geared toward those who are currently homeless.
Acquire Assistance to Expand Your Home Options
If you're homeless or close to it, be sure to educate yourself on your options for assistance. I recall a friend of mine who should have likely received disability assistance of some kind who wasn't, and because she wasn't labeled as disabled, the taxes that she inherited from her mother on a paid off home were all on her, and she did a quick sale off market to someone that took advantage of her situation. If she had fought (with an attorney if necessary, even if non-profit) for her disabled status more, I wonder if she would still be in that home.
Acquire Income to Expand Your Home Options
The typically best way to get a home is via income, by getting and keeping a legal job.
You may or may not be aware, but time management skill acquisition and implementation are some of the top areas to improve to increase your income.
Free or Very Low-Cost Options for Temporarily Getting a Home:
Homeless Shelters Around the US
For a directory of shelters in multiple states or more locally, click here for http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/ or here for http://www.shelterlistings.org/.
Salvation Army Homeless Shelters
Some cities/counties/states are much better suited for free temporary housing than others.
SE VA Homeless Shelters
3A. Homeless shelters:
PORT Rotating shelters in churches (Newport News)
HELP rotating shelters in churches (Hampton)
H.E.L.P. House Shelter - 30 day assistance while you get back on your feet
Peninsula Rescue Mission (Newport News)- Men typically stay for a few days to a few weeks. Some apply for and are accepted into a 6-12 month program.
Check out a map of options by searching using the homeless & cities filters on Abba List.
Norfolk Homeless Shelters:
https://www.unionmissionministries.org/
5100 E Virginia Beach BlvdNorfolk, VA 23502(757) 627-8686
Serving men, women and families
Emergency shelter
Meals, clothing and toiletries provided
Shower and laundry facilities
Medical care
Chapel services
Counseling and case management
203 W 19th St, Norfolk, VA 23517(757) 622-0674
Serving men
Emergency shelter
Breakfast and dinner provided
Substance abuse counseling
Job readiness program
Clothing closet
Computer lab
Home Again Richmond11 E Main StRichmond, VA 23219(804) 648-4177
Serving men, women and families
Emergency shelter
Rapid re-housing
Transitional housing for veterans
Permanent supportive housing
Life skills workshops
Case management
The Genieve ShelterAddress kept confidential Suffolk, VA(757) 251-0144
Serving women and children
Emergency shelter up to 30 days
Permanent supportive housing
Individual and group counseling
Children’s services
Job readiness program
Life skills workshops
Case management
Avalon Center Address kept confidential Williamsburg, VA 23188 (757) 258-5022
Serving women and children
Emergency shelter up to 30 days
Transitional housing
Shower and laundry facilities
Individual and group counseling
Legal advocacy
Case management
Natasha House Address kept confidential Yorktown, VA (757) 898-1993
Serving women and children
Emergency shelter
Counseling and case management
Camping in National Forests (Free, No Permit Required, For "Dispersed" Camping up to 14 days/30 Days/Forest (& in some cases Site at Least 5 Miles Apart)
"no fees or permit required for dispersed camping in small groups." Dispersed camping is camping outside of a campground. National Forests commonly have campgrounds
(examples with campgrounds with fees in George Washington & Jefferson National Forest in Western VA) with fees at campgrounds as low as $5/night.
Different forests have different restrictions. To find those restrictions, you can visit the national forest website for that area and go to the disbursed camping section, or just google the 2 together, i.e. "disbursed camping George Washington & Jefferson National Forests".
With George Washington & Jefferson National Forests in VA it states:
"Camping or overnight occupancy in any dispersed areas by any person or group for more than 14 consecutive days within a 30-day period is prohibited."
"You may disperse camp on Forest Service lands that do not have closures or restrictions. Dispersed camping is not allowed in developed recreation areas like campgrounds, picnic areas, or trailheads. Drive on existing roads and, when car-camping, keep your campsite within 150 feet of a road."
