I turned off my phone - now it's saying it needs to be activated but won't access the activation server over wifi or data

I foolishly turned off my phone, because it crashes constantly and I was trying the old "turn it off and on again" trick. This turned out to break it further. It's now saying I need to activate it over the internet, but won't activate over Wifi or data, saying that the activation server isn't working whenever I try to use it. I don't have any wifi at home, so I've been completely cut off and had to walk around town trying to find free wifi, and ******* off my friends by using theirs. I would like to be able to a) use my phone and b) power off my phone without it breaking. I guess I could use it as a really fancy paperweight and get that #aesthetic but I'd prefer to be able to call my parents.