So, I've been homeless and dealt with lack of housing and a need for mental health assistance so I can provide a little first hand experience.
Shelters should be able to find a social worker who can help you. Those can be your best friend. They can put you in touch with other services that can help you out. Some services are ONLY available if you're referred by a social worker. There can be other homeless organizations that can help you get a social worker, but usually a good place to start looking is at a shelter. As much as I'm an atheist and I abhor some of their political shenanigans, I'm going to recommend the local Salvation Army as a place to start.
Also, if you have enough internet access to get on this forum, you should be able to use resources like google, too. Look up phrases like "Portland homeless resources" or "housing assistance" or "mental health assistance" and you'll find lots of people and places that can help you. Admittedly, with the way the internet is nowadays, you'll have to filter through a bunch sites or resources that can't help you, but if you find like 10 resources and only one of them is useful, that one might just be enough.
Other suggestions: Having lived in homeless shelters and gotten away from that nonsense, I've seen the kinds of people who NEVER rebuild their lives and stay chronically homeless. They're usually the ones who care more about petty, Jerry Springer type drama and less about putting a roof over their heads. Their social group, their clique, is more important to them than improving themselves. Don't get stuck in that crowd; if you have to choose between your friends and housing or an important doctors appointment, choose the housing or doctors appointment; if your friends really care about you, they'll understand. If they don't understand, they aren't the kinds of friends you really need.
Avoid drugs and alcohol. A lot of the people who have issues with drugs and alcohol tend to be in the Jerry Springer drama group and it's hard to get out of it. Plus, a lot of homeless/mental health resources are going to drug test you and you do NOT want to lose out on an opportunity because you wanted to get high.
Any case worker, social worker, doctor, psychiatrist, therapist that you get, communicate with them well. If you're on a psych med and it's not working, let them know and see if they can find a different medication. Finding the right psych med can be tricky and it can take some time and it can involve quite a bit of trial and error.
Good luck.
Shelters should be able to find a social worker who can help you. Those can be your best friend. They can put you in touch with other services that can help you out. Some services are ONLY available if you're referred by a social worker. There can be other homeless organizations that can help you get a social worker, but usually a good place to start looking is at a shelter. As much as I'm an atheist and I abhor some of their political shenanigans, I'm going to recommend the local Salvation Army as a place to start.
Also, if you have enough internet access to get on this forum, you should be able to use resources like google, too. Look up phrases like "Portland homeless resources" or "housing assistance" or "mental health assistance" and you'll find lots of people and places that can help you. Admittedly, with the way the internet is nowadays, you'll have to filter through a bunch sites or resources that can't help you, but if you find like 10 resources and only one of them is useful, that one might just be enough.
Other suggestions: Having lived in homeless shelters and gotten away from that nonsense, I've seen the kinds of people who NEVER rebuild their lives and stay chronically homeless. They're usually the ones who care more about petty, Jerry Springer type drama and less about putting a roof over their heads. Their social group, their clique, is more important to them than improving themselves. Don't get stuck in that crowd; if you have to choose between your friends and housing or an important doctors appointment, choose the housing or doctors appointment; if your friends really care about you, they'll understand. If they don't understand, they aren't the kinds of friends you really need.
Avoid drugs and alcohol. A lot of the people who have issues with drugs and alcohol tend to be in the Jerry Springer drama group and it's hard to get out of it. Plus, a lot of homeless/mental health resources are going to drug test you and you do NOT want to lose out on an opportunity because you wanted to get high.
Any case worker, social worker, doctor, psychiatrist, therapist that you get, communicate with them well. If you're on a psych med and it's not working, let them know and see if they can find a different medication. Finding the right psych med can be tricky and it can take some time and it can involve quite a bit of trial and error.
Good luck.
I live on facebook. Come see me there. http://www.facebook.com/tara.rizzatto
"If you cling to something as the absolute truth and you are caught in it, when the truth comes in person to knock on your door you will refuse to let it in." ~ Siddhartha Gautama
"If you cling to something as the absolute truth and you are caught in it, when the truth comes in person to knock on your door you will refuse to let it in." ~ Siddhartha Gautama