"Do not camp within 200 feet of any water source."
Sometimes you can find a longer list of rules elsewhere, i.e. this one for George Washington & Jefferson under camping on pages 3 & 4. That's where I found the rule for there, "There is a limit of 14 consecutive days for overnight visits to the national forest. Only Bolar Mountain Campground has an exception with a 21 day limit." It also states, "Park only in areas designated for parking."
With Fishlake National Forest (in Utah), it states, "You may camp in a dispersed area for up to 16 days. After 16 days, you must move at least 5 road miles for camping in another dispersed area. Campers may not spend more than 16 days of any 30 day period at the same dispersed area.
Please place your campsite at least 100 feet from any stream or other water source.""
Where to Find Free Camping Options
There are a number of options to find free camping options available near you.
For a paid option ($35.99/yr as of 12/7/23), there's Dyrt Pro.
Alternatively, if you Google "Best dispersed camping in (insert park name here), you might find a list from Dyrt, i.e. this one for George Washington & Jefferson National Forest in VA. Don't bother with the map though, as it doesn't show free options unless you have the paid version. Check the list below it.
Campendium is another option, where you can sort by price, including free-only options (shown below):
With a number of these sorts of sites, you'll see options for actual camping as well as overnight parking options for free, as you do above.
Googling free disbursed camping in a state, you'll find plenty of options in places like VA, i.e. this list from TMBTent.
We approach a homeless campsite at 4:34 here:
Work for Room & Board
Even those incapable of working enough to support themselves in a traditional setting may be able to work enough to support themselves in a setting that is untraditional. For instance, a room with 10 bunk beds typically doesn't cost as much per night as a home of your own, and there are some work for room & board options available, some of which include a small stipend or a full blown high paying salary. When I worked as a camp counselor at various times in the past (i.e. Liberty University Hockey Camps & Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center), I received a small income while the camp provided my housing and my food.
Paid Options for Getting a Low-Cost Home:
Subsidized Rent
See my article on the subject:
Live-Aboarding in an Automobile
I remember my ice climbing instructor in the Vail area of Colorado who lived in a van that they converted well for the purpose. They would park in a Walmart parking lot. There are ways to make living in an automobile in places like Walmart parking lots much better than a traditional approach to living in a car. That said, which Walmarts and other locations allow overnight parking really varies. See my "Free Camping Options" above for details on how to find out where to find places where you can park overnight.
In addition, see options via Campendium and other 3rd party resources for parking, i.e.
Here's an article with some tips on RV parking by Roadtrippers.
This video that my partner & I produced has the first scene at a location where a woman is living in a station wagon.
Live-Aboarding in a Boat
While you don't need to pay a marina to liveaboard on a boat, since you can anchor in open water for no fee in many locations, it does provide convenience & enhanced safety (compared to some other scenarios, depending on the marina) if you do. See my Marinas spreadsheet which includes locations where you can do live-aboarding with a column on the subject. One crossover example in Hampton Roads is Tyler's Beach. They don't allow you being at the dock besides during daylight hours, but one option would be to put out into open water at night and in the early morning, then come back to the dock at a very low cost during the daylight hours of $250/yr. At most other locations where you'd put out and get access for free (i.e. to a ramp), you'd need to have a dingy, kayak, or something else. My friends did the latter in the Hampton River with a dingy & paid a small fee to use the facilities at the dock while not actually docking there with their larger vessel.
This video that my partner & I produced has a few scenes at a location where my friend Jim is living in a boat. We go to the boat at 6:28 here:
Subsidized Home Purchase
Like there are options for subsidized rent, there are also options for subsidized homeownership. One of the best options in VA is a 0% interest mortgage with Habitat for Humanity. Another strong option for those of lower income than Habitat is a 1% interest up to 38 year USDA loan. For more details and additional options, go to my article on the subject:
Rent Out a Room
If looking for a more traditional room rental option, here are some locations to look:
Related:
Comentarios