The above picture is what my tent looked like, unfortunately when I started to take the shade tent down, the wind caught it and smashed it into a tree. It didn't quite wrap around the tree, but it sure looked like it got ran over or something. I sure am going to miss it, as when the wind blew, and I mean blew hard (35 to 40 miles an hour or more) it kept the tent from doing the bobblehead dance. I did save the top cover, as it will go over the tent nicely, to give it some added warmth, and protection from wet weather.
I started living in my tent on August 26, 2020. I thought I would be able to find work and gradually some up the money to get into a new place without Government assistance. Well, that is not how things are working out, as it is now October 12, 2020, and I am still looking for work, and there is not a single one-bedroom or studio unit in the entire state in my budget that does not have at least 25 or more people applying for.
Most of the low-income apartments now have a three to four-year waiting "list, apartments that aren't even completely built have a waiting list a mile long. Shelters are full, and those that aren't I don't qualify for because my domestic violence threats were so long ago in the past.
Every room for rent in town (Helena) has been taken, and I am looking for work and housing in every area I think I would like to live in. The problem, well there just aren't any low-income rental units to be had, even in Northern Montana, most have been rented.
There are at least 1,357 (as reported in January 2019), people experiencing homelessness on any given day. Why that is more people than the population of some of our smaller towns in Montana. What I don't understand, is why there are so many empty office buildings that could be used to house the homeless during the pandemic or to be turned into low-income housing, yet they too sit and rot waiting for the next commercial, Real Estate Tycoon to snatch them up.
There are more Duplexes, Condos, Townhouses, and very large homes with vaulted ceilings of 15 feet of nothing but air till it hits the floor going up, and fewer and fewer average size homes that the working people can afford. Prices are so over-inflated, and you are forced to buy more acreage than you know what to do with.
The little starter home of two bedrooms, one bathroom, living room, kitchen, and maybe an office and/or full basement with the little picket fence around 1,200 square feet no longer exists. Such a shame because I can not see someone my age living in a five-bedroom monstrosity just because I could afford it, but that is what it is all about now.
Montana Department of Commerce Housing Division has failed Montana low-income tenants for over 30 years, never really paying attention to the condition of apartment buildings, or what landlords do or do not do leading us to the deplorable shortage in housing and housing that is decent, healthy, and safe.
I worry about living in my tent, or the back of my truck this winter. But apparently, you can sleep in a car until it gets 30 below zero, then it is pretty dangerous, you most likely won't make it through the night. I can tell you though living in my tent instead of Government housing, I have no bug bites, my clothes smell better, and the best part money in the bank at the end of the month.
Montana Department of Commerce Housing Divisions programs all need to be audited. If they made one error in the amount of $750, there are surely more. No one wants to listen, no one cares, well ok then it is your tax dollars that are being wasted on these buildings that catch fire in the middle of the night because of poor wiring, or someone sleeping on the sofa in the ally and drops a cigarette. But why should you care? You got money to burn, right?
