"Once they are working, the doors are shut, and you’re not eligible for any type of assistance, and that’s not the way to go."

One of the most frustrating aspects of my job rears its butt-ugly head when I must try and assist the "almost" and "brand-newly" homeless, especially those who have somehow miraculously avoided losing their job but have lost essentially everything else as the employment demand / pay ratio has driven them ever deeper into poverty.

How can that be possible, you might ask?

Well, consider a person who earns $6.55 an hour (minimum wage): $6.55 x 36 = $235.80/weekly, $943.20/monthly. The average rent in Nashville alone will eat up more than half of that at $500/month.

"But wait," says you, "what about Section 8 or other low income rent assistance programs to help these peeps?"

Good question.

Unfortunately, Section 8 has a huge waiting list - somewhere around 4,000 folks last time I checked; the backlog of folks waiting for the vouchers is so big that the housing authority here in Nashville has not even taken applications for Section 8 since last summer.

Typical wait times for a Section 8 voucher surpass a year... While a couple of other subsidies exist, the average Joe or Jane won't be able to access them without an active addiction, a case manager, and a history of chronic homelessness; not something one typically finds among those who work regularly - although this is oh-so-slowly changing due to the ridiculousness of expecting people to eke out a pathetic existence on a minimum wage job.

But I digress.

Back on track here, lets now add transportation costs - just to and from work - and even if our hard working citizen rides the bus it'll cost him/her $80 a month. So, $943.20 - $500 rent and $80 for a monthly bus pass leaves $363.

Electric bills, which are expected to rise about 30 percent shortly, suck up a minimum of $50-$60 a month (and usually much more), unless one sits sweltering (or freezing, depending on the time of year) and silent in the dark while eating room temperature food.

I'm sure you noticed that our poor sod's pay is the gross amount. Let's take out $120 in taxes a month, so $120+$60 for electricity = $180. $363.20 - $180 = $183.20.

Now out of that $183.20 left, our hardworking poor must still buy groceries for the month, put clothes and shoes on his/her back, since the last time I checked the vast majority of jobs requires at least some clothing and footwear, and our American-dream chasing citizen has suddenly discovered that somethings got to go in his/her obviously extravagant, jet-setting lifestyle.

When the home goes, they come to me hoping that I can do something.

I can't.

So those of you who complain that the "drug addicts and the criminals get the handouts while the hard workers get the shaft" are in essence correct, but please understand that I don't mean to disparage anyone here; hell, I was a drug addict and criminal for a good part of my life and recognize the dire needs of each of these groups.

What I can't understand however, is why those who work hard and try - often desperately - to do the right thing usually discover they got "nuthin comin" when they ask for for some assistance to help them from decending into homelessnes from the government they've been giving a big chunk of their hard earned money to at each payday....


Worcester Telegram & Gazette News

Thursday, August 14, 2008
Homeless problem proving obstinate

Economy, bureaucracy require a juggling act

By Vivian Ho

Once they are working, the doors are shut, and you’re not eligible for any type of assistance, and that’s not the way to go.
Virginia Robles, a Family Health Center case manager


WORCESTER— When Sheena was forced to move into a homeless shelter eight years ago, she told herself she would do whatever it took to get out.

After 13 months in the shelter, and three years on Section 8, a national rental voucher program that allows individuals and families to get affordable housing and assistance, Sheena, who did not give her last name for reasons of confidentiality, finally pulled herself out of homelessness.

Now working as a case manager for Father Bills & MainSpring, a homelessness program that operates shelters in Brockton and Quincy, Sheena was one of the 100 homeless service providers and homeless or formerly homeless families who gathered yesterday to try to solve the issue of family homelessness at the Homes for Families 11th annual Visioning Day.


“I see it on both sides,” said Sheena, 45, during a break. “I see it from their side, and I see it from being homeless.”

The attendees of Visioning Day gathered early at Clark University to discuss solutions to issues that lead to homelessness. They broke into groups and in the afternoon presented their findings to state officials, who responded in a panel discussion.

“We bring them together every year to determine what our budget priorities will be, what we’re going to be asking the Legislature to do to address family homelessness,” said Diane Sullivan, Homes for Families policy advocate.

Family homelessness in Massachusetts is on the rise, she said.

“There are 2,300 families that are in the state shelter system,” said Libby Hayes, Homes for Families executive director. “There are over 400 that are living in motels. These are the highest, most unprecedented numbers ever.”

One reason for the increase is that the organizations had focused more on individual homelessness in the past, Ms. Hayes said.

“The initiatives really started on the individual side,” she said. “The resources for the family are just catching up now, but at the same time, the economy — with the food prices, the heating prices, the energy prices, foreclosures — it’s making it harder and harder for families.”

Another issue raised was providing support not just for homeless families, but for working families.

“Once they are working, the doors are shut, and you’re not eligible for any type of assistance, and that’s not the way to go,” said Virginia Robles, a Family Health Center case manager. “With all the foreclosures, the price and cost of food, gas, you have a lot of families that are working, but are unable to feed their children. They’re basically working paycheck to paycheck.”

Some families she has come in contact with as part of her job remain homeless because the services provided are more than if they had jobs, Ms. Robles said.

“Fourteen dollars an hour is nothing; it won’t support your children,” she said. “And they won’t qualify for food stamps, for child care, for anything, not even insurance. What would you rather do: Work, try to make ends meet, and not have anything left over, or stay in public assistance and take all the advantages?”

Another issue is that while there are numerous programs focused on relocating, re-housing as fast as possible, and keeping the children at the area schools, there is nothing to help people keep the jobs they have, said Jean Hilliard, 60, a case manager at Evelyn House in Stoughton.

“There are a lot of programs, but they don’t seem to be working; I’ve been doing this for a long time and I haven’t seen any changes,” she said. “They need to keep the people at the jobs they’re already at.”

Maria Cruz, 30, had a steady job, but for the single mother of three, with on no child support, that job was not enough.

“If there’s not enough income, then you have to give and take,” she said. “Am I going to pay the rent, or am I going to pay for food? Am I going to pay for gas, or am I going to pay for rent? All I could afford was rent.”

Ms. Cruz has been homeless for 13 months, living at a shelter of Father Bills & MainSpring.

“Homelessness doesn’t happen just like that,” she said. “Homelessness happens little by little.”

Having a family and being homeless is extremely difficult, Ms. Cruz said.

“I was scared when I went to the shelter for the first time,” she said. “I was thinking about my boys. The older ones knew the money situation and they took it as well as they could. But then I have the little one asking why we don’t have our own home.”

Ms. Cruz has held jobs at H&R Block and Macy’s, and she is now training to become a medical assistant, as well as taking computer training. Yet the state Department of Transitional Assistance has a time limit for those receiving assistance, and in six months, the benefits for Ms. Cruz and her family run out, before her training is complete.

“I’m left with a decision,” she said. “I could get a job and go to school at night, but what am I going to do for day care?”

Though the situation is difficult, Sheena said, from her experiences coming out of homelessness, the most important thing to remember in breaking the cycle is to not give up.

“It’s like climbing a hill: You have to take it one step at a time, one step at a time,” she said. “Each step you take is a very difficult step. Sometimes you slide back. But you have to be persistent until you reach your goal.”