Alternative Living In Montana

Finally, I have the time, electricity, and access to the internet. This picture was taken early on in my giving up my Section 8 Home Choice Voucher. The days were still hot, and nights warm, although this night the wind blew something fierce and I was afraid my tent was going to blow away. The folks camping to the right of me, came over in the morning to check on me, see if I was ok.  I thought that was really nice of them, after all, we never saw each other before.

Funny, never once in all my time using a Section 8 Voucher did any neighbor come and check on me, or the on-site manager when they knew I was ill, little alone when the wind blew all night. Heck most of them got upset if I reported repairs that needed to be made.

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?

SECTION 8 VOUCHER OR ALTERNATIVE LIVING

 At the start of the pandemic, I was fortunate enough to be invited to stay at my eldest daughter's home before they shut the schools down. This made me very happy as I was stuck renting; with the help of a Home Choice Section 8 voucher,  a basement apartment that smelled of mold and mildew that permeated every soft surface. Though the windows were large, and deceivingly offered lots of light, that was blocked by the other building in the complex and the large, dying, overburdened branches of the ancient cottonwood trees, I rarely had the curtains open.
Shortly after arriving at my eldest daughter's home, my youngest daughter and her children came for a visit, a week after they closed the schools. She has two-grade school-age children she was trying to teach, running her full time cleaning business and run the house all on her own. I took it upon myself, without asking of course, and returned to Northern Montana to help her.

I had been talking about living in a van for about two years at this point, as I work a part-time, seasonal job, but had to give it up because the cost of working that job and utilizing a Home Choice Section 8 Voucher was too burdensome.  I could not meet the 20 hours a week calculation that was used to calculate my rent, so I ended up paying out money that I never earned.

It was also during that time I discovered that the Housing Authority had miscalculated the EID credit I should have received, which meant that I had paid out seven hundred fifty dollars more than I should have over the past year. Instead of returning the overage to me, they gave the money as a credit to the Landlord of my building on my account. I could have used the overage as a deposit on a different apartment but was not given that opportunity.

I had expressed great displeasure of the condition and continued issues with the apartment from the time I signed the lease during the 2018 Government shut-down. With the choice of finding a place to live or lose the voucher (the Housing Authority was not giving any extensions), the lease was signed in the middle of winter. The availability of acceptable one-bedroom apartments was realistically some time in the future.

I was already tired of the continued mistakes made by the Montana Department of Commerce Housing Division. I had advocated against them over many issues that low-income tenants endure at the HUD level, and caught many mistakes over the years. I made the decision that I would turn my voucher back in at the start of summer, and live in my tent until the first snow.

 I justified this decision as things were going to get bad and ugly with this pandemic, and I have my two girls to rely on for help. I was renting a two-bedroom apartment when there are families with small children wandering the streets at night looking for a safe place to stay.

Morally it was not right for me to hold on to that voucher when the apartment I was renting was too big for me, and I was miserable there even though I fully understood there are those who are sleeping in the park, how could I be so ungrateful?

A few days later I called the state again and asked to be removed from the SNAP program. They offered me $16 a month, and I refused this, unfortunately giving a sarcastic reply. Sorry about that. Now being shed of all Government assistance, unless you are going to count the Social Security Disability check that I paid into the program and still do when I can find work, I needed to find an alternative way to house myself.

My youngest daughter found a job in a different town and has moved there. I remain here, in Northern Montana, to finish packing her home. She will be staying with someone until she finds shelter for her and the children. This will be a task all of its own as housing is hard to come by there, and the price of rents are ridiculously high. 

My oldest daughter has a very lovely home, yet I am not certain if I should stay there. We have different lifestyles, and I am told that my expectation of others may be out-of-line with reality. I have promised, to work on that. So I am looking at living in the back of my little 1994 Toyota pickup. The sleeping arrangement is off a little, but it is quite comfortable for my back.

I also have a couple of tents, and there is a lot of dispersed camping and a few year-round campgrounds that I can stay in. My original plan was to travel around Montana for the next year, visiting all the places I had been as a kid, and other places here in Montana that I have not taken the time to visit.

Image by: David Mark from Pixabay: Lake McDonald, Montana (Got-a great fishing story from childhood here.)

I was also going to use the unrestricted time to write my "great American novel" to contribute to the literary world in a different way than I already have. Covid-19 has made me alter this plan, and the van,

well even though one was given to me, I'm not sure if I have the finances to put it back on the road. That's ok, because I discovered that I really don't like driving a flat-nosed van, I can't see if I am too close to something.

"Her Social Security benefits each month were only $499..." 

Many people across the nation are choosing to live like this as it is far too expensive to rent, or to buy a home. It also looks like the workforce is shifting to remote positions, so why should anyone be tethered to one spot when there is so much to see and do in our own back yards?

