United We Stand!

I was searching some apartment\ house listings on a website that I go to looking for affordable housing which I am thinking has went the way of dinosaurs, a thing of the past. This website looked like it hadn't been updated since dinosaurs walked the earth. I was looking at postings from last December on there and I know that those places are long gone. So, after seeing that the most current listing was for early last month I decided that this wasn't the best place to look. I sent a quick note to the website and asked them could they update the listings. To my surprise when I checked back yesterday they had. Well, sort of. They put two new listings up for one bedrooms and a listing for a place that was under construction for affordable housing. Since I need at least a two bedroom the one bedroom listings didn't do me a whole lot of good so I decided to check into the affordable under construction apartments that they had listed. In a couple of clicks I was at the website. I began reading and all was pretty good, with the exception of it being near a bar. I am not sure that I want to live close to a bar. But, after further investigation and talking to a friend who had been in the bar more then a few times, not recently though, which did worry me, but when she visited the bar she said that it was pretty low key and that people usually come in to eat. She said they sell food in there too. I already knew that but I said okay to her. Near the bar, is also a market. A discount market. I had been in there a few times but not recently. When I went in there they had mostly frozen tv dinners and such. Great if you are on a tight budget and need something fast for a snack or something quick for lunch. 

I read the application and then it got sort of all bad. The fine print said that the number of bedroom depended on how many people you had. Made sense. So, then it said that it had to be one bedroom for each person. I read on. The last part of that sentence said that only 4 people could live in one apartment. That was the bad part for me because in my family there are 5. We aren't the traditional family of 5 so I was thinking that might or might not make a difference the family make up but the number of people in my family could be a problem for  them. I talked to my mom about it. My mom is older and wiser at least that is what she tells me. Well, she is older that is for sure and since she has lived longer than me I will give her the wiser part too. So, she asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I wasn't sure. I was thinking and thinking about it but couldn't decide. 

I made a call to the office about the 4 person rule and got a recording. Nobody called me back as of yet . So, the deadline is looming and in a few days the application process will be closed. It will take at least a day or two to mail it to them, depending on how fast the mail can get from one part of the city to the next. So, I put the paper down. I filled in most of it just the family part was blank. This is not a done deal the paper is only to get you into a lottery. If they pick you. Which is really a big IF since I know that thousands of people will apply since housing, affordable housing, is becoming as rare as finding gold on the street, if you are picked from the lottery then you will have to make a trip to the office and have in hand within 3 days $30 for credit checks for everyone over 18 in your household, and believe me with 4 adults, well, that can add up already. Then of course the deposit money. The deposit is not several thousands of dollars as in most places it is under 1000. Not much under but under. So, I  had to think would I be armed with all this money if I got picked or have access to get it within 3 days, or 72 hours as they put it. I wasn't sure. Then I had to come to to think about would I be good with putting down a deposit and all this credit check money on a place sight unseen since the construction won't be done until May, the middle of May as they put it. They had a description of the places and a small picture of what they may or may not look like. You know more small print said something to that affect. It sounded nice. I don't know how many apartments will be in this building either. That is an unknown too. My nephew said he drove by it and said that it is under construction and looks big. I have to do the same for myself. 

So, with the landlord here asking me every month if I found a place and me telling him that it is easier said then done as he knows and him agreeing with me but nonetheless makes that monthly trip knocking on the door asking me. I had to think about that too. It was so many things to think about. My mom suggested that we could split the family up. I thought about it for a second and told her why should we have to? We are a family and we are all that we have. Other uncles, cousins, aunts, etc... could care less and you never hear from them ever. When we were without a place to stay all we got from them was advice. Advice that was not needed or wanted and advice that they could have kept to themselves. When you are homeless the last thing you want is advice or really need. You want help, a place to stay, some food, a lot of things but not advice right then.

After much thought and a little praying, I decided that I am putting what my family make up was on the form. I put that in my family there are 4 adults and one child. They can take it or leave it. That is my family and I am not splitting them up for anything not even an affordable housing apartment near a bar. Nope not going to happen. I put a stamp on the letter and it is in the mail. I should know by the 15th of April if they accepted us in the lottery. We are family and we are all in this together. United we stand!

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