If you have a friend or an acquaintance that is having financial trouble or some other issue that could cause him or her to lose his or her home, you likely want to do everything that you can to help. However, if you live far away, you might not be able to provide immediate support when it comes to food and a roof over his or her head. You might still want to help facilitate your friend finding somewhere to stay for the night and decide to help him or her get into a homeless shelter. Here are some things that you can do to help facilitate this.
1. Get the Info
Your friend, if he or she has left his or her home, might not have access to a computer to look up information about the various homeless resources that are available near him or her. You do have this power. Look up the homeless shelters that are closest to your friend's location. Figure out exactly how he or she can get there, even if it is just by walking. Relay this information to your friend.
Then, figure out when he or she will have to get in line to enter the homeless shelter. Many homeless shelters allow people to stay the night on a first come first served basis. This means that your friend is going to have to get there early. Ask the homeless shelter worker you speak to how early your friend should get there.
Finally, make sure that your friend meets all of the requirements of the shelter that you are sending him or her to. Try to send him or her to a shelter that would make him or her feel the most comfortable, for instance sending a female friend to a woman's shelter.
2. Set Up a Transfer
There are many homeless shelters that allow residents to stay for a few days for free but then eventually start charging the residents. If you are financially able to do so and willing, consider figuring out how many nights you are willing to help your friend pay for and set up a money transfer within the next few days to make sure that he or she is able to get the money that he or she needs to stay there.
3. Help Search for a More Permanent Solution
Finally, contact the local homelessness resource centers in the area where your friend lives to see if they can help him or her with job placement and a more permanent, subsidized living solution. This will allow your friend time to get back on his or her feet.
Helping a friend who has become homeless can be difficult. Getting them the information that they need is the best thing to do. Contact a homeless shelter for information more specific to the area of the person who needs help.