This is the time to reinvent yourself and your lives to be what you need them to be so that you can actually enjoy your life. Wouldn't you agree?  I have chosen to look at this time as a re-birthing of my life. No life can be ushered forth without some degree of pain and uncertainty. I learned that giving birth.

Are you struggling to make a change? I have been, mostly out of financial fear, too afraid to invest in myself as it might be a bad investment you might say. It was then that I realized that if I didn't give back all the help from the government, step out on my own and really live within my means things were never going to change for me.

I lived in a crummy apartment that really would be no better than living in a campground, except I would not have to share private information about myself and be forced to spend my money on something I viewed as a waste of tax-payer dollars.

Since housing codes, policies and regulations were not being enforced anywhere, why should I continue to throw my hard-earned money, and other tax-payer money at a public eyesore that is only going to grow and become more of a problem to handle in the future?

I am appalled at my participation in this housing scam. I can no longer participate in government housing as it is set up to imprison or to break the recipient into a lifestyle that no one strives for, yet succumb to as a desperate cry for help.

I would never be one of those success stories for the Department of Commerce Housing Division, only a thorn in their side. The condition of the low-income subsidized apartments in Helena, Montana are just deplorable. Every building had a flight of stairs ranging from fifteen to seven steps, and I could barely walk, yet no ground floor apartments were to be found. I hate to think if I had been in a wheelchair and these State Agency ran Apartment buildings would not be able to house me because they are not ADA accessible, this in Montana's capital city of all places!

What are the challenges you face in finding rental housing in the state of Montana?

I want to hear from you, leave a comment below. You are not the only one who has issues with Montana HUD Housing, or for that matter Montana Landlords. Now is the time to speak up, initiate the changes needed to preserve affordable housing. Now is the time to demand that the Landlords be held responsible for cleaning their heating vents, mold, asbestos, and lead paint removed. It is time that the outlets placed in these buildings in 1953, be replaced with modern outlets and wiring that is manufactured to handle the higher level of usage appliances now demand.

Wait, who am I kidding. I have been out here since I was seventeen trying to change things and yet very little has changed. I have looked for other tenants out here in Montana that want change and are willing to speak up and make the change happen, yet in all this time very few stood up, and even fewer stood past the correction of their issue.

Tomorrow your neighbor may be evicted because their unemployment has run out, or their SSI, SSDI check did not come in the mail, are you going to hang your head and watch out of the corner of your eye as they load up their belongings and head to "God knows where"?

Take action, Call Senator Daines, Senator Tester, any politician you have a relationship with and tell them Montana needs to clean up the low-income rentals, the ones that are held by corporations, individuals, and the state housing authority agencies as well.

We need code enforcement to actually enforce building codes before low-income apartment buildings, or those that have not been maintained over time start to burn down around the tenants' ears.

Well, I guess it really doesn't matter, after all, I gave up and walked away from Government Help, so why should I care? Because my tax dollars are given to slum lords under the pretense of sanitary housing at an affordable price.

IMPEACHMENT TRIAL ONE YA-WHO'S OPINION

theconversation.com

"That's right, just another idiot with their own interpretation on the impeachment of the President of "these Divided  States"."

 I have tried my best to keep my mouth shut during the political upheaval of America, but I am so afraid and disappointed in the way the country is going that I can no longer keep my opinion to myself. "As if it matters!"  I understand that my little, opinion does not matter as it does not influence anyone to change their mind, take action, or even give a crap. Yet it is my first amendment right, so I am taking the opportunity to exercise it.

From the very beginning, I stood out here in the abyss shouting "The Emperor has no clothes", but no one noticed. I went and protested when Mr. Trump ( he is not my president, I did not vote for him) arrived in Great Falls, Montana for his July 5th rally.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/donald-trump-mental-health-754139/

I question whether the Trump Administration has a clue of what they are doing, suppose to do, or are required to do? His camp seems to talk out of both sides of their mouths and then deny they spoke in the first place. I was taught as a child that "Honesty is the Best Policy". Isn't that what the First Lady's campaign is all about, "Be Best" for the emotional and social health of children? I thought the President would be an example of "how to act" not "how not to act" for his own wife's reputation.

Is this Trump's best? the best attempt at duping the American people? or truly and honestly the best he can run the country into the ground? There may already be irreversible collateral damage caused by the folks he put into temporary positions or had to leave their offices due to a conflict of moral ethics. Are we really going to be stupid enough to ask for another four years of lies, deceit, double standards, when the president is taking his own government to court for billions of dollars in damages? (Credit: revistanordeste.com.br/) Should this be a telltale sign to the American Public that Mr. Trump can not live up to the requirements of the position of President of the "United" States"?

 I have been assaulted on three jobs, much less important than the Presidency, yet I did not have a case for pain and suffering, why should he when the job he choose to apply for came with a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

I can't wait for the State of the Union Address, it should be one of a kind. Personally, I would like to see Trump step down from office. Yet, I am nobody, just another Ya-who with an opinion.

