Good Evening;
The article below is so very true, and it is not only Section 8 that has the reams of repetitive paperwork and questionnaires and interviews.
DSS, SSA, DORS, and the rest of the alphabet soup of agencies, public, private, secular, and religious everywhere one goes.
And not just housing ,.....food, medical, drug treatment; ......waiting lists to get on waiting lists, ......built in multiple denials before presenting one's case to a human who can make an actual decision, deadlines missed and begging for 'good cause extensions'--due to letters and/or notifications received the day before or AFTER a deadline for filing, and notifications of a deadline being printed and mailed out on the DAY OF the deadline.....and DATED SO ON THE LETTER!!!, (this just happened to Jenn last week, one of my emergency babysitting days), denial of receipt of an application or request/directive for more information being received......when one has the USPS registered/certified retuirn receipt in hand.....and on and on ad nauseum.
They came straggling into the conference room, situated in one of the homeless centers I oversee. You would think they would be excited, hopeful, maybe even exuberant.
Half a dozen case workers sat at the table with them going through preliminary paperwork to help them access Section 8 vouchers, subsidized rental assistance from the federal government.
The wait for these coveted housing vouchers can be multiple years, since jurisdictions around the country have only a limited supply in comparison to the thousands of people in need of housing.
These people walking in were homeless, and they literally looked defeated with eyes peering down, feet shuffling, and indifferent facial expressions. The hard years on the streets took a toll on them, defeating any sense of hope.
They did not look like eager concert goers waiting in line in hopes of landing a coveted ticket to their favorite pop singer. Instead, these homeless people were in line thinking this might be the last chance they ever have to secure permanent house.
By the end of the day, eleven people were lucky enough to appear ready to apply for housing. Of the eleven, seven people were disabled homeless seniors.
We looked at these so-called “lucky” applicants, homeless seniors who should be enjoying their golden years rather than struggling to figure out how to find housing.
Were they lucky? Maybe because they are now on the path to accessing a Section 8 housing voucher, but in reality they should not be struggling on the streets. Besides, they had just taken the first of many confusing steps in the application process.
Application Barriers
Gaining a highly demanded housing voucher means overcoming three very difficult barriers.
The first barrier is time. The application process is time consuming and long. It could take months to go through the process.
They don’t set you up in a hotel or an apartment so you can wait for your application to be approved. Instead, you’re still on the streets hiding from harm and in search of food with no idea if your application was accepted.
A laundry list of strict rules is the second barrier. You have to fit every category in order to be approved. Each local public housing authority (PHA) develops its own list. In some local jurisdictions, it means that if you struggle with alcoholism and drugs, you don’t make the cut.
If you committed some sort of crime, you’re out. You also need your driver’s license, social security card, a personal budget. You have to apply for other public benefits, like food stamps. Some Public Housing Authorities’ (PHA) ask for credit reports.
Finally, perfection is king. Any errors on an application result in failure. Going to the end of the line probably means a lifetime of homelessness. A personal interview can also be mandated, so a wrong answer could be disastrous. Checking an incorrect box or using the wrong word could also end your quest for housing.
Bureaucratic Nightmare
Subsidized housing is such a bureaucratic nightmare for people living on the streets who should have the right to be housed. How does a hurting, struggling homeless person overcome these barriers and navigate a dizzying system of rules and procedures by themselves?
No wonder homelessness persists in this country. You practically need to be a Certified Public Accountant to follow the rules in a game of subsidized housing that is designed to turn people away, not embrace the neediest.
I can’t imagine how a chronically homeless person who has been languishing on the streets for multiple years and struggling with some sort of disability has any chance of overcoming the barriers of subsidized housing.
Photo credit: Staci Myers
The past couple days have been spent pretty much just trying to manage the pains in my abdomen, kidneys, back and shoulder, without using up all my meds because I really don't even have enough to last until Saturday the 2nd as it is, (and still no inkling whether my DSS/TDAP account is corrected or not, and probably won't until I call the tollfree number after Midnight Fri./Sat. at some point and see if I have a balance), and I am still sh*tting bricks, (figuratively....lol, I'm still dealing with occasional light but unexpected sneak attack of my viral passenger.
Also I've been troubled because not only am I dealing with major Gastro-Intestinal issues, as is my son-in-law Tom, Jenn's husband who I've wrote about and had to do some babysitting for....but I just found out my 'ex', Rachel's mother is in the hospital via the ER for the past couple days, and she also is having gallbladder problem and is supposed to be having it removed.....but the doctors can't and won't just yet because they don't like her bloodwork results as regards the liver function numbers.
So, except for the one night last week that I mentioned I caught up on sleep.....well, it's 5:07 am........AGAIN!, and I'm awake damnit. Yeah, and sitting at the table at Starbucks, where the coffee was doing nada, I'm sitting there slowly staring into space and nodding off.
I do want to express my deep appreciation for all the sandwiches and the croissants and coffee cake I'm being gifted with this week, it's a good thing Jenn has room in the freezer because I'm keeping these! It's my food supply this week!
Any way....sorry about the fonts and the color mess, who knows wtf is happening, it is random as hell, and I don't give a flying fcuk anymore.
Later.............................Dave
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