<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>From <a href=""https://calmatters.org/author/marisa-kendall/"" title=""Posts" by="" marisa="" kendall="" class=""author" url="" fn="" rel=""author"">Marisa Kendall</a>Calmness</p> <figure> <img decoding="async" width=""1200"" height=""800"" src=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/041825_Reunification_JK_CM_04.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1"" class=""attachment-post-thumbnail" size-post-thumbnail="" wp-post-image="" alt=""An" older="" person="" in="" a="" blue="" jacket="" leans="" forward="" to="" greet="" child="" standing="" next="" an="" adult.="" they="" are="" outside="" near="" tent="" structure="" with="" utility="" poles="" and="" wires="" the="" background.="" adult="" holds="" hand="" watches="" interaction.="" decoding=""async"" srcset=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/041825_Reunification_JK_CM_04.jpg?w=2000&ssl=1" https:="" sizes=""(max-width:"/><figcaption>Ashby Dancer fist pushes her grandson Mehi Terel, whom he first meets, as his daughter Ashanti Terel stands in front of her tent in Oakland on April 18, 2025. A photo from Jungo Kim for Calmatters</figcaption></figure> <p>This story was originally published by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">Calmatters</a>S <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Register</a> about their ballots.</p> <p>If you have lost contact with a loved one and suspect they live on the street, in the car or in the shelters, it may be difficult to find them again. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/05/homeless-family-reunite/"">Once you find them</a> (or if you have never lost touch) it can be just as difficult to understand how to help. Calmatters has compiled some tips from people who have gone through this process or have helped others through it.</p> <h2>How to find a loved one homeless</h2> <ul> <li><strong>Submit a report on missing persons</strong>Gabby Cordel suggested, Director of The Reunion Services for a non -profit based San Francisco <a href=""https://www.miraclemessages.org/"">Miraculous messages</a>S That way, every time the missing person has contact with law enforcement or entering a hospital, this report should appear, she said. The employee or hospital can tell the person that their family is looking for them. In some cases, the facility may even reach the one who has submitted the report.<br />Families can also send their case to Miracle Messages for Help with <a href=""http://miraclemessages.org/findthem"">Miraclemessages.org/findthem</a>S</li> <li><strong>Contact social media. </strong>Robin Wells Plantz created <a href=""https://www.facebook.com/MissingHomelessOrg/"">Missing and homeless</a> Facebook Group 10 years ago to help re -connect families. She publishes the stories of missing people, full of photos and identifying details in the hope that someone will see and recognize him. The page already has more than 100,000 followers, and Plantz has lost the number of how many dozens of people helped to get together. She invites anyone who is looking for a homeless loved one to send her a message through this group.<br />It also encourages people to create a new Facebook page about finding their loved one and to share it as wide as possible. This way, anyone can send it to this page with advice.</li> <li><strong>Rent a private investigator</strong>S</li> <li><strong>Try googling</strong>Just in case your loved one is shot or cited in news about an article on homelessness.</li> <li><strong>Talk to street workers</strong>S Homeless shelters, soup kitchens and other facilities (especially medical establishments) will probably not tell you if they have seen your loved one in an attempt to protect their privacy, Plantz said. You will have better luck to ask the people who go to camps and give out food and other needs, she said. Make flyers with your loved one’s photo and give them to as many workers you can, she advises. </li> <li><strong>Don’t focus on their name</strong>S Many people who do not flood the name of the street or multiple street names that are different from the name you know. When you ask for your loved one, show photos instead, offer Plantz. </li> <li><strong>Be careful about sharing your phone number</strong>S Do not place your phone number on a page or Facebook page that will be widespread – this can lead to harassment and other problems, Plantz warned. Instead, direct people to Facebook or other places to report advice.</li> <li><strong>Don’t give up</strong>S Cordel remembers one case where she re -contacted her family after 40 years. In another case, a woman in southern California was preparing to hold a memorial for her sister when the sister appeared at a street corner in San Francisco.<br />“This is the biggest thing: don’t give up,” said Plantz, who has been <a href=""https://www.kqed.org/news/11764275/how-one-womans-search-for-her-homeless-mother-became-a-mission-to-help-others"">Searching for your mother</a> For 30 years. “Would you like someone to give up on you?”</li> </ul> <h2>How to help a homeless loved one</h2> <ul> <li>“<strong>Be patient. Managing the expectations</strong>Cordel said. Do not accept that you will be able to quickly or easily allow your loved one’s homelessness. “It is a lot of happening that someone usually finds themselves in the situation in which they are in, which means that we cannot expect an immediate decision or immediate decision,” says Heather Griffin, director of the shelter and the non -professional non -profit services.</li> <li><strong>Allowing time</strong> to repair the connection. It will take time for both sides to cure emotionally, Griffin said. </li> <li><strong>Ask questions</strong>S “I would not try to tell them to do anything,” said Deborah O’Del, who leads a group to support families of people with mental illness in Los Angeles County, which includes many participants who have a homeless man, a loved one. “Just ask,” Hey, what is your day? What’s going on? What are you doing? “And just listen. If none, don’t try to do anything.</li> <li><strong>Tap them.</strong> “Be prepared to hug them,” O’Del said. “Just show them unconditional love.”</li> <li><strong>Call to check</strong>S When O’Delle’s elderly son lived in his truck, she called him every other day to make sure he had food, blankets and other needs. If he needed something, she put money into his bank account. </li> <li><strong>You can still help</strong>Even if your loved one does not want or is not ready to go inside – or if you are not ready to invite them to your home. You may be able to help them with other needs, such as access to healthcare, job search or social services registration, Griffin said. </li> <li><strong>Provide an address</strong>S It is often difficult for people who are not flooded to receive social security money and other benefits because they do not have a fixed address. Consider letting them use your address to get checks and other important mail. You can also suggest retaining their birth certificate and other identification while they need it to apply for housing or other services. </li> <li><strong>Create limits and stick to them </strong>If you invite your loved one to your home, O’Delle said. This may mean, for example, to require a loved one to go to therapy once a month or to ban medications in your home. </li> <li><strong>Find out </strong>Sometimes you won’t be able to get your loved one out of the streets – at least not. “Sometimes you have to love them where they are,” Plantz said. “And this is the most difficult. This is the most difficult of all this is to love them where they are.”</li> </ul> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/05/how-to-find-missing-homeless/"">Originally Published on CalMatters</a> and was reissued under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives</a> License.</p> <p> Copy HTML
