Still Here and Getting Ready to Move

I haven’t been here for a while because I’ve been busy. Sorry. I’ve been working and trying to get my kids and me out of this shelter. After all my months of searching and putting the energy out to the universe my efforts have paid off. Next week my kids and I will be leaving the shelter for good and going back to Missouri. The State is paying to move our belongings and paying for gas money so we can drive back to where we belong. We’ll get our cats back from my friend, load our van with a week’s worth of clothing and a few toys for the children and we’ll be off. I can almost taste the freedom.

I’ve been waiting for months for my name to reach the top of the list on the Independence Housing Authority list in Independence, MO and was told a about a month ago that they’re still working on applications from last June. Since I applied in August it’ll be a few months until my name gets to the top. I can’t wait that long. So I’ve moved to Plan B. Friends of ours back in MO offered me, months ago, to stay with them until my name comes up on the list and I finally took them up on their offer. I just couldn’t bear the thought of staying in this shelter any longer.

Besides, come June 1 we’d have been here a year and DSS would be looking to move us on which means placing us in another shelter probably 40 miles or so farther out on the Island so we’d be virtually isolated from everyone and everything we know. I was not going to let that happen. So I called my friends, asked if the offer to stay with them was still open and they happily accepted and have been working with me for the past few weeks to get the paperwork in order to get us moved back. I can’t wait!!

While I’d much rather be moving into my own place and not invading the lives of others yet again I will gladly take the chance to get out of the shelter and to get my kids and myself the regular life we deserve. Living in one room together for almost a year is not exactly ideal for anyone and it’s taken its toll on all of us. It’s time for a change in a positive direction and I’m jumping at the chance. The kids are so excited that they ask me almost every day when we’re getting out and what day we’re moving. I think I’ve explained it ten times already but they still keep asking. That’s okay because soon enough they’ll realize that we’ll be living a different life in a matter of days.

Once I’m out and semi-settled I’ll actually start telling you everything I’ve wanted to tell you for months but couldn’t. I’m still sitting in the boat so I’m not about to rock it at this point. When I’m out and free of the restrictions and out from under the watchful eye of the NY government I’ll give you the full rundown of life in a NY homeless shelter and the system that goes along with it. Please be patient with me for just a bit longer and I promise I’ll tell you a story that will amaze you. Well, maybe not amaze, but you’ll definitely be shaking your head. I did and still am.

I’ll have to break everything down over a period of time because there’s definitely  too much for just one post but it’ll all come out eventually, one way or another. For now, though, I’m signing off. I just wanted to check in with you and to let you know that I’m still here, that things have changed for the better, and that I couldn’t be happier or more excited. I'll keep you posted as time passes to let you know where we are and what’s happening. You can be sure of that.

Until next time…peace to all.