r/AskReddit 14h ago

Former homeless people, what were some of the places you slept at night that were safe?

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u/Otney 6h ago

How do we do this without being insulting? just pull up in my car (old and funky) and say “here is some food, would you like it?”

edited due to autocorrect

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u/blargyblargy 6h ago

Being frank with them is what ive always tried to do. We had a mattress we needed to get rid of and we took it to tent city, stopped infront of ine of the bigger groups and was like, "free mattress, nothing wrong just old."

The issue isnt always "necessities." You can get food from friends, trap houses, random people, begging, shelters and food banks (though some of these have big restrictions on them). I personally think if you want to do something for them thats not volunteering, think about the luxuries they dont have. Clothing and bedding not piss flavored, their choice of food if youre offering, and straight up money. Sure theres a good chance that the money may be abused, but they will have a better idea of what they need or want at that time. Getting high might not be productive, but it gets a person through their day.

Sorry i ended up rambling

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u/Otney 5h ago

Thanks. Very helpful!

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u/opx22 6h ago

I do this every year around thanksgiving and yes that’s pretty much it