Need Rent Money? Uncle Same Can Help

[Liss]

Hi Mickey,

I had the appointment on schedule Monday, even though I had
lost our social security cards in all of these moves (I have the
numbers, just not the cards) and, of all things, I discovered I’d
also lost my own birth certificate but had the kids’! lol #2 son
will take me to apply for the new social security cards this coming
Monday and the proof of application will solve part one of this
problem. I’ll also get the new birth certificate at the same time.
They want the actual birth certificate; neither a passport nor a
driver’s license will do.

I can tell you unofficially, yes, I’ve been approved, although it’s
not actually official till after I have these other documents in this
week as well as a letter from my publisher, telling about the
royalties from my first book (minor stuff here), but the best news
of all is I’ll be officially approved and actually have the voucher
in hand before the end of March!!!

This is going to help *so much*!! I’ve been paying 67% of my
income into rent and another 12% for the phone, leaving me
with a maximum of 21% for everything else–food, emergencies,
and so on–for the month, which is how I ended up trying to feed
the kids and me on $50 a month. The food pantries here don’t
want you to show up more than once a month, so at times, as
you know, it’s been very rough. While I don’t know the exact
amount they’re going to allot to me, based on income, of course,
I understand my rent will now be somewhere around 25-33% of
my income, and that’s for a larger place and a larger rent
allotment than I was able to afford before now! Obviously, it
won’t be a palace, but compared to the present situation, it will
be a real blessing.

A friend of my 15-yo lives with his dad in an apartment that’s
like a half-house. His father is on HUD as well even though he
works outside the home, and I’m certain he makes more than
I see in my income. It took him six months to get on HUD, not
six to eight weeks. I don’t know what his allotment is, but
there’s an apartment exactly like theirs right next door, and
he’s only paying $200 a month for 3 bedrooms, a dining room,
a basement…has spacious rooms and closets, and they’re
allowed a dog and cat! We have so little closet space where
we are, and the rooms are all much smaller–and I pay more
than 250% more for this place–I just can’t fit everything into
its own place to keep our living quarters neat and clean.
From what I gather, I’ll be able to relax the food budget at last
to beyond those scrapings and even save for a car and, in
time, perhaps even save for the down payment on a house that
HUD would continue to help us to get! (That is, if none of my
books end up on the best seller list. 😉 )

Mickey, I bought two pair of summer shoes in August 2001 for
$10 and can’t wear them because the plastic cuts into my feet
and the construction is so poor, I’m in pain. That’s the last
item of clothing I bought. Before that, I bought a tee shirt for $5
and a designer outfit that was cut dirt cheap to $5 (because the
store was going out of business) in 1998. Maybe now I might
even be able to buy myself something once in a while. 🙂
Guess I’ll need it if these books ever do end up best sellers…
Oprah wouldn’t want me to appear on her show in a tee shirt
and slacks with holes in the legs. lol! (From my mouth! lol)

We’re *this close* to living more like other humans again,
thanks to this program! 🙂

> I’m real sorry to hear about your loss. Losing a pet is so very hard.

It definitely was hard. The kids and I buried him the day before
my 15-yo’s birthday. My youngest and I were crushed, but the
15-yo didn’t expect to feel so hard hit by Toffee’s death but even
he was.

Thanks again for asking, Mickey. We’re almost on safe ground
now!

Warmly,
Michelle

[Author]

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