Archives for September 2015

There was a family of four in a van living near our Georgetown food bank. They were homeless and had moved here from California. One of the parents just got out of jail. They’re hoping to start over here in King County. The dad is eager to find work. We gave him  several employment leads. They had no idea where to go to look for permanent housing. We helped them begin to check out shelters and we offered to help them with longer term case management. The family was tired and needed a place to bathe, relax from their ordeal and get their bearings. SVdP provided two nights in a nearby motel. They were very grateful.

Loretta lived in an area of King County where it is hard to get social services. She had no income other than an unpredictable amount she gets sporadically. Her Section 8 based rent rate (Section 8 housing is a federal housing voucher program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market), was calculated on what she got at the time of review earlier this year. The good news is she had a job interview and was hopeful her situation would improve. She managed to pay $79 of her rent and SVdP covered the last $100 to prevent eviction.

Karen lost her job recently. She was already living paycheck to paycheck and had no savings for emergencies. She’s a single mom with three boys, two are disabled and receive Social Security Disability Income. She gets $239 per month in child support. She got behind on her rent. SVdP helped her with $105 to prevent eviction.

We recently helped a family of six. They had little money. The only income this family of six had was what the father earned doing “odd jobs.” He was an undocumented immigrant and couldn’t find steady employment. It was difficult for the housing program to determine the amount the family should pay for rent due to the variances in regular income. The monthly rent amount was based on the father’s earnings, which varied dramatically. The program wouldn’t lower their rent since the father’s earnings couldn’t be verified—the Catch 22. They were going to be evicted, but SVdP covered their last payment of $100, enough to prevent eviction.