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>How do you cash a paycheck if you are without an address or a bank account? You simply sign the back and take it to the bank and they will give you cash. >Ho

>How do you cash a paycheck if you are without an address or a bank account? You simply sign the back and take it to the bank and they will give you cash. >How do you establish that you are a citizen and are legally able to take a job if you are unable to safely store your documents? I honestly have no idea. >How do you get health care, inclusive of mental health care, if you are unable to pay for it? The answer is to get a job which is an obvious catch 22. >If you are without a secure residence, how do you know when to wake up, how do you clean up, put on fresh clothing, and get to work? I think there are a variety of viable answers here ranging from family, church, charity, shelters and gyms that this is a challenge but not insurmountable for a motivated individual. > If you rely on public transit, how do you reliably get to work? By using public transit? I don't understand the question. > How do you establish residence if you have no reasonable credit or references? This is a huge issue, imo. The only real option is paying in advance but that is obviously much more difficult. > How do you save your deposit, first month's rent, and last month's rent, if you are unable to even get a bank account? The answer is cash but the next question is how does a homeless person keep thousands of dollars in cash safe. I think you've gone out of your way to add solvable problems to your list to make the issue seem insurmountable but you've definitely included two issues which I think are massive and one that's less difficult but also easily solved. Starting with the solvable problem, banking, add basic banking services to post offices. It makes a lot of sense, imo. The healthcare problem is a big one and I think the most popular answer to that question would be socialized medicine, which I support, but I'd also be open to hearing other solutions. The biggest problem, I think, is housing. Not just because of cost but, as you mentioned, credit and rental history are going to be a major problem. Perhaps some sort of temporary (but long term enough to allow a history of payments to be shown, like 12 months or so) housing that could be offered to those in need to get back on their feet. Possibly even a requirement that apartment buildings make a unit available for this kind of renter.

OldTimeCoffee 5y ago
I agree with most of what you wrote, but there are a couple of things you may not have considered. > You simply sign the back and take it to the bank and they will give you cash. If you do not have an account there, they will charge you a fee to cash a check. The amount of the fee is typically ~$8, but it varies by bank. Some checks are issued by banks that don't have local branches, this is more common with larger companies. Government checks are also a tricky situation. It's really not as easy as 'go to the bank and they will give you cash'. >...Documents... >I honestly have no idea. You don't need to. You don't need to present a social security card to an employer, as long as they know their SSN. The SSA will help them verify for free: https://www.ssa.gov/employer/SSNcard.htm https://www.ssa.gov/employer/SSNcard.htm Otherwise, it's storing a plastic card for ID. It's likely they have one, as state ID cards are permanent. If they don't that is a problem that can be solved. >...Health care... >The answer is to get a job which is an obvious catch 22. In the US, they qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid includes mental health services. >...public transit... >By using public transit? I don't understand the question. Public transit costs money. Where I live, 1/2 off or ~ $31/month for a Medicaid recipient. >The biggest problem, I think, is housing. The biggest problem is getting people into the system so they can get assistance. Once they get a case worker and start getting aid, they can more easily get back on their feet. People are homeless for different reasons, some are more easily solved than others.

OldTimeCoffee 5y ago

I agree with most of what you wrote, but there are a couple of things you may not have considered. > You simply sign the back and take it to the bank and they will give you cash. If you do not have an account there, they will charge you a fee to cash a check. The amount of the fee is typically ~$8, but it varies by bank. Some checks are issued by banks that don't have local branches, this is more common with larger companies. Government checks are also a tricky situation. It's really not as easy as 'go to the bank and they will give you cash'. >...Documents... >I honestly have no idea. You don't need to. You don't need to present a social security card to an employer, as long as they know their SSN. The SSA will help them verify for free: https://www.ssa.gov/employer/SSNcard.htm https://www.ssa.gov/employer/SSNcard.htm Otherwise, it's storing a plastic card for ID. It's likely they have one, as state ID cards are permanent. If they don't that is a problem that can be solved. >...Health care... >The answer is to get a job which is an obvious catch 22. In the US, they qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid includes mental health services. >...public transit... >By using public transit? I don't understand the question. Public transit costs money. Where I live, 1/2 off or ~ $31/month for a Medicaid recipient. >The biggest problem, I think, is housing. The biggest problem is getting people into the system so they can get assistance. Once they get a case worker and start getting aid, they can more easily get back on their feet. People are homeless for different reasons, some are more easily solved than others.