Nothing More To Lose

There comes a time in some people's lives, when fear paralyzes their every move, dominates their every thought and leads them into a place of complacency and conformity and that is ok. When fear around my housing situation first gripped me back when I was a young divorced, mother of two I just put my head down worked hard, followed all the rules and was very great full my two kids had a roof over their heads.

Until recently, if your income increased anywhere from $20 to $200 dollars you had to tell them and your rent went up accordingly. Now, I hear rumors of those who utilize Federal Housing Programs may find that some of them will be paying 35% of their income or perhaps their Home Choice Voucher like mine, is on the chopping block (click here to learn more). My rent has already gone up allegedly because of a mistake that was made, but it is funny the correction took me to 35% of my income for rent.

Affordablehousingonline.com has a very interesting take on what could become a reality in the world of government housing waiting lists. " However, it is impossible to know exactly what Trump plans to do as he has not mentioned Section 8 or other housing programs specifically. We hold out hope that he realizes that these programs are not being abused and help keep millions of hard working American families out of homelessness." The article goes on to say.

Hope, what is that? Anymore in my mind hope is just another fantasy just like waiting for my knight in shining armor to come and save me; at least where being a recipient of government housing is concerned.

"Families in every state could face rent increases that could total $300 a year or more (see Appendix 1)." The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article brings a suspicion of truth to some of the rumors I have been hearing about people's rent are possibly going up to 50% of their income. The thought of this not only squashes any hope I might have coned myself into holding on to; confirming it would be cheaper and more reliable if I bought a

camper to live in. The loan payments would then be 25% of my income.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition reminds us, "Research shows that when people have a stable home that they can afford, they are better able to find employment, achieve economic mobility, age in place, perform better in school, and maintain improved health." 

The tenants in the United States are not the only ones facing the surge in rents; the BBC reports "While containing the cost to taxpayers, it leaves housing benefit vulnerable to becoming increasingly irrelevant with respect to its purpose - maintaining the affordability of adequate housing for those on low incomes."

When you have nothing to lose, fear is no longer a problem. Fear has become a motivator. I was afraid to speak up because I live on the crack of the floorboards that President Trump is prying up because he can just feel there is a quarter under there. The more he pries pulls and tugs the wider that crack gets and more people will find themselves falling through the cracks regardless of whether they speak up or not.

So before we all go free-falling here, Call your members of Congress and urge them to SUPPORT full funding for affordable housing programs and OPPOSE any proposals that increase rents and impose arbitrary, administratively burdensome and wasteful work requirements on federal housing assistance programs.

LOW-INCOME TENANTS WORRY ABOUT BECOMING HOMELESS

Click on the link below to find out what Susan and other ordinary people are doing to help the government change one of it's most challenging so-called entitlement programs.

http://www.nhlp.org/ResidentEngagement

Lend your voice to make our legacy to our children stronger than what we found for ourselves.

VETERANS DISPOSABLE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

House resolution: HR 1, the FR2011 Budget proposal cut the $75 million that has been in the budget for the past two years for Department of Housing and Urban Development–Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, the report says that on a single night in January 2009, 75,609 veterans were homeless; and an estimated 136,334 veterans spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 20009. The $75 million that has been in the budget was enough to support 10,000 vouchers. that is only 1 out of every 13 homeless vets families, and the Republicans in the House cut even that.

I don't know about anyone else, but in my opinion this is a slap in the face of the men and women who laid down their lives to protect our homes, we are going to toss them out like last weeks bath water.  Shame on you US Government.  Maybe we should just lower their salaries to minimum wage and see what kind of response we get on these budget cuts when they have to face the harsh reality that the US is falling behind in providing for her own people.  Funny, we have plenty of money to give away to foreign countries, but we can't or wont house our needy.

Doesn't it say somewhere on the Statue of Liberty "Give me your poor. . . . ."?  Why, so we can add to our homeless population?  Our government seems to be doing fine on its own.  You know it is 3% of the population that has the rest of  us in this position.  When will the  95% of the population that wants to pretend this wont effect them wake up and call Congressman Rehberg and demand full funding for HUD.  Here is the phone number, 1-202-225-3211 for his DC office, or call here at home on his 1-888-232-2626.  That phone really doesn't weigh 500 lbs.  You can even call after hours and leave a message.  No one but you and the Congressman will know you called.  So what is stopping you?  No phone?  No desire to stay warm until spring?  Or just don't believe that they are really going to take $23.7 million dollars from Montana housing?

I never thought I would see the day that the US would take on classes, pushing the poor, elderly, disabled, and veterans into surf status.  Something is wrong with this picture.  Call today, the home you save maybe Grandma's.
Than you for your efforts.

HUD BE QUIET ---- Whats Sec. Shaun Donovan Up To?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49696.html   CLICK AND FIND OUT.