I've been trying to get "social support" through Alberta's online social services for over a month now and I even went so far as to walk 5 hours (round-trip, I have no car/license) to a physical Alberta Works center but I have not received any reason as to why I haven't had any response, email, or really any followup in any form from them despite trying to reach out to them through every means they provide. I also brought up the fact I had security concerns in regards to their systems when I went in person but that was brushed aside/ignored (to be fair, perhaps there's an official way to submit concerns? idk, I've just been very stressed and frustrated as of late). Funnily enough, a few days before I got evicted I received a letter telling me their systems were hacked a month ago and my SIN, DOB, all my personal info was stolen from their systems so now also worrying about my identity being stolen.
CW: trauma dumping, sorry.. I grew up alone for the first 8 years of life with an addict father. I've been diagnosed with PTSD. My mother left me to escape the abuse herself. When she regained custody it was better but she was a foster kid herself. She won't provide me a couch to sleep on + she kicked me out after my episode of psychosis years ago. I've been on my own since. I don't have friends/family I can turn to, some of that is partly my bad choices but I also got a crappy hand in life. I really hope a VC opportunity/job application will work out soon. I wasted lots of $ on a psychologist for 6 years to try to "heal" (now I think 80%? of that "industry" is BS.), was told not to worry about being homeless + turned out that they're into astrology.. + recommended against my decision to stop seeing them after I saw red flags, I made the mistake of listening and wasted more time/money due to loneliness :/ End CW
I'm kind of at my wits end now. I was able to social engineer myself into being a 'visitor' at a hospital for the past week but security got suspicious + said I have to spend more time visiting and less time lounging. I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight + I'm scared of having my laptop stolen. I'm looking for work in anything now. I know how to program, how to learn/adapt "quickly" (so can most people in this industry I'd guess lol), write ETL pipelines, develop websites from front-to-back, reverse engineer at a 'basic' level, deploy to Linode/AWS/DO/Azure, basic DevOps, Bash scripting, Go, Python, TS/JS, etc. But I have no official degree/certs. I tend to get along with people I talk to IRL but I'm not great at forming long-term IRL relationships except online.Not sure why I'm sharing this with HN, doesnt seem fitting but this is one of the few places I've been able to find like-minded people who think/share cool things on topics I like, I've always struggled to find that IRL :/ Anyways, I'm going to go and try to find/steal some food now, I'll likely not be back online to reply to comments anytime soon. I hope I'll be able to survive tonight/the next few weeks until it warms up :/ I hope none of you screw up/have to go through something like this
Take care, - Krowfooten (a non-public pseudonym - can also email me at -> simplelogin.nxw38@aleeas.com - love to talk tech/can share more about my project in a 'private' place :)
Sorry to hear about your situation.
If you are in Alberta the Bannf Centre will give you board, cheap food and pay for work (cleaning rooms, preparing food, etc).
I know this is not ideal, but being safe and warm is greater than being in the elements in the winter.
So I will say that my information is about 15 years old here... But I hope it helps...
It is really great!
Just don't burden your hosts with the full story :) If you try out this avenue, be positive and talk about all the good things in your life.
0. Find someplace warmer and milder. CA coast between Los Angeles and San Diego.
1. Waterproof dry bags for electronics with desiccants. Beware taking cold electronics into warm rooms because that equals condensation, shorts, and/or corrosion.
2. Live in a vehicle, preferably a small RV and somewhere not adverse to vehicle dwelling.
3. Focus on what clients want specifically, not all possible technologies. Sign contracts charging by the project milestone rather than an hourly rate. Deliver without delay. Get an LLC (corporation) because it's cheap and allows large clients to pay you. Don't work for peanuts. $3k/week as an example.
> I've been looking for a job/contract for 6+ months but last week I was evicted
Suggests your real problem is not finding a job but rather a lack of connection with reality.
> + she kicked me out after my episode of psychosis years ago.
I have a close family member with mental health issues. Your situation is going to make you more exposed for a psychosis episode. I'd focus on getting somewhere to sleep at any cost (any CC to max out?) as soon as possible to avoid getting an episode while you are homeless.
If you haven't already you need to reach out to literally everyone you know. Old colleagues might be able to get you some work. Friends and family might be willing to give you somewhere to stay for a bit.
You're clearly a smart guy. You'll work this out. Just hold in there.
The taxation should cover that in a social system.
Sending you an email. Unsure of what help I can be, but I feel called to find out.