Worrying about being homeless due to crisis

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I've been avoiding the news lately but today I was in earshot of the news and all they were talking about was thousands of people in the UK could wind up homeless due to the COVID crisis.

It gave me a panic attack and now I'm feeling depressed and worried. I would rather get COVID or even die than to be living on the streets. And lots of people are saying that they're more worried about the recession than they are of COVID.

I mean, vulnerable people are vulnerable to any viruses, so I could visit my elderly grandparents not knowing that I'm carrying, say, norovirus or something, and that could be passed on to my grandparents, and there is no cure for norovirus but it can kill elderly people. I used to work at a care home and we had 7 elderly residents die from norovirus in one week, due to dehydration and high temperature.

So same with this COVID. 80% of people show no symptoms, or at least very mild symptoms, and most people are more likely to be killed or injured in a car crash than die or get damaged lungs from COVID.
I knew a girl at school who got the flu one time, and she was rushed to hospital with it and it actually gave her permanent laryngitis. Her voice was never the same since. But, like COVID, that is rather rare to be permanently damaged from the flu when you're young and healthy, which is why the world carries on living with infectious viruses like flus, chest infections, common colds, stomach bugs, etc.
But this COVID thing just shuts the whole world down and causes everyone to live in fear of losing their homes and dying of living in poverty.

How can I protect myself and my family from becoming homeless? I'm so terrified. I think I will commit suicide if I was to become homeless, because I could not live like that, sitting on the corner of the street with a begging bowl. We are not wild animals. We are humans, and humans aren't supposed to be living on the streets.

I feel you Joe. I worry about my viability every day to start my career at the end of the year due to the economic situation. And if I do find work that I could bring the virus home to my wife.

I think your government will do all it can to protect it's citizens from that eventuality. The news coverage on the possibility that could happen reflects these issues are already being considered hopefully. I read that the UK temporarily got thousands of pre pandemic homeless people off the streets to protect them.

Yes, the situation is similar in my country. I also believe that the government will have no option but to step in and assist. In my country rents have gone down, taxes are being put on hold and though they are not functioning well the government is giving some backing to the unemployed and people who are struggling.

I am also completely without paid work at the moment. Everyone is in the same boat except the priveleged few who are wealthy. I take each day at a time, am grateful for my morning coffee, food in the fridge, A/C and reasonable health. I take it one day at a time. If our government doesn't step up there will be riots in the streets. I split my apartment in two to help pay the bills and rent half out. If my tenant/now friend can't pay me then I won't evict him. We will hunt firewood and berries together ( dramatic effect to illustrate the point it probably won't happen) and manage somehow. People will really have to start helping each other through these worrying times.

It's just that a couple of months ago Boris Johnson was saying that nobody will be forced out of their homes if the current crisis has affected them financially, and now they're talking about the homeless figures will rise and thousands of people will be on the streets. But then how can they let the streets be full of homeless people and have loads of empty houses and apartments everywhere?

Then I heard them say that the government is in a trillion pounds debt, which I knew would happen. A trillion is a HUGE number and I don't think they'll ever be able to get out of this one. Unless China steps in and helps bail all the countries out, as the virus did come from China and put the whole world in this mess.

You won’t be homeless, Joe.

You have a good social service safety net in the U.K. And you still have your job even after the U.K. went through the worst of COVID.

I’m not dismissing your concerns. I just don’t think you will be homeless.

I’ve been homeless and while it was for a short period of time I got through it. But your concerns are valid. Living on the streets and in areas (depending on location) can be frightening and dangerous especially for the vulnerable. On the other hand in my experience there were good people too. I was lucky enough to come across a motel where I got work and a room. Anyway my point is sometimes you have to put your pride behind you and do what you can to survive. As soon as you see a job for hire get to it immediately. If you’re desperate sometimes they will find other work. Ask around if you remotely suspect you’ll lose your job. Better safe than sorry! Most of the jobs over here are still in demand: Delivery, grocery stores...essential jobs.

I agree though, this pandemic is not just an infectious disease but a disease that is hurting everyday workers barely getting by. Heck it’s devastating people’s mental health and overall behavior. So please don’t kill yourself! You can survive this and one day you’ll look back wondering how you got through it. As for the elderly all you can do is take the most affective precautions when visiting them. Wear a mask, keep your distance, help them out with groceries so they don’t have to go public and risk contracting it. If you suspect you have it even if it’s not serious, get tested or isolate.

That’s all I can say but you’ll get through this.

In the UK (especially in Essex) the homeless are mostly troubled drug-addicts that someone like me wouldn't ever want to be involved with. And what I've heard about the homeless centres around here, they are diabolical. They are full of angry, unstable people that are threatening and on drugs, and I always distance myself from those sorts of people and I am not into drugs or alcohol.

