What does a person or family who has recently become homeless in Northeast Ohio need to know?
In our community, there is rental housing and there are shelters, with nothing in between. There are no more flop houses or places to pay for a week or a day at a time. There is no place to store your belongings when you enter a shelter, you will need to compact your entire life into one bag. Also, theft is a huge problem in the shelters and you will need to take care of your valuables. When you first become homeless you go to the two entry shelters around 3 p.m. There is no need to call, since they are not supposed to turn people away. If you are a woman, go to 2219 Payne Ave. If you are a man, go to 2100 Lakeside Shelter on Lakeside Ave. It is highly unlikely that both parents in a family can go to the same shelter, especially if they are not married or cannot prove they are married. Call every morning to see if there are vacancies at the other shelters so that you do not get stuck in the two entry shelters. There is usually no choice about which shelter that you start out in, and th
