Transgender

I've been homeless for 13 years, so I'll give what advice I can --

First off, you will live through this.

I've had zero luck with shelters. They're dangerous. Theft, drugs, disease and violence. Maybe the shelter near you is better, and I hope so, but if not you'll need to have a backup plan.

Hotels will drain you dry. DO NOT spend your last dollar on one. In fact, leave now. You need your money for survival. A hotel will eat the dollars you need to survive.

Make sure you have one large duffel bag and a large backpack. You'll need a 1-man tent and sleeping bag (thermal). Keep those and your clothes in the large duffel. Keep toiletries, paperwork (ie: birth certificate), laptop, phone, chargers, etc in the backpack. Get a $15 pocket stove from a Walmart, a $6 small pot, and a $10 can of fuel so you can cook. Get on food stamps and Medicaid ASAP. Do not wait on that. You're homeless, you'll get both, and you'll need both. EBT is roughly $300 per month in food, and you can use it in all 50 states. Make a cardboard sign that says "HUNGRY" and keep it in your backpack. You'll get food and cash. You just need to learn where to fly it.

Winter is coming, and if you're in the DC area it's not a good thing. Cold, wind and rain/snow are your enemies. And DC is not exactly "homeless friendly". Winter is coming, you'll want to relocate. Don't get too caught up in the "red state vs. blue state" balogna. It's more like "can I survive this place for X amount of time?". I do Colorado for summer, and Houston for winter. For your situation, you'll need to find LGBTQ-friendly cities. Texas may sound hick and redneck and all things conservative, but Austin is about as San Fransisco-y as it gets. Shop around, travel around. Chase the weather.

Places to avoid is basically any place that's popular for homeless. Florida. Don't go there (it sucks for homeless people because there's just too many). Same with SoCal. Same with Frisco. Same with Salt Lake City (they're actually in the process of warehousing homeless people against their will, stay the hell away from that!).

I've usually hichhiked between locations, but I've also done the whole panhandle --> short bus ride to nearby town/city --> panhandle for the next leg. It involves swallowing your pride a little, but it's better than going hungry. And don't be afraid to put down "NEED TENT" or "NEED BUS TICKET". You'll be amazed at the help you get.

Stay away from other homeless you see. Visible homeless are almost always guaranteed to be on drugs and willing to steal your stuff. Avoid them like the plague. After a while, you'll learn which homeless people you can trust. And you won't meet those people on street corners.

Avoid downtown areas. Safest places to camp are almost always on the outskirts of cities that still have public transit. Camp out of sight and out of mind. Tent goes up after dark, get some sleep, and take it down at sunrise. Eventually, you find a spot where you can leave your tent up for a while and actually find work. It doesn't happen immediately but it does happen.

In all honesty, the entire Northeast and DC areas are the absolute worst places in the country to be homeless. If things don't start working out, plan an escape to somewhere (literally anywhere) else. No matter where you go, libraries are your friend for charging electronics and using wifi. Showering can be difficult depending on the city. In Phoenix there's municipal pools for just a few bucks that have showers. Houston's parks all have showers for 75 cents. Florida has beachside showers, but a massive homeless population and an overburdened social services system.

That's about all the help I can give right now. It's completely doable, so keep your head up. Keep a very open mind to traveling, it'll likely be your only way out. Feel free to ask if you have any questions, I've been doing this a while.

FYI -- I'm still waiting on my disability case. But in the 13 years I've been homeless I've managed a 735 FICO score, 4 major credit cards, a ham radio license, and I do house-sitting. Still camp when I need to. It's not as bad as it seems, and when I started I literally had nothing more than the pair of shorts I was wearing and a t-shirt. In December. I had been teaching English in Asia, lost my passport, and was repatriated. Started at zero. If this idiot can manage that, you'll do far better. Good luck!

What country are you in? Maybe try some couch surfing sites or local LGBTQ events to find allies

we're super tired so we'll write more soon-ish, but what we will say is to keep comfy in a way you can keep up.

shorky is a very good first step, plushies are an entry that is rather high on our "grab and get the hell out" list! they are one of the few things that kept us sane when we were homeless. you are very wise.

more will come soon! but for the time being, you got this.

okay, now having rested a bit, here we go.

First off, so much of being homeless depends on the area. Jspelts' accounts of where you are are far better than we could ever provide.

However, in our experience, one of the important things was to not look stereotypically homeless/like a drug addict. So, keep your hair well done, wash your face with (clean!) water if you can, don't smell bad, and try not to dirty your clothes.

Our reasoning is that out here in Oregon at least, the homeless population are pretty much just viewed by the governments (municipal and state) as a thing that is solely problematic. There are organizations (like shelters) whose goal is to assist those who are homeless, but if you don't keep up your looks, while they might give out some supplies, they probably won't help you out with getting a roof over your head.

Some organizations might be able to get you a hotel for a couple days or weeks, although they are usually ones related to domestic violence etc. With your status as a transgender woman, some of those may be willing to assist you, but don't count on it.

With regards to homeless shelters, in our experience here in homeless-unfriendly Oregon, the multiple-day ones were awful. The ones that we've heard are good for LGBTQ+ folk and women were usually just overnight shelters, or had a huge waitlist. It is worth noting that in the midwest (in Wisconsin) where the homeless population were treated with decency, getting a three month stay at a quite good shelter was fairly managable. From the accounts of other commenters though that may not be the case for you sadly.

We were lucky to be able to shelter in a car (this is back here in Oregon), albeit it was cramped with two other folk (we knew them very well). In one of the places we car camped there were a couple other groups also car camping, one of them out of an old chevy SUV (think like a late 90's suburban) they got for super cheap. They said that they got it off someone for a few hundred dollars, as it had some pretty severe mechanical troubles and awful bodywork. They only drove it when the police told them to move, but other than that it stayed stationary, with some supplies and a ladder strapped on top. This may be sustainable in the long term if you can't find housing, or it may be a terrible idea depending on your situation, we can't say really.

With what we said in our other post—"keep comfy in a way you can keep up"—we should have emphasized the "in a way you can keep up" part. For instance, while hotels are very comfy, you can't keep that up unless you had enough money to the point of just being able to rent a place. Books are great for the mental aspect of this, and some libraries don't have any late fees at all! Whatever type of shelter you pursue, ensure you have decent bedding as well; used/free stuff is often your friend here. A super big mattress might be unfeasible, but even a few inch thick roll of memory foam can be okay to lay on.

Besides this stuff, as Jspelts mentioned try and sign up for government assistance such as SNAP EBT and public health plans (medicaid). And do try and get in touch with your friends! They are often the best resource out there.

We shall stress once again this is our experience in Oregon, so use your own judgement.

Stay strong, stay close with your dear shorky, and you'll manage :)