But nobody can ever tell me that being homeless will be OK, because to me it's a nightmare. I have suffered with agoraphobia before and it comes back if I have a bad experience in a public place. I have lots of sentimental possessions and comfort items that I can't imagine living without, and if I was ever turfed out of my safe zone (my home), then my life wouldn't be worth living, and I would probably die from fright or from the cold.

Even any support out there will be hard to get because there will be thousands of other people needing the same support and so there will be waiting lists and queues everywhere, which will overwhelm the system.

So, for this, I no longer give a s**t about COVID. I think being homeless will kill me off, not COVID.

I am thinking of buying a tent just in case, so that I can keep my precious possessions with me and be able to keep warm, and I'll set up somewhere out of the way of the public. But I really don't want to be a tramp.

Why should half the country be turfed out of their homes and on to the streets just because of a crisis over some stupid virus that we were all forced to go into lockdown over? It's f*****g ridiculous.

My sons ----- i wont say what position or job as he has lots of ppl involved but someone in tje team has been homeless fr a year with a small child. 5 or 6 Years ago.

She has told me about it in detail as I was talking to her about some worry regarding homelessness as we were downtown and saw the tents etc.

she is an intelligent hardworking n educated woman n it has nothing to do wi
th that (being homeless - i know some ppl love to blame misfortunes on someone elses presumed choices rather than bad luck...

so they can pretend it cant happen to them)..

She worked during the day n slept in a tent at night n used community laundromat ..

they wd use running blankets and clothes in laundry...to warm up clothes whenit got chilly

And it was 100% not to do with her but canadian govt n long story..for which there was a court case etc.



But she said it was doable.. So i know if it ever comes to that..

Bcuz i told her initially i was certain my kids n i wd be homeless as my parents wdnt help me then..


She also lived in her car when she was in her twenties...entirely once. She said it was actually fun. She wd use her gym to take a shower before going to work.


Now the rental rates everything is insanity.


-Sço i mean to say.... The worst is something that may happen to anyone.. If it could happen to someon*/e THAT educated and accomplished...and earns decent money etc.



But if it does.. Plz do a gofundme or something.. As we have resources now..


Or use friends.. Something.. And yes she lived in a tent at a trailer par


forgot to mention then a man who she considered like a brother got mad and took her n her daughter to stay withhim.. He was angry that she hadnt told him..

And in Toronto the homeless rate has shot up and its scary bcuz retired pplcan become homeless... This is a 1st world country...

The system will be happy to let even elderly people of the conmunity slip thru the cracks so we have to cling to every support..

So i mean .. Friends n family... Prefer to help.

not have sum1 they love suffer and endure things on their own. I hope this post conveyed what i want it to.

I never said being homeless is good.

I said it’s very unlikely you will become homeless.

In the UK the homeless is common in places like London, but in Essex a lot of the homeless are homeless because they choose to be (they can't be bothered to receive support or get a job even if the opportunity is there). So they beg for money in the streets so that they can buy drugs and alcohol.

I know it can happen to anyone, but I am me so I am worrying about me, and I really don't want to be living on the streets. It scares me. People here think I am only casually afraid of being homeless like everyone else, but I am REALLY REALLY terrified and as an overthinker it is affecting my mental health. Maybe I should see an advisor to reassure me that I won't become homeless and why.

And if I am going to become homeless then I'm sorry but I will no longer abide to any social distancing rules, as I am starting to completely disagree with lockdowns and restrictions. If there was a dangerous, scary, flesh-eating virus going around that was killing millions of people of any age every day, then yes I would be more afraid. But the economy collapsing and many people becoming homeless because of a coronavirus that 80% of people show little to no symptoms of? I'd rather die than be homeless.

I didn't say you said that.

Please enjoy your home as much as possible.

If my wife throws me out, I have nowhere else to go (she legally can’t—but I can’t bear to live with someone who doesn’t want me).

Being thrown out is not imminent for me.

I do enjoy my home as much as possible. I love getting into bed and watching movies at night and feeling safe from the dangerous streets of the night, being lost in the movie and feeling relaxed. I won't have any of those luxuries if or when I'm homeless. I'll have to live like a wild animal and be vulnerable to murderers and rapists (yes, even in a tent a murderer could still stab you or a bunch of louts could surround your tent and start destroying it or something).

I remember the last recession we had in the UK was 2008, and people kept saying "nobody's job is safe", meaning that your company can look like it's doing OK but could go bust the very next week. So far the bus company I work for is doing OK and all the bus services are running back to normal now, but does that mean it is secure?

How's China doing now? Is their economy picking up? Or are there a million people living on the streets because they lost their job and their homes?

If you were going to lose your job, you would have lost it a couple of months ago.

Kraftie, you have just given me peace of mind. Thank you.


Oh and thank you to everyone else that have replied and empathised too.