Old Chore, New Methods

When I said at the end of my “Help Was No Help” post that I started doing things my own way with regard to the housing logs I wasn’t exactly honest. I didn’t start doing them my own way; I started doing them the way everyone else in the PRD house did them. I didn’t start it, it was taught to me by the residents who were there when I moved in. They taught it to all the newbies because they knew the search was fruitless the way Social Services wanted it done. If anyone in the government had ever had to find housing by those guidelines they’d have known it was impossible.

I started writing up the logs without making any of the phone calls; everybody did. The logs didn’t come out any differently than my previous ones did. When it came to writing the result of the “phone call” on the log it was pretty easy; most of the ads specifically said they didn’t take programs, or pets, or only wanted two people living in them. Others had key words to look for to find out what they wanted or didn’t want.

For instance, it might be listed as a two-bedroom apartment but the context of the ad would say “one-two bedrooms” or “one bedroom and an office” which told me that the second bedroom was a small space and wouldn’t qualify under the government requirements. Or it would say “proof of income required” which meant the landlord didn’t accept any government programs. It was little things like that that I learned from doing them for so many months;  just running through the ads and writing down apartments I didn’t qualify for was easy. Instead of taking a few days to do my housing logs I took about two hours on Sunday afternoons to get them done. I didn’t qualify for anything so there was no point in wasting time with phone calls.

CM had me in her office one day telling me that Social Services was going to start questioning why I hadn’t found a place after eight months when people had come into the shelter after me and had found places to live. I explained to her that there were only four families that had found places to live: one was working and didn’t qualify for government assistance anyway; one had Section 8 that she’d gotten 20 years prior so it was easier for her; one was only parent/teen so there were more options for them; and the last didn’t follow the guidelines set by the state.

When CM asked what that meant I told her that that family had gotten a place for more than the government was willing to pay. Remember I told you the government will only assist with a certain amount of rent according to the size of the family. For my family I told you it was either $1200 or $1250 depending upon which program I used. This family got a place for $200 over what the program offered; the government would pay their portion and my friend would pay the balance of the rent out of pocket. CM said the government wouldn’t go for that. DUH!! I told her the government didn’t know about it.

The landlord and the tenant wrote up the lease at the amount of rent the program paid, and the tenant was responsible for the rest, without the government having any knowledge of it. I told her that lots of the residents were trying to do that, and that residents of other PRD houses had also done it, because the government didn’t offer enough rent assistance for anyone to get a decent place. It’s not like CM really cared; she was just there to help, in her mind, anyway. She actually shrugged it off when I explained it to her.

I told her I wasn’t going to do that because it’s a sure-fire way to end up homeless again. The government pays their amount and the tenant is required to work. Once the income is flowing, the rent assistance lessens and the more rent you pay out of pocket, including what you were already paying that the government didn’t know about. Your food stamps also go down. You’re barely breaking even, if you are. The more you make, the more your assistance gets lowered, which is what’s supposed to happen, however, the percentage they take away is more than the percentage of your income increase.

Eventually one of two things happens: you either work constantly to be able to pay your bills; or you fall behind and end up losing the place thus ending up back in a shelter. I wasn’t taking any chances. At least out here I know I can live in subsidized housing for the time being while I get back on my feet, and afford to pay my bills. They have subsidized housing in NY but it isn’t income based, and you have to have a minimum income of $24K to be able to move into the place.

So I got around the tedium of doing the housing logs – no, staff didn’t know that anyone was doing it that way  – and put more effort into getting back here. I figured I could work and save some cash while still following the rules of the state and the shelter; and that’s where I turned my efforts. I had no other options: complaining didn’t do any good, and nobody cared anyway; and I knew I could never afford to live in NY with only one income. So I did what I had to do for me and mine. As far as I was concerned the kids and I would live there for just as long as we had to while I did all I could to get us back to where we belonged. I knew it would take a few more months but it was enough of a light at the end of a dark tunnel to keep me motivated; and that it did.

Until next time…peace to all.