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Thank you for this comment, it's changed my perspective. I too had a spat of homelessness in my early 20's when i lost my mom & job at the same time. You seem

Thank you for this comment, it's changed my perspective. I too had a spat of homelessness in my early 20's when i lost my mom & job at the same time. You seem to have a gift of gab, have you ever tried copywriting on upwork/fiver? Might be a promising direction to get you some stability and a small safe studio. Work from library's until you can afford a cheap room on craigslist.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago
That I changed your perspective, well thank you for saying that, because, well, just because. I just cannot explain the difficulty. First with working. My mood disorder throws me into instability that is catastrophic. I was an accomplished photographer (published) and was selling photographs locally making some extra money. I had an episode where I destroyed thousands of my black and white negatives. Years of work, gone. I could move to the middle of nowhere and afford an apartment for say $700/month (if they rent it to me), but then I will not have healthcare. The places I can have healthcare, I cannot even afford a small studio never mind the first, last and despot needed to get the apartment. And many of these apartments have minimum income requirements that I am nowhere close to. And then it means I have to move away from the already meager social support I do have. Then when I am paying 60% of my income in rent, how doing I afford my car, meds, doctors, heat, etc? There are just so many roadblocks that people do not appreciate. As I said I had four homeless agencies trying to help me find housing and they could not help me, so it was not a lack of trying. And renting a room is impossible. How many of you would share a house with someone you did not know who was on disability with a mental illness? I would not want to even put someone through living with my suffering if they did not know what they were getting into. I have just turned 55 so I am lucky that more option are opening, but there is so much competition for low income housing.
- softcactus 4y ago
  Hey your story is incredibly impactful and also hard to read emotionally. I don't know if you're comfortable accepting money from strangers, but you might try reaching out to some mutual aid groups. There are a lot of local anarchist/mutual aid groups depending on what city you are in. Reddit would be a good place to look for them. Also if you have a website or somewhere you sell photos, I'd love to buy from you.
  - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
    Thanks. Short term aid is great but it doesn’t solve my longer-term problem. I had decided already that I am not going to accept money from anyone until I can fix my long-term issues. There are other people who need it more than I do right now. I just want people to start focusing on the broader issue of asset inflation and inequality. I’m not really talking about all this for myself, its for everyone. I had to sell my camera years ago but I promised myself I would start again if I got stable. But thanks again for the tips.
    - softcactus 4y ago
      I agree with your policy takes. Until we de-commodify housing things wont get any better, and most of the middle class will never stop being NIMBYs since a majority of their wealth is tied up in their home. It's a really sad situation. As far as accepting help goes, there may be others who need it more, but there are a lot of people willing to give. A lot of young professionals right now feel alienated from their work and are looking for ways to support their community. A common theme you'll hear from these groups is "solidarity not charity", there's nothing wrong with accepting help from the community (if you feel comfortable with it of course). I really hope you're able to get back to a place of stability :)
      - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
        Appreciate all you said, and thank you. After years of the world telling me I am not worthy of help it is hard for me to accept it.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago

That I changed your perspective, well thank you for saying that, because, well, just because. I just cannot explain the difficulty. First with working. My mood disorder throws me into instability that is catastrophic. I was an accomplished photographer (published) and was selling photographs locally making some extra money. I had an episode where I destroyed thousands of my black and white negatives. Years of work, gone. I could move to the middle of nowhere and afford an apartment for say $700/month (if they rent it to me), but then I will not have healthcare. The places I can have healthcare, I cannot even afford a small studio never mind the first, last and despot needed to get the apartment. And many of these apartments have minimum income requirements that I am nowhere close to. And then it means I have to move away from the already meager social support I do have. Then when I am paying 60% of my income in rent, how doing I afford my car, meds, doctors, heat, etc? There are just so many roadblocks that people do not appreciate. As I said I had four homeless agencies trying to help me find housing and they could not help me, so it was not a lack of trying. And renting a room is impossible. How many of you would share a house with someone you did not know who was on disability with a mental illness? I would not want to even put someone through living with my suffering if they did not know what they were getting into. I have just turned 55 so I am lucky that more option are opening, but there is so much competition for low income housing.

softcactus 4y ago
Hey your story is incredibly impactful and also hard to read emotionally. I don't know if you're comfortable accepting money from strangers, but you might try reaching out to some mutual aid groups. There are a lot of local anarchist/mutual aid groups depending on what city you are in. Reddit would be a good place to look for them. Also if you have a website or somewhere you sell photos, I'd love to buy from you.
- FollowingTheDao 4y ago
  Thanks. Short term aid is great but it doesn’t solve my longer-term problem. I had decided already that I am not going to accept money from anyone until I can fix my long-term issues. There are other people who need it more than I do right now. I just want people to start focusing on the broader issue of asset inflation and inequality. I’m not really talking about all this for myself, its for everyone. I had to sell my camera years ago but I promised myself I would start again if I got stable. But thanks again for the tips.
  - softcactus 4y ago
    I agree with your policy takes. Until we de-commodify housing things wont get any better, and most of the middle class will never stop being NIMBYs since a majority of their wealth is tied up in their home. It's a really sad situation. As far as accepting help goes, there may be others who need it more, but there are a lot of people willing to give. A lot of young professionals right now feel alienated from their work and are looking for ways to support their community. A common theme you'll hear from these groups is "solidarity not charity", there's nothing wrong with accepting help from the community (if you feel comfortable with it of course). I really hope you're able to get back to a place of stability :)
    - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
      Appreciate all you said, and thank you. After years of the world telling me I am not worthy of help it is hard for me to accept it.