More On Housing Logs

I told you about the housing logs I was supposed to do each week; 30 calls to find potential housing and all the information had to be written on the forms they gave me. It was the State’s way of making sure we residents weren’t just sitting around the shelter all day long doing nothing while living off the government. I guess they figured it was an easy task for us to complete; I didn’t. Thirty calls may not seem like a lot but when I was so limited on the number of ads I could search because of the stupid criteria the State gave me to follow it seemed to take forever to find what I needed; and I had no idea where or how to even find housing listings to be able to start looking.

Newspapers, you say, pennysavers, local town papers. That could be done but there aren’t a lot of housing listings during the week. There are more on Sundays but still not enough to make 30 calls considering all of the ads didn't fit my criteria. So use a computer, you’re telling me. I could do that too except for the fact that the only computer I had was a desktop and we weren’t allowed to have desktop computers in our rooms. I was told because it was an issue of theft but since we weren’t supposed to be in each other’s rooms and there were security cameras in the common rooms it wouldn’t be easy for someone to steal a desktop computer without getting caught. We could have laptops, I don’t know why, but I didn’t have one at the time.

There was a library around the corner where I could use a computer but I chose not to. Have you ever tried taking three kids to a library and having them sit quietly for a couple of hours so you could do what you had to do? I tried it once and they were up my ass the entire time we were there. Never again. So what was my option? My phone. I have a cell phone because I have a wonderful friend who has me on her plan and pays for my phone. She knows I can’t afford it so she’s kind enough to supply me with one for now.

The phone isn’t a smart phone but I can get Internet on it. I would literally sit in the shelter with my phone, a notebook, and my housing log sheets and look on craigslist to find places I could call for potential housing. I’d find the ads I could use and write the information in my notebook. Then I’d make the calls and the outcomes in my notebook and I’d copy the information onto the sheets to be turned in to the case manager. I kept the notebook in case my logs “accidentally” disappeared at some point in the shuffle of all the paperwork the staff had to handle.

Even trying to make the calls proved difficult because my kids had to be around me all the time. I don’t think I ever made one call without being interrupted in the middle of it, having to explain to the child that I was trying to find us a home, and having to explain to the potential landlord that I was being interrupted by a child and giving my apologies. When the staff called a house meeting one day I asked if there were any activities that they had available to keep the kids occupied so the parents could make their housing  log calls. I was stunned by their answer.

The facility coordinator, who I’ll describe at a later date, told me that it was our job to keep our kids occupied. That I could take them outside to play while I made my phone calls or, believe it or not, I could take them to the park. I laughed out loud at her. I told her that taking them outside while I made my phone calls wouldn’t help because they’d be making a butt load of noise in the yard making it even more difficult for me to hear. And taking them to the park was out of the question because I couldn’t very well watch three children at the same time while trying to search the computer for housing ads and making calls all at the same time. I couldn’t believe she had even suggested such a bullshit idea.

They made it extremely difficult for us to do what we needed to do. I had a phone I could use, all of the residents didn’t. Nobody wanted to take their kids to the library for hours every day so they could collect housing ads. The staff wasn’t supplying us with any leads, they had no computers for us to use, and we couldn’t use the phones in the office to make our calls. But we all seemed to muddle through and get the job done because we had to or risk getting discharged from the shelter.

The housing logs weren’t the only issue I had to deal with because I had an appointment with the Department of Labor on the horizon. I didn’t know what that entailed but I was told by a couple of the residents who’d already been through it that the appointment was to put us in a job. That was fine with me but it wasn’t exactly how it sounded, it was another bullshit rule put in place by the State. My appointment was just a couple of weeks after I arrived at the shelter and the case manager was aware of it. She had to be aware of everything that happened with us while we were in there. I was all prepared to go to the appointment and I did, but when I got there I was hit with a curve ball. I’ll explain tomorrow.

Until next time…peace to all.