With all the many challenges that homeless people face in their everyday lives, rain easily tops the list as one of the most difficult to deal with. Weather changes can be particularly brutal for homeless people because shelters are not always an option.

When it’s raining outside, the way it feels to a homeless person is the same way you would feel if it were to rain in your living room, bedroom, or all over your couch and bed.

Damp Insulation Materials

Even if it rains and then suddenly stops, the ground is still wet. Most homeless people who sleep outside have adapted and learned to use mats and other things to insulate themselves from the ground, but sometimes these mats are simply cardboard and will be destroyed once wet.

When this happens at night, this often means having to wait until daylight arrives to find a dry park or another place to sleep, which isn’t always an option.

Wet Clothing and No Dryer

Also, homeless people don’t always have the time, money, or access to wash and dry their clothes as easily as people with homes and cars. Getting to laundromats can be a pain or there may not be any open or nearby when it does rain.

So when it rains, a homeless person must be even more careful not to get wet than other people because they may have to live and sleep in the same clothes for several days or weeks.

Unwelcomed in Public Places

Many homeless people will simply try to find outside areas that are covered from the rain, such as overhanging roofs outside or behind stores or buildings. But obviously, this isn’t as preferable as somewhere indoors.

However, when I was homeless and attempted to go inside some places, security guards and others would often notice that I was homeless because of my large backpack and would ask me to leave.

I learned to find places where I was more welcome and where I would not be bothered by others, but this was incredibly difficult. What follows are some of the places that I would have to use to get out of the rain while homeless.

Waiting it Out in Libraries

Local public libraries are the most obvious choice for many homeless people because most people understand that the homeless don’t have access to the same resources as others and may need to use the library’s computers or other resources.

Security guards and receptionists in libraries are usually used to seeing many homeless people come and go and normally won’t harass them or make them feel unwelcome, though this can vary depending on location.

Also, with access to the internet in most public libraries nowadays, homeless people who don’t have cell phones can check weather reports to get a heads up on when the rain might stop or what to expect in the coming days. Additionally, libraries have bathrooms and sometimes other amenities that can make a day visit feel comfortable until the rain subsides.

It’s for all these reasons that public libraries are the most popular place for most homeless people to wait out storms and bide their time. However, while security and staff at libraries normally won’t bother someone who’s behaving both politely and quietly, they normally will not allow sleeping on the premises.

So any stay in a library needs to appear productive (i.e. reading a book, surfing the internet, etc.), and all people must leave the property after closing hours.

Late-Night Fast Food Spots

Fast food restaurants are a common hangout for homeless people who are waiting out a storm, especially in the evening and nighttime hours when libraries or other public places have closed.

They sometimes even serve as a meeting place of sorts because so many homeless people frequent these types of places. They are often closer than libraries are to areas where homeless people are sleeping or living, and they don’t have the same rules about being ultra-quiet at all times that libraries have.

Also, many homeless people receive monthly EBT payments (formerly known as “food stamps” in most USA states) and based on the state or the city, some fast food places accept this as a form of payment for meals and drinks. For those who don’t receive EBT or for places where it can’t be used to purchase this type of food, a fountain drink is still a relatively cheap purchase to get out of the rain.

When I wanted to stay indoors during storms, I would often just purchase a drink at my local Jack in the Box, In-N-Out, or McDonald’s restaurant, and I would sometimes sit and talk to other homeless people there.

I learned a lot of things by networking with others this way, such as where to go for pantry food handouts, how to get into a group home, and other helpful information.

But if you are homeless and considering hanging out in fast food restaurants, you should keep in mind that many now have signs posted which discourage people from staying there too long. The time limit is normally around 1 hour “while consuming food”, meaning that you can sit and wait in the restaurant for up to one hour, as long as you purchase something and haven’t finished it yet.

Now, while many have these types of signs posted, it doesn’t mean that this rule is always enforced. It depends on the management, staff, and how obnoxious or loud you’re being.

If you’re minding your own business and being quiet, and as long as families and other people aren’t waiting for your seat, most of the time nobody will bother you if you spend a few hours or more in a fast-food restaurant.

Long Public Transport Routes

Public transportation (i.e. buses and subways) can be a type of luxury available exclusively to homeless people who live in large cities. For those who live in more rural areas, this form of temporary shelter from the rain might not be an option.

In many cities around the world, buses, sky trains, and subways that have longer routes often provide an enclosed form of mobile shelter. Although, it’s important to note how uncomfortable it can be trying to relax all night while riding around a city on a circular path.

