The Queens shelter where Natasha Bell worked as a security guard was within walking distance from the one where she and her children lived.

Ms. Bell slogged away at one full-time job after another, trying to piece together financial security for her family, only to be reminded how far she has to go when she returns home every night to the shelter.

“I’ve had lots of jobs,” Ms. Bell, 34, said. “I’ve never stopped working.”

She traces her transience to the death of her grandmother, who raised her when her mother was unable. When Ms. Bell’s grandmother’s health declined, she dropped out of school at 16 to be by her side.

In the years after her grandmother’s death, Ms. Bell lived in shelters operated by the Covenant House. She earned a high school equivalency diploma, got a job at a McDonald’s and moved into supportive housing. But she did not make enough to pay her bills. Her financial burdens significantly increased after the birth of her first daughter, Aziya, in 2006. Ms. Bell moved back into a shelter.