Address without an Address: ProxyAddress

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You NEED an Address?

It's incredibly difficult to do much at all without a home address,  as nowadays it's much more than where you live- it's a personal identifier. For example, in the past one may have had to provide mail with their home address to the IRS to prove their identity when filing taxes. And it becomes tricky to open a bank account when you don't have that home address. Some may accept a P.O box, or not at all.

For the homeless community, this becomes a struggle when it comes to finding places to get any form of income- as some jobs require a bank account or a home address, or certain services may require both- but if you're homeless, it's incredibly difficult to find services that can help you fufill all these things.

However, in the UK there is something that may come to the U.S in the future, but it's something to look at and think about-

A service called ProxyAddress provides stable addresses to those who apply to get one for free, these proxy addresses are duplicates of existing homes- but they still act as real home addresses for those who apply for one. It also follows you for life, and your personal information connected to it can be updated as easily as sending an SMS text. There's so much more that can be done with it, and I encourage readers to explore the website and their services, and ponder on if this can be brought to the US- though the company has stated in it's FAQ it intends on spreading its services further.

Why Should This Come Here? 

 As stated before, services like this would be incredibly valuable to our homeless population here, since applying for jobs, services, even a bank account can become extremely difficult, not impossible, but difficult without a home address- as many different places have many different preferences for applications and how you apply. And again, your home address is YOUR identification. How can you identify yourself without an address? Services like this are absolutely important to bring to the U.S.- and could give so many homeless people more opportunities than ever before.

Check out ProxyAddress here

Written by Skye C.

 




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