Also, to continue in a circular direction (back and forth across the city), many transportation agencies require that you get off at the end of each route and re-board to continue in the opposite direction, which can be costly if you don’t have a daily, weekly, or monthly pass.

In some cities, bus passes are occasionally free for people who can prove they are below the local poverty line. While I was living on the streets in San Jose, California many years ago, it cost me $1.25 one way. I could do this or I could purchase a $6 Day Pass, which was the much more feasible option when riding the same bus all night.

Others I knew went to an assistance center who gave them free bus tokens, which allowed them to ride the bus for free one-way. There was a bus that was locally known as “Hotel 22” which ran throughout the night between two local cities in the South Bay.

It was a long route and the bus driver normally didn’t mind that many homeless people would sleep on the bus all night. Most of us had few options in the late-night hours once it started raining, so Hotel 22 was where many would go.

Because we had to get off the bus once it reached its destination and then wait some time for the next bus, we would have to sleep in 1-hour shifts. This meant returning to our slumber again after getting off the bus, waiting a bit, and then re-boarding for the next shift of sleep

In many large cities such as New York City, it’s not uncommon to see homeless people napping on the subway, both during the day and night, while others are going to or from work.

Homeless Shelters When Available

Homeless shelters are one of the more obvious places that people go when it rains outside, but it’s not at the top of this list for a few reasons. The first major reason why is that the majority of homeless shelters don’t stay open all day.

Most only open in the evening because they don’t want people to hang out there all day. Because most shelters charge a fee after a certain time frame (i.e. a week), they want people to be productive and look for jobs during the day so they can pay for their stay.

Also, most people who are homeless do not want to spend their whole day around the same people and in the same spot because this can become rather mundane, and the people can start to get annoying when you have to listen to the same stories and attitudes all day.

Despite what most “normies” (people who are not homeless) think about homeless people, the vast majority of them do want to get back on their feet and will feel restless if they are sitting around the same area all day being unproductive.

While some shelters do offer daytime services, such as computers with internet, job assistance workshops, and other things to keep people busy during the day, most still discourage people from hanging out in the middle of the day.

Regardless of this, shelters can be great go-to spots at night, at least for those who can reach them before it’s too late to check in. Many shelters do have check-in times, often between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. This means that many homeless people who are working during daylight hours or otherwise far from these shelters during the day may have difficulty reaching them in time.

In my case, I preferred to sleep outside for numerous reasons, but I would sometimes stay inside shelters when it became too damp outside. For this reason, another obstacle is presented where many shelters become packed to capacity during the rainy season in some areas.

This can sometimes add to a homeless person’s difficulties when they go through great efforts to try to reach a shelter before its check-in time, only to find that there are no beds or vacancies available.

Hospital Lobbies as a Last Resort

In many countries, including the USA, the healthcare systems are so clogged with people trying to see doctors while enduring long wait times to do so. Hospitals are often packed with people waiting in the lobbies and emergency rooms as a result.

This is why many homeless people discretely use hospitals as a way to get out of the rain and bad weather conditions, simply because it’s sometimes easy for them to sit in a chair for hours on end without anyone noticing how long they are there.

Instead of coming into a hospital triage and signing in or registering at the front desk, those who are homeless will simply go in the lobby or emergency room and have a seat. If they don’t write their name and don’t register, then their name will never be called, and with so many people, they often just go unnoticed like this.

The truth is that most homeless people don’t actually appear homeless when they only have a backpack or few items with them as they travel around a city. So blending in at a hospital, when it’s used as a last resort, is often possible in many cases, at least for a few hours or so until the rain stops.

I spent one night in a hospital emergency room lobby when it was too cold outside, and while I wasn’t able to actually sleep, I at least was able to have warm shelter for the night until the daylight came. I then slept the rest of the day in a park, once it became warmer outside.

I didn’t exactly look too homeless either as I was rather clean-shaven and looked just like anyone else waiting in the E.R.

Practically all hospitals have security, whose jobs it is to specifically seek out suspicious people who are not legitimate patients and to eject them from the building, but they don’t always notice how long someone has been quietly sitting in a chair or may just simply not care in many instances.

Lack of Shelter Remains a Problem

Through my time as a homeless person and having to resort to all of the previously mentioned measures to escape harsh weather conditions, I learned that the cities simply don’t provide as much aid to homeless people as they should.

When a person has to resort to seeking out buses, hospital lobbies, or libraries to feel some level of shelter, it’s a clear reflection that not enough is being done. More services are obviously needed in most areas to help the homeless improve their daily lives so they can recover and get back on their feet.