Post by sheepdog on Jul 5, 2014 11:17:44 GMT -8
Didn't think homelessness could happen to me. Thought it just happened to other people or people who didn't want to work. Hah! (no smiley face here).
The economy began to fail and fail and fail prior 2008. I had a tiny cushion--a sliver of what I used to have. I felt like a rat on a ship. One of my other neighbors in the middle class neighborhood I used to live in in --------, Texas, she had sold her home to a church member and was living out of the trunk of her car and had a storage unit. I talked to her and grew very uncomfortable. I knew that I was in the same boat, and she begged me to start making plans, don't wait until it is too late. At least I still have a car! she said.
So my uncomfortableness lead to making plans. I started by having a garage sale. All my precious books, people were coming from Half Priced Books and other used book stores with those little handheld machines, picking up "my books" and documenting the value they could get for them and loading them into their boxes to pay me. Much of my clothing, dishes, furniture, everything except the barebones of clothing, my bible, a sewing machine, a book binder, my paints, some canvas and sketchbooks, my computer, my cell. I got a cheaper gym membership (assistance) so I would have a place to shower and work out and be out of the heat (or cold). I had my ancient jeep and my shih tsu. I asked the pastor of my church if he knew of someone needing a home--maybe someone in a recent divorce. Miracles! He did know of someone, and that person bought my home. I partially saved my credit that way, although I still had to file bankruptcy.
I signed up with a food bank. I used a GoodWill work center for sending resume and job application faxes. I utilized the library other times. I would set a goal of 80 resumes per month. This generated 1 minimum wage job I held for a few months until I figured out I wasn't breaking even on my fuel bill. My credit debt was climbing. I dog sat for my ex and supplemented to pay my credit card bill down.
I then discovered my diabetes was getting worse because of the food bank food. It's high carb and not meant for hard core diabetics I guess. I increased my exericise and started taking 2 walks in the park. My blood sugar spiked higher. My food was simply not the type I can have. No ones fault. Just my body and this chronic disease.
I had to ask for help. Before all this happened I was in school being certified to become a nursing home activity director. I received the certificate but never found a job. I had been corresponding with a fine fellow on the net. He eventually learned of my situation. We'd been writing and "chatting" for about 4 years on the net. He invited me to move to South Carolina with my little dog too. So I did. And now I am here in South Carolina.
Still not a whole lot of work here either. I still don't have a car of my own. The fellow I now live with has fibromyalgia, so I help him do his housework and take care of his animals. I do a little bit of landscaping and cooking and errands. He was willing to work with my situation of diabetes and a prior mini stroke, and I have no bad habits except for wishful thinking.
I consider myself lucky. I took note of what others who wound up being homeless were doing before I became "homeless." For a while in Texas before moving here, I was living in my car. And I had a storage unit for my meager, scaled down possessions. My ex babysat my dog sometimes for me when it was too hot or too cold, while I was working part-time there. I stayed there with my ex sometimes but that didn't work so great. I thanked him for his help and did something else.
I really did try to help myself, but nothing was working. I am not on food stamps. I avoided that because I would have had to have an address or go to a shelter. I was warned (for my area) not to go to a shelter, they were not safe for a single woman. So I didn't go there.
Still looking for work. I find that the "haves" (and I was a former have) are out of touch with the true severity of the economy! Understatement! For every job I applied for, there were 100's of people applying. One particular job, the receptionist said there were 648 applicants for the same job I was applying for!
Homelessness landed on my doorstep, and now I'm all up-in-arms over the situation. I have two moderate degrees, 17 years of working experience as an operations manager, secretary, receptionist, bookkeeper, justice court clerk, software and I am tech savvy and I can not find work!!!!!!!
I've talked to some of the "haves." Haves are the ones who have jobs, homes, money, food, shelter and transportation and health insurance, and they still believe that if we are homeless we do not really want to work and we have been irresponsible in managing our money. We have to have done something stupid to wind up being homeless! This is the general impression I am left with after speaking to many of them about my situation and that of others.
I do feel grateful for what I have. I moved here. I have my dog, my sewing machine, a computer and net access if it doesn't rain, snow, or storm. I keep looking for work. I try to meet my goal of 150 resumes per month going out. I have some transportation access though no public transportation. I keep hoping for the best and I am hanging on. My diabetes now has some basic care which I did not have because I have never been insurable.
Haven't approached the congressman and reps in this area to talk to them about retraining and putting people back to work. I noticed a newspaper article in one of the papers here that there are jobs in industry where they do not have enough trained people for the positions. Example: machinists, and other positions. Some of the positions they were WILLING TO TRAIN people, the article said, and they could not get people in this area to train for the positions because they are uncomfortable with technology--many of them having worked in the mill and textile industry before all the mill work was outsourced overseas. Industry is an untapped resource in the job pool that could be accessed for many of us if small to large industry was willing to train us for those positions!
A Chinese company came to this area recently and they are creating new jobs, however the economy is not too stable over there either, and if their economy goes bad, they'll be laying off people they just hired to work here!
My brother (retired AF, young) got hired at Borg Warner in south Texas. They laid him off just a few months ago. Where this is all going, I don't know. But I sincerely hope that our voters will lay off the rock star politicians in future and vote for experience and put it in the White House.
