Arriving at the Shelter

The kids and I had spent two days sitting at the DSS office in Riverhead, NY trying to get placed in a homeless shelter and we finally had the information of where to go and were on our way to Project Redirect in Wyandanch, NY. It was about 45 minutes away from the DSS office, possibly longer if there was traffic. It sucked because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do about my kids getting to their schools since they still went to school in Rocky Point, where we had been staying, and that was also about 45 minutes to an hour away from the shelter. They’d already missed two days of school and I didn’t want them missing anymore. It was a big concern for me at that point, believe it or not, even under the circumstances.

I also had to find someone to foster my cats because they weren’t allowed to be with us at the shelter. They were a big part of our family and I refused to give them away simply because we couldn’t house them with us for the time being. It was only going to be for a couple of weeks, right? That was according to the dimwitted woman at the social services office and I took her word for it. She knew how the system worked, she worked for the system. Are you laughing as hard as I am right now? I doubt it because we haven’t even gotten into the nitty gritty of everything.

Anyway, the kids and I were on the road to our new, temporary home, and my brain was spinning with ideas of who to call the foster my cats, I was anxious over the kids getting to and from school, and I was nervous over what shelter life would be like. My idea of a homeless shelter was only what I’d seen on TV and in the movies. In my mind I was picturing a huge gymnasium-style room with rows and rows of cots. Our belongings got stored under our beds or wherever we were told to put them. I didn’t know how safe it would be or what the other residents would be like. There was nothing I could do about it so I just concentrated on getting us there.

When I got off the exit from the Southern State Parkway I followed the directions into Wyandanch – straight, left, then right, then stop. I was confused; I thought I must have been lost. I was in a residential neighborhood on a block with family houses, some nice, some not so nice, lined up and down each side of the street. I’d stopped in front of the address I was given but it was a huge white house just one away from the corner of the side street I’d just exited. It couldn’t be right. I told the kids to wait in the car while I knocked on the door to make sure we were in the right place.

A nice woman, older than myself, I’ll call her H, answered the door, smiled, and simply said, “I was expecting you yesterday.” I asked if I was at the shelter. She said I was and repeated that she was expecting me the day before. I explained what had happened with the storage company and Social Services telling me to stay at my friend’s house the night before and all of that. She said that was fine, told me to get my kids and bags and invited us in. I did as requested and followed her to the staff office.

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in; it wasn’t at all what I’d expected. It was a split ranch so we had to go downstairs with her. The stairway down led to what she said was the lower common room. It had two sofas along one wall and a TV on the wall opposite it. There were three bedrooms with ours was just to the left at the bottom of the stairs, a single, shared bathroom, and the staff office all on the downstairs level. We could only carry in a few of our belongings right then so we put them in our room and I followed H into the office. She invited the kids to watch TV if they wanted because I had some paperwork to complete.

Not only was there paperwork to be signed but there was a list of rules and requirements to go along with our new life. I was 43, about to turn 44, and was getting smacked with a list of rules that I had to follow. I felt like I was being treated like a kid. I’d lived in my own home for over twenty years and suddenly I was being thrown back in time to where I was living with my parents again. I was stunned, aggravated, and basically in a state of disbelief. I was determined not to be there any longer than was necessary because I was missing my freedom already.

Until next time…peace to all.