Identify Them
- Sit down with a pen and paper and make a list of obstacles and frustrations that have acted as barriers to obtaining permanent housing.
- Organize them based on the level of difficulty or challenge that they present.
- Reflect on each. Jot down notes or ideas you have about addressing them. Only you know the in-depth particulars of your situation. Only you can decide which route you want to take, or what is right for you or your family. You need to be an active participant in your path forward.
Seek Help
- Ask Google, 211, or friends and family where you might find assistance with your search. Case Management services are available through a wide range of organizations, but each will have different qualifications for assistance or serve a different population.
- Call each organization and lay it all out there. If they can’t help you, ask if they can direct you to who can.
Take It One Step At a Time
- Taken as a whole, these barriers can seem insurmountable. This is where effective case management comes into play. Not only will your case manager have access to resources or referrals that may assist you, but they can help you break it down into manageable steps.
- Example; Jane Doe lives on a fixed income, has poor credit, no identity documents other than an expired I.D., is living in a tent in a friend’s backyard, and has little to no rental history. With the help of her case manager, she has identified affordable housing complexes as her best option for permanent housing, but doesn’t understand how the process works and is intimidated by the seemingly massive amounts of paperwork necessary to not only apply but secure an apartment once selected. Together, they will work on obtaining her birth certificate and social security card (necessary requirements for affordable housing complexes), obtaining rental references and tracking down contact information for the rooms she has rented over the years, creating a rental history template to use from that point forward. Together, they carefully examine the criteria for residency in each complex and determine the best fit and pursue all leads related to public housing or possible voucher programs. Through the course of this, the Case Manager learns that even if Jane is selected, she will struggle to come up with the deposit and first month’s rent and investigate possible funding sources.
- That seems like a whole lot, doesn’t it? We haven’t each touched upon the poor credit. It is easy to see why anyone could get overwhelmed and discouraged! Take advantage of resources in your local community, everyone needs a helping hand sometimes!
Be Proactive
- You are your own best advocate. No one else has to live the reality of your situation and the most successful people are those who are actively making progress daily. Even if it seems like the progress is small, it all adds up until you are exactly where you want to be!
