Being homeless often means not being a part of normal society and living on the fringes of it. This can mean not working jobs, not paying bills, and not doing all the things that many people in regular society do.

Activities and actions like these can document a person’s lifestyle and situation in life, and sometimes you need to use these types of records to prove something to someone.

Proving to somebody else that you’re homeless can therefore be very difficult, but sometimes we as homeless people do need to provide records or documents of homelessness to different organizations, authorities, or groups. An example of this would be if someone is homeless and trying to get into emergency housing.

In order to qualify for something like this, many countries, states, or counties require that you somehow prove you’re homeless by providing some type of documentation of your situation.

For example, in UK countries such as England and Scotland, going before the local council and filling out a homeless application is the first step that needs to be taken in many cases. In the USA, there is no system such as this and gathering documents from official sources is often the first step.

So, if you’ve found yourself in a similar scenario and need to convince someone else that you are indeed homeless, here’s a few suggestions that may work for you, depending on your situation and where you live.

Eviction Notice Served by Landlord
If you were evicted from your home or apartment by a landlord, the eviction notice itself can sometimes be more than enough to convince someone that you’re homeless.

As long as the eviction notice is somewhat recent, then it may be the only thing you’ll need. It should be an official eviction notice and should include the landlord or owner’s name and information on it so they can be contacted if need be in order to verify the authenticity of it.

The same is true of any police documents or anything else similar to this which shows that you were forcibly or involuntarily removed from your premises. Make sure to make copies of this and do not provide the original unless you absolutely have to because you don’t want to lose the only documentation you have of it if there’s only one copy.

However, this can also sometimes work against you if the situation is you trying to prove to another person you’re homeless in order to live with them.

They may assume you were evicted because you became a nuisance or some type of problem for your last landlord and might be less willing to help you as a result out of fear that you might now become their problem. But if you’re giving the notice to an organization, a government entity or a court, then you should provide the eviction notice as it shouldn’t negatively affect you in these scenarios.

Now, even if you weren’t given an official eviction notice, such as a form that specifically reads “Eviction Notice” at the top, a letter from the person evicting you can serve the same purpose as long as it’s verifiable and that person can be contacted by the court or group that you give a copy of the letter to.

Court Possession Papers
If an official court took possession over your home or abode and you have papers or records of this, then this is no different than having an eviction notice. In fact, it can even be a better record than an eviction notice because it’s an official document by a court and will most likely hold more weight with whoever you’re providing it to.

These types of documents can be easily verified by anybody and often contain seals or stamps that help bolster their authenticity. Just remember that the date on the forms should be recent as this would clearly show that you’ve recently lost your home or dwelling.

This type of documentation, like an eviction notice, doesn’t necessarily prove you’re homeless. Because who’s to say that you didn’t move in to somewhere else between the date of eviction and the current date, even if your home was repossessed, taken or you were forced out just a few days ago. But it does provide some solid evidence that you are in fact homeless and can definitely help your case more than hurt it.

Letter from Shelter
Often, a letter from a local homeless shelter is all that is needed in order to prove that you’re without a home. If you’ve been staying in a homeless shelter and they have a record of that at the actual shelter, you should simply ask the manager there if they can provide a letter that states that you have in fact been staying there.

In most cases they’ll be willing to help you and will provide their name, signature, and a date at the bottom of the letter. If you want to make things easier on yourself, you may even want to use the local library (if possible) to draft up a letter yourself that states how long you’ve been staying at the shelter.

Always include specific dates or a specific time frame and make it official looking. Then all you need to do is have the manager or staff at the shelter sign and date the letter. This takes care of most of the writing they’ll need to do and they may be more willing to sign it.

However, some managers may actually prefer to write the letter themselves. Just make sure that it’s someone who works full time for the shelter during normal business hours and who can provide a contact phone number where they can be reached.

You want to ensure that they’re verifiable in case whoever you’re giving the letter to decides to call the shelter to verify they are actually the manager there.

Signed Letter from Social Worker
Because social workers work with homeless people on a regular basis and document many facets of their life, this is often the best person that you can have on your side when it comes to proving you’re actually homeless. Not only will they be more likely to have documentation of your situation, but they’re also considered a very trustworthy and verifiable source.

This is because most of them are employed by the state, so they are considered to be an official source by many courts and organizations. Sometimes, all you’ll need to prove that you’re living on the streets is any stamped or signed documents from them with a date on it from previous interactions you’ve had with them recently as long as the documents were approvals for anything relating to your homelessness.

If you don’t have these types of documents, you can simply ask your social worker if they will write, sign and date a letter for you and be clear in explaining the purpose of the letter and why you need it.

Also, make sure you include their phone number and their extension number on the letter for verification purposes. Social workers normally will not give you a hard time when it comes to helping you get back on your feet and into housing or other social services because that is essentially what they are there for and why they do their jobs.

Make Copies of All Documents
Just remember, if you’re provided with a letter or document from anyone, whether it be a shelter, a social worker, an eviction notice from a landlord, or a police report, make sure to always make copies of these documents and store them somewhere safe.

You should be providing copies and not the originals to anybody who asks for them in the first place. Sometimes, when you’re homeless, you will have to prove you are indeed homeless to more than one person or group for different types of services or reasons.

So, it’s always smarter to keep as much documentation as you can at all times to make things easier on yourself. As soon as you are given any type of documents or papers that evidence your homelessness, you should visit a library or copy center immediately and make multiple copies if you can afford it.