Some years ago a DU member who had been homeless posted a list of things

[w0nderer]

30. this is part of why i feel it

left army (non US) and couldn't get a job, and was to 'twitchy' to live with parents

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7473136

copying
Homeless is often solved by an income and a 'home' << always surprises people who haven't been there

I'd like to see homeless money go towards 'land' and 'at cost/discounted' materials
for housing, i'm not talking huge..small cabins

i was homeless in a 'northern' area (-20C or less)
when winter hit a friend offered me (way illegally) to live in his 'allotment house)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_%28gardening%29
the houses are like US garden sheds but with windows (9-12x9-12 feet)

not much insulation (i added insulation during the winter, styrofoam, plywood walls inside and painted

one is not allowed to live in them at all theoretically but he had a compost toilet and a stove in his, and i sprung for a kerosene heater and with snow falling...i didn't care much about law and neither did he
(my power was a 50 watt solar panel on the roof that he'd installed)

but it kept me alive that winter
and i was happy to have it, even if 'building code' says it's not 'human habitation' << it beat being on the street

he was happy i modified his house as i lived there (i did ask him in advance before doing stuff) i was happy for walls roof and a heater

(non copy pasted) a couple of years later, he lost his apartment (divorce) and kept only his allotment house
he slept on a couch in my insulated basement/garage that winter


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on a side note, if you are well off
take a 1 - 2 week vacation
put away credit and debit cards, car keys, house keys
now walk out the door
now go back home in 2 weeks
was it easy?
aaaaaaah this is called, walking a few miles in someone elses' shoes