Seeking Human Kindness
Our Mission is to provide HOPE for people affected by extreme poverty in our local community.
What if you were a single parent with a child?
You work full time for $14.00 hr. You bring home roughly $800 per paycheck (bi-weekly).
Understanding the Problem
Let’s do the math:
You bring home about $1,600 a month
Your bills:
$1,000 / rent
$150 / electrical
$250/ car payment
$150 / car insurance
Your bills average about $1,550 (give or take).
You’re making it, but barely.
This doesn’t even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc. (nor does it include child tax credit or child support)
Now, it’s a really cold December
and you get a power bill for $600.
How do you pay for that? To put it simply, you don’t.
Because you can’t.
Now your power gets shut off.
But you know what your lease says?
It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated.
Now you’re in court crying to a judge and you have 10 days to get out.
Well you’re in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & it’s only $650.00 a month!
But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you can’t because you just got evicted.
You’ve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, you’re looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first month’s rent.
Times up…
Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changes your locks.
So, now you’re living in your car with your 7 year old son & everything you need to get by.
You tried to get a storage unit, but you don’t have a billing address so they won’t sell one to you. So you could only take what would fit in your backseat.
You pay to shower at local truck stops & eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave. Someone sees you & your son living like this & calls C.P.S.
Guess what happens next ? ? ?
They remove your child from your care.
As if this isn’t devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because “an employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company .”)
So now, you apply for a subsidized apartment within the region where the waiting list is 3-7 years.
Then you go into Wal-Mart to put in an application.
When you get back to your car you see that your back window has been smashed & someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December & really cold. Now you have damage to your only shelter.
You call your car insurance,
who says your deductible is $1,000.00
~ AND ~ they’re going to increase your monthly rate since you’re now “ high risk .”
You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full.
Now you are in pure survival mode. Maybe you have to steal some food because you are starving or have picked up a drug to self medicate your depression. You get arrested and put in jail. You can’t make bail, so you sit. At least now you have heat, food, a bed, tv, outdoor time…
When you get out of jail, you are sent on your way with the clothes you got arrested in, and the cycle starts over. This is now your cycle of life. You can’t pay any court fees, car registration, insurance, or fines. The hole you are in is getting deeper and deeper.
I think you get the point….
The people we work with everyday ARE these people .
WE ARE THESE PEOPLE .
We are all so close to homelessness & don’t even realize it .
For many of us, all it takes is :
* one unexpected bill
* one fender bender
* one lay-off
* one house fire
* one bad divorce
etc…
Author unknown
This is just one small example in the midst of many issues facing our community right now. The economy is worsening and Homelessness is growing quickly.
They NEED our help.