The economy began to fail and fail and fail prior 2008. I had a tiny cushion--a sliver of what I used to have. I felt like a rat on a ship. One of my other neighbors in the middle class neighborhood I used to live in in --------, Texas, she had sold her home to a church member and was living out of the trunk of her car and had a storage unit. I talked to her and grew very uncomfortable. I knew that I was in the same boat, and she begged me to start making plans, don't wait until it is too late. At least I still have a car! she said.
So my uncomfortableness lead to making plans. I started by having a garage sale. All my precious books, people were coming from Half Priced Books and other used book stores with those little handheld machines, picking up "my books" and documenting the value they could get for them and loading them into their boxes to pay me. Much of my clothing, dishes, furniture, everything except the barebones of clothing, my bible, a sewing machine, a book binder, my paints, some canvas and sketchbooks, my computer, my cell. I got a cheaper gym membership (assistance) so I would have a place to shower and work out and be out of the heat (or cold). I had my ancient jeep and my shih tsu. I asked the pastor of my church if he knew of someone needing a home--maybe someone in a recent divorce. Miracles! He did know of someone, and that person bought my home. I partially saved my credit that way, although I still had to file bankruptcy.
I signed up with a food bank. I used a GoodWill work center for sending resume and job application faxes. I utilized the library other times. I would set a goal of 80 resumes per month. This generated 1 minimum wage job I held for a few months until I figured out I wasn't breaking even on my fuel bill. My credit debt was climbing. I dog sat for my ex and supplemented to pay my credit card bill down.
I then discovered my diabetes was getting worse because of the food bank food. It's high carb and not meant for hard core diabetics I guess. I increased my exericise and started taking 2 walks in the park. My blood sugar spiked higher. My food was simply not the type I can have. No ones fault. Just my body and this chronic disease.
I had to ask for help. Before all this happened I was in school being certified to become a nursing home activity director. I received the certificate but never found a job. I had been corresponding with a fine fellow on the net. He eventually learned of my situation. We'd been writing and "chatting" for about 4 years on the net. He invited me to move to South Carolina with my little dog too. So I did. And now I am here in South Carolina.
Still not a whole lot of work here either. I still don't have a car of my own. The fellow I now live with has fibromyalgia, so I help him do his housework and take care of his animals. I do a little bit of landscaping and cooking and errands. He was willing to work with my situation of diabetes and a prior mini stroke, and I have no bad habits except for wishful thinking.
I consider myself lucky. I took note of what others who wound up being homeless were doing before I became "homeless." For a while in Texas before moving here, I was living in my car. And I had a storage unit for my meager, scaled down possessions. My ex babysat my dog sometimes for me when it was too hot or too cold, while I was working part-time there. I stayed there with my ex sometimes but that didn't work so great. I thanked him for his help and did something else.
I really did try to help myself, but nothing was working. I am not on food stamps. I avoided that because I would have had to have an address or go to a shelter. I was warned (for my area) not to go to a shelter, they were not safe for a single woman. So I didn't go there.
Still looking for work. I find that the "haves" (and I was a former have) are out of touch with the true severity of the economy! Understatement! For every job I applied for, there were 100's of people applying. One particular job, the receptionist said there were 648 applicants for the same job I was applying for!
Homelessness landed on my doorstep, and now I'm all up-in-arms over the situation. I have two moderate degrees, 17 years of working experience as an operations manager, secretary, receptionist, bookkeeper, justice court clerk, software and I am tech savvy and I can not find work!!!!!!!
I've talked to some of the "haves." Haves are the ones who have jobs, homes, money, food, shelter and transportation and health insurance, and they still believe that if we are homeless we do not really want to work and we have been irresponsible in managing our money. We have to have done something stupid to wind up being homeless! This is the general impression I am left with after speaking to many of them about my situation and that of others.
I do feel grateful for what I have. I moved here. I have my dog, my sewing machine, a computer and net access if it doesn't rain, snow, or storm. I keep looking for work. I try to meet my goal of 150 resumes per month going out. I have some transportation access though no public transportation. I keep hoping for the best and I am hanging on. My diabetes now has some basic care which I did not have because I have never been insurable.
Haven't approached the congressman and reps in this area to talk to them about retraining and putting people back to work. I noticed a newspaper article in one of the papers here that there are jobs in industry where they do not have enough trained people for the positions. Example: machinists, and other positions. Some of the positions they were WILLING TO TRAIN people, the article said, and they could not get people in this area to train for the positions because they are uncomfortable with technology--many of them having worked in the mill and textile industry before all the mill work was outsourced overseas. Industry is an untapped resource in the job pool that could be accessed for many of us if small to large industry was willing to train us for those positions!
A Chinese company came to this area recently and they are creating new jobs, however the economy is not too stable over there either, and if their economy goes bad, they'll be laying off people they just hired to work here!
My brother (retired AF, young) got hired at Borg Warner in south Texas. They laid him off just a few months ago. Where this is all going, I don't know. But I sincerely hope that our voters will lay off the rock star politicians in future and vote for experience and put it in the White House.
