[sp332]

Is there a food bank in the area? That could at least help with one of the issues. I think it's at least worth asking about assistance like SNAP (used to be called "food stamps") https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/for-families/supplemental-n... , Community Service Block Grant agency for her county https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/for-families/community-serv... , Home Energy Assistance Program https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/1577 etc.

[freemint]

As far as i can see that food bank is totally overrun according to local news https://www.local3news.com/local-news/chattanooga-area-food-... . I will relay the other links but since she doesn't have children I am not sure in how far the /for-families/ links will be useful. She has been applying for SNAP.

[armchairhacker]

Also EBT, and she can possibly make some money doing Uber/Lyft/Instacart/Instawork.

You are 100% right that it's hard to get a decent job in the US without connections and/or experience, especially in this economy and especially without formal education. Ideally there is some grant which will let someone like her go through high school and college, but I really have no idea. You will have to look for places like https://www.reddit/r/povertyfinance for people who understand poverty better much than I do.