If you lost your home due to eviction or foreclosure, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, it’s pretty standard since the coronavirus hit and the eviction moratorium and other protections ended. Knowing you’re not the only one with these issues probably isn’t of much help, though, so to fix your housing situation as soon as possible, we’ve come up with this list of smart moves.

1. Find the quickest way to put a roof over your head right now.

Would you love to find a new apartment or home that you could move into as soon as possible? Sure, but that may not be realistic if you don’t have much money saved, especially in this pricey housing market.

If you don’t have a place to stay right now, your top priority should be finding one, so you can offer your family a bit of stability and safety. Perhaps the easiest route to take is to ask friends and family if they have extra room in their homes. If not, you will need to find a shelter near you.

Are shelters ideal places to bring a family? No, but they can give you a place to sleep at night until other options open up, which is why you should try to find one in your city. To find a local shelter, visit the HUD website and search for homelessness resources, or go to your public library and ask. Libraries often know of such information, as well as other forms of assistance for those in need.

There are other ways to find shelters. Call 211 and ask the local operator, as they should know. You can also find your local Catholic Charities or Salvation Army chapters, as both of those charities often offer shelters to struggling families.

If the thought of bringing your family to a shelter scares you, sleeping in your car is another possibility. Some cities have safe parking places where you can sleep overnight and facilities for showering and staying warm. Your local social services agency can help in this regard.

2. Apply for emergency rental assistance.

With your temporary shelter out of the way, now’s the time to really start fixing your housing situation through emergency rental assistance. You can find emergency rental assistance programs in your area by going here. If you qualify, you could get help with paying past and future rent, motel or hotel bills, moving expenses, application and screening fees, security deposits, and even unpaid utility bills.

3. Find long-term housing assistance.

Now that your temporary shelter is secured and you’ve applied for emergency rental assistance, the final step is to ensure that you don’t have more housing problems down the line. You can achieve this goal by applying for subsidized housing that makes rent more affordable.The Section 8 program offers vouchers that will pay the majority of your rent. Since demand for this program’s benefits is high, apply now to secure your place on a waiting list.