Hangin' Out

Hopefully we've gotten a full night's sleep, because we'll be on the move all day.

A list of things to do during the day is, in essence, an asset for our Homeless Portfolios.  Planning is a key to progress.  It's more complicated than you might think.

Challenge 1: We're going to have to carry all of our physical assets with us all day.  Leaving our blankets, sleeping bags or coats at our sleeping site pretty much guarantees our assets will be stolen.  We'll talk about scoring a backpack or piece of luggage in just a bit.

Challenge 2: Loitering is a crime.  Unless we're in a public space we can be ticketed, which is a big setback for our Homeless Portfolios. 

This is why we want to live in a farily big city, with a population of at least 250,000 residents.  We'll stick out like a sore thumb in a small town, and there will be fewer services for us. 

So where do we go during the daytime?

Well, parks are attractive because they are public spaces.  Everyone is welcome. Don't forget that we'll need to adhere to the park's curfew.  But how does hanging out in a park advance our Homeless Portfolios?  It doesn't, of course.  We will stay on track, which means we'll be active during the day.

We can loiter at a bus bench, but that is equally counter-productive.

If we can hustle up enough money for a day pass on the local bus service, we've got a place to go in extreme weather.

Good-sized cities will have drop-in availability at non-profit agencies.  The Salvation Army and the St. Vincent DePaul Society often offer meals, and they frequently have clothing, cold weather supplies and toiletries.  Backpacks and small luggage too.  Many thrift stores are operated for and by charities.  Most will do what they can to help us.

Other non-profits in large cities may well offer these things too, as well as shelter from the elements.  To find these agencies we'll either talk to some of the fellow local homeless, check a phone book or go online.

How on earth can we, the destitute, go online?  The key is the best possible place we can spend our daytime hours:  public libraries.  This subject is so important...the best possible asset for our Homeless Portfolios at this juncture is online time.  This is so crucial we'll spend an entire chapter talking about libraries and the Internet.

Wandering around can be productive in small, unpredictable ways.  If we look, we'll find change on the ground everywhere.  Be patient.  We can find other assets as well.

But ongoing income is our goal.  One-time money won't get us off the streets for good.  If we blow the money on a motel room, drugs or alcohol then we're not ready to develop our Homeless Portfolios.  See you when you bottom out again.

Let's say we find someone's purse or wallet in a public space.  What do we do?

We never, ever, ever take someone's personal effects.  ID's, credit cards or pictures of their kids.  We're going to turn in the wallet or purse to the closest business, and tell them where we found the item.  We're doing a fine thing for that wallet's or purse's owner.  Doing good deeds is essential as we fill our Homeless Portfolios.  It speeds up the process.

But what if we find money inside?  What do we do?

The Home Portfolio NEVER encourages illegal acts of any kind.

But, hell, at this point we're homeless, probably hungry and still sleeping outside!  Who could blame us for keepng the money?  As mentioned earlier, we've done this person a great service by returning their personal effects.  Those things are more important than money for most people.  Secondly, people stupid enough to lose their wallets and purses deserve to be punished for their stupidity, in the opinion of your friends here at The Homeless Portfolio.

So we won't go any further than this:  Who could really blame a homeless person for keeping the cash?  Not us.

Don't forget that we need to remain physically close to the nearest sources of food, water and a bathroom.

Libraries and social service agencies are the superior places to "hang out" in the daytime.  We'll tell you everything you need to know about using the resources at your nearest public library to generate the most important asset we can accumulate at this point...

Internet access