Housing

Finding a place to live, for most youth, is a big challenge. Many things that can be problems include discriminatory landlords, finding affordable housing, coming up with first and last months rent, and not having a rental history. Here are a few ideas about things you could do to get housing:

• Work with a counsellor from a youth agency. Many counsellors are expert in the area of housing and can provide a lot of help in what can be a very complicated process.
  
  
• Find temporary housing first, such as at a shelter (see above) and/or at a very inexpensive place such as at a youth hostel http://hostels.digihitch.com/
  
  
• Ask other youth for tips about good places to start with
  
  
• When you go to meet a landlord, wear your cleanest clothes - remember that they may discriminate against you if your appearance fits a negative stereotype (i.e., you look homeless)
  
  
• Make use of all information sources for housing listings [(e.g., newspaper classifieds, online listings, student housing listings (often linked through universities and colleges)]
  
  
• Ask a youth worker about supported/subsidized housing and how to apply for it in your area - though remember that waiting lists can be very long and it may be a good idea to try and find something else while you wait.
  
  
• In every area there are going to be different rules regarding your rights as a tenant. You may end up facing problems such as a landlord that wants to evict you even though you have been paying rent, landlords breaking agreements regarding upkeep of apartments and/or utilities (e.g., heat, bugs, water), or being denied housing/threatened eviction because of a pet. It is important to know your rights in such instances. If you feel your rights as a tenant have been violated, you should contact a local legal aid office and/or ask a youth worker for advice and assistance. Remember: Don't take action (e.g,. move out, stop paying rent) until you find out what your rights are.

Having identification cards/documents is very important to access employment, school, healthcare and a range of other services. Here are some good sites that can help you find out how you can get new i.d. material:

• In Canada: go to Service Canada
  
  
• In the U.S.: for a birth certificate, a good start would be to call the city hall in the town of your birth. For other documentation see US Immigration Support
  
  
• Ask for some help! A lot of youth services have much experience dealing with this problem and can help you through the process of getting i.d.

For several different reasons, you may wish to change your name. The rules and procedures around this vary from place to place (e.g., age limits vary and there are costs associated with the applications) and you would then need to change all of your other i.d. For more information on contacts and how to start this process in Canada see How Do I Change My Name? and in the U.S. you may need to apply through a state court (contact your specific state court for more details).

Finding enough to eat is a regular challenge faced by most homeless persons. Homeless and street-involved youth often have poor health related to (i) not having enough to eat, and (ii) eating unhealthy food. Eating a balanced meal that includes hydrating liquids (e.g., water, juice), meat (unless you are a vegetarian), vegetables, fruit, and starches (e.g., bread) is extremely important to your health. Hunger and malnutrition leads to low energy, weakness, vulnerability to sickness, and slow recovery from injury and sickness. It is particularly important that pregnant women have a proper diet to keep the fetus. Here are a few ideas about things you can do to make sure you get enough to eat:

• Go to any service for homeless and street-involved youths. The staff at most agencies can usually provide many ideas about where and how to get food.


• Free food can be found in many cities in a range of services such as shelters, food banks, and soup kitchens. For a directory of services in the U.S. see Finding Free Food.


• Learn to shop for and prepare food in a way that makes the most of each dollar. For some tips on how to do this go to: Eating on a budget


• Get tips from other youths who know the town/city well. You can often learn from other youths where you can get a free meal, which restaurants give away food at the end of the day, and where you can shop cheaply.