Possibility of filing for legal separation from your husband, would at least get you to receive food stamps. Some people I worked with have done this with a little success. We will pray for you and yours.
I just can’t bring myself to do that. Neither can DH. I can understand why people do that, but we are not that desperate yet.
There are people who are deserving of public assistance, and if there was ever a time for that to be, for this person and her family, it would be now, in these very trying circumstances.
I wouldn’t advise going for separation. That’s just not right, at all. There is public housing and Section 8 housing. I would try and apply for that. I would go to the local “Housing Authority” for your area and get in an application right away. But (and this may be “unfortunate” if it’s the case), you may find out that you don’t qualify for it, until you don’t have a home any longer. If that’s the case, then I would be ready to file immediately, if and when that becomes the case. I would start going down the list of agencies to help, start finding out who can help and what the offer in the way of help. I would start “lining up things” for that eventuality — as you seem to see this coming down the road, pretty soon (this being directed at “cookiedough” obviously)...
I would try to arrange for “temporary shelter” while you wait for a public housing application to be processed. If you’re homeless and have kids, you’ll be put “at the top of the list” for first consideration over all others. It may take one or two months, though, depending on the area you’re in and if there are enough available facilities.
Anyway, I would get to work on these things right away, so you’ll know the area and layout and terrain you have to “maneuver in” from now forward, since your circumstances are obviously changing now...