It is tough out there and even with College Degrees, I've seen it too often, there is so much competition from everywhere, but don't give up Fellow Jobcaser !!

iam so sorry you are going though this in tennessee they have a program called hud housing its for emergency you can try here is the number 865 673 6540

Another option Jacqueline especially since you've started working on your Doctorate is to teach at a college.

Hello, If you haven't already, try giving Catholic Charities a try. They have several offices in Louisiana. I believe they network with several different agencies. Perhaps they can help you get back to Texas, locate housing and find suitable employment.

I would hitchhike back home if that is where I belonged...go to a truck stop and make on annoucement on someones cb where your going and that you need a ride. someone will take you home

Hello Jacqueline Rudd, I am so sorry to hear of your current challenges and can only hope and pray that your life turns around in a positive manner. I have not seen where you tell us what fields of study your degree's are in? When I was in college, the college allowed a former student who had become disabled and unable to find work, teach. She was in a wheel chair and unable to walk and they gave her classes that were on the same level, and in the same building so she did not have to use an elevator, nor travel to other buildings. This same person found additional work as an intake counselor for alcohol and drug addicts. It will be most helpful to yourself and those in this forum if you share the fields of study of your education...were your degrees in basket weaving or theatre arts? We are looking for transferrable skills and knowledge where you can be of service to others regardless of your disability. Kindly Help us help you.

I've been there! I know your pain! Unfortunately I don't know if Louisiana has approved the Medicaid expansion or not? If they have then I suggest that you sign up and get into a mental health program. It should help you to sort out your options! The big thing is that you're alive! There is an organization in Baltimore MD called Helping People Through Empowerment and we help the mentally ill homeless get plugged into resources and programs. I'm not sure if that's a possibility for you? Some others people on here have expressed a willingness to help you get through this! Hang in there!

Oh my gosh...uhh try to call a friend, family member or someone who YOU know REALLY well that can help. Health care can help also plus community programs that's available to get you through this difficult time you are having now. Contact the government involved in Texas and Louisiana if you can to help keep yourself together.

Jacqueline,

Many of us have been down the same road. Many of us have panicked, and even wanted to die. I know I have. Anxiety, depression, railing against God - I've been there.

I have a few more years on me than you, and one less degree, so immediately I can tell you are better off than you think. Now calm down and think of what you do have. Take some deep breaths, remind yourself that you are alive and in good mental health, even if you have to use a cane. You have a roof over your head, for now. The Bible says "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" in other words, the day the problem comes is when you have the problem. Don't anticipate the problem and deprive yourself of happiness and rest imagining what is to come. It might never come.

You have food to eat, and the ability to use SNAP when you are back in Texas. So the system is working for you, even if there is a quid pro quo - you have to be in Texas.

You have internet- GOD BE PRAISED!! There is NO way I would have lasted a day without WIFI. My nieces and nephews call me "internet junkie"!

Fact is, GOD is there. Read carefully what the other Jobcasers say about Him. We all go through a season of testing, when our hearts break, and we are filled with despair. My sister lost her son, a member of the US Air Force, stationed in Guam. He would have been 32 years old in November, the same age as my last son. She is still wrestling with the deep depression and despair that comes from losing a child. So our tests come in different packages. Mine was dissolution of my marriage, and being completely knocked off whatever throne I had thought I was on. For one entire year, I was so depressed, I could not work. Luckily, I had invested in my children, and now live with my youngest son while getting back on my feet.

I took a very low paying part-time job. Baby steps. So now I am back in the world again, and working toward being more independent over 2017.

There is always a lesson to be learned: My low paying job in retail has made me aware of how excruciatingly hard most retail workers work, day in day out. I will NEVER rummage through a neat stack of folded shirts again like it was a garbage bin. Because I am the one folding and re-folding. When I become an employer, I will not nickle and dime my workers. I will never complain about Healthcare, because I am allowed a subsidy ( and yes, I AM a tax payer as well, as is everyone in America. Because Taxes are not just payroll. We all pay taxes, Sales tax, property tax, vehicular tax etc). Thankfully some of my paid up taxes help me pay for Health Care. Yours help pay for your SNAP benefits so do not allow anyone to shame you out of leaning on the system when necessary.

Whatever YOUR back story, you are not alone in having times of need and despair. Sometimes this is just to see if we can remain faithful to GOD when the going gets rough. Sometimes, we are thrown on our own resources because we have not followed our own mind (our own prompting from GOD) preferring instead to listen to advice from friends, family, important people in our community etc. Is there something you are being prompted to do, but are scared to do? Maybe this urgent situation will force you to go in the right direction.

It is essential to "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD" Calm down, remind yourself that God Loves you, and is a proponent of Tough Love, like Reginald :)! But He is also the Father that pitieth his children, so unburden yourself to him and LISTEN to his answer, When HE tells you what to do - apply for this or that job, call this or that Govt Office, OBEY immediately. Trust yourself because you know that GOD is living within you, advising you on your next steps.

So first thing: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding; In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path". And that means listening to the small voice that says "make this phone call now". I would like you to take some time on the internet to read the work of Emmet Fox: The Golden Key. Practise this and you will see a difference. God Loves you and is blessing you as you read this.

Miss Rudd, I am not homeless as of now and pray that God comes through before that happens as I am just now this month behind on my mortgage. It might be easy for me to say because I'm not where you are but God is the only being you can depend on right now. There are days I wonder why am I in this position after I have sacrificed putting my life on hold to financially support my mom and children, but God keeps reminding me that He is with me and He will get me through this. How does He do this? He does this by sending angels to watch over me. I have had a couple of encounters with people who didn't know my situation but gave me money because they came out and said that "God told them to bless someone." God has never failed me and although I am going through the wilderness and can't see my way through, He has already made a path that I cannot see. I ask you to keep your faith. He is all you have. I know that Goodwill Industries helps people too so try them also.