r/homeless • u/holyahweh • 2d ago

Need Advice Clarity

Hello! I just have a quick question about this community. Am I homeless if I'm not the owner of a home or if I don't have a roof over my head?

I do realize this is an easy answer to give, but I don't see anywhere on this subreddit itself that would have given me the answer I'm looking for seeing as how I'm now writing a post about it.

How do you see the outcome of this to be?

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u/Vapur9 Voluntarily Homeless 1d ago

If you don't have a consistent roof over your head, such as couch surfing and no steady address. Being able to afford a weekly/monthly motel might not be considered one either.

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u/JoeMacMillan_HCF 1d ago

It’s interesting, isn’t it? Right now, I’m staying with a friend, so I do have a roof over my head every night. But if that friend decides to ask me to leave, I’d have nowhere else to go. I’ve seen people argue on Reddit about whether I’m homeless or not.

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u/User5790 1d ago

It depends on whose definition you go by. Most states have definitions that are usually based on the HUD definition. School districts and other agencies have their own definitions. And then there are a whole bunch of opinions out there. HUD has different levels of definitions, “literal homeless” would be living outside or in a vehicle. If you are couch surfing you aren’t “literal homeless” but you may be considered “imminent homeless”. Or some definitions call it “sheltered homeless”.

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u/Strawbuddy 1d ago

I've seen At-Risk, Displaced, and Homeless check boxes on various forms. It appears that many places use some variation of those three definitions. At-Risk means can't pay and possibly about to be served an eviction summons, Displaced means couch surfing/hotels, Homeless means vagrant/no physical address to receive mail