http://www.captc.org
Category Archives: For Shelter/Housing
HUD
This was originally posted at another site. It started off telling you about HUD. Through HUD you can get cheap houses but also there’s apartment complexes they pay to let poor people live there cheap. They help pay the rent. So these apartments are getting their money just like regular apartments…they just don’t use it on fixing up the apartments like regular apartments.
I lived in 2 HUD dumps. And I didn’t get along with the manager of the 1st one much more then the next. The fact is the public has a problem with people who live in public housing & who do you think management is? The public. Well we’re not all there to screw up repeatedly & screw the whole world over in the process. I ended up marrying the maintenance man from HUD dump #1. Then I ended up getting to know the manager &, believe it or not, her & I ended up friends. She even gave me my deposit back…on a HUD dump. Not because we were friends…because I’m obsessive/compulsive & probably have one of the cleanest homes in the neighborhood.
I’ve actually lived in apartments since I was 17 & I’m 40 now. There was 3 short years & some months my only child & I lived with my mom. There was 3 short years we lived with a husband. Most of the rest of my child’s 20 years we’ve lived in apts. Twice it’s been a HUD dump. There was around 10 years between HUD dump #1 & HUD dump #2. I’ve never been thrown out. And unless I’ve personally broken the lease, which has only happened a couple of times since my mom’s died, I’ve always gotten my deposit back.
I never wanted to move to either HUD dump but especially #2. But it was the better of the 2 alternatives I had. We moved in pretty quickly to learn they hadn’t even cleaned the place. I cleaned plus fixed a few things while I was moving in. But there’s some things I can’t fix…electrical problems, hot water heater problems, furnace problems, plumbing problems & extremely bad leaks. At least not without supplies, tools & possibly a book for dummies.
Things (furnace/hot water heater/extremely bad leaks) weren’t fixed & if they were fixed it was just temp. Then they were breaking down again a week or two later. I think cuz I was in customer service & dealt with a lot of bitching & moaning customers I’m anti-social & avoidant now. I promise I don’t want to talk to no office people in no office. I also promise it’s nothing personal. But when you got major things breaking down every couple of weeks & sometimes for a day or two & sometimes for a week at a time you have no choice but to call or send an email.
Housing Finance Agencies
http://www.ohfa.org
http://www.ohfa.org/OldPages/Special/Homeless1/Shelters/ohfhmsht.html
While these people don’t have projects…they do oversee HUD projects & also have section 8 vouchers. They also have a program called: Section 8 Homeownership Program. That’s the one I’m gonna be checking into next.
Habitat For Humanity
Most places have a habitat for humanity as well…simply Google it. They help the poor/disabled own homes who possibly couldn’t otherwise…the thing here is you have to help build it…which I wouldn’t mind. This is one of 2 programs I’m personally going to check into for a shot at my own house.
Housing Authorities
I’m not even sure OKC has its own housing authority? But if you live in a small town you’ll have to go through the OHFA. If you don’t live in OK you’ll have to Google your city/state’s housing authority.
You can get two types of housing through these people. Either projects that are somehow worse then HUD projects or a section 8 housing voucher. With a section 8 housing voucher one can get any type of housing available…if it exists & one can find it. They give preference to domestic violence or homeless people, the disabled, & the elderly.
Notice I said if it exists & one can find it. Whoever built my city was evidently retarded as hell. Both the street developer guy & the construction guy…total freaking retards.
For example if you want to get on a freeway going a certain direction on one street you might have to be over in the right hand lane. On another you may have to be over in the left hand lane. If you’re not from here & don’t realize our street developer guy was retarded…this would drive you crazy. Even if you are from here & tend to have brain farts occasionally this would still drive you crazy…take it from a hag who knows. This is one of many things on my long list of “things that have driven me nuttier then a fruitcake”.
Then there’s the construction guy. They didn’t have crack back then so it must’ve been opium or mushrooms or something? He decided people in not just apartments but also condos & town-homes & duplexes don’t really need silly little things like space or dishwashers or washer & dryer connections. I saw one condo that was barely bigger then a box. I would’ve had to get rid of half that I own just to be able to move in. Why are we doing this it’s not like Tulsa’s some cramped little city. They build ‘em big in TX plus give ‘em hot tubs. Why can’t we do that here?
Before receiving section 8 housing vouchers some of these folks are coming from THA or HUD projects. While here many live like pigs (causing the rest of us to have roaches & mice) & trash the place yet aren’t reported. Then they get a voucher & go to some unsuspecting renter & trash their place. Then these people quit renting to anybody with a section 8 housing voucher! This would explain where part of our options go.
In every place I’ve lived the rich live one place & the poor live another. Wherever the poor live it is run down. So here when we get vouchers they try to move us out there even if they have to practically give us some place or completely remodel it to do it. Even if I wanted to move out there…which I don’t cuz it’s even worse then here…I’m only one person. They barely make one bedroom condos, townhomes, duplexes, mobile homes or houses…much less with washer & dryer connections. Any 2 bedrooms they make also don’t have washer & dryer connections. This leaves single people with no one stuck with apartments. There’s only 2 or 3 complexes in Tulsa that have one bedrooms with connections & it’s hell grabbing one while it’s open.
When you get a voucher you go to something like a 2-hour or so meeting to hear about their policies & procedures. If you’re one who lets info come into one ear & straight out the other you should probably take someone with you. I didn’t.
I came home & spent most of my time I had to find & secure a place trying to find a decent place. When I found it I emailed my lil case-worker. I asked her a simple question…when do I turn all this paperwork in? She told me the day before the place was ready to be inspected. Apts say it can be inspected & you can move in on the same day. So I turned my stuff in the day before I thought I was moving in.
Apartments also expect you to have all the bills on in your name. You know everybody has their own policies & procedures & they don’t always work together. For example my phone co wouldn’t cut me off & hook me up when I wanted…they had to do it when they had time. So my phone therefore my dial up net service were over at my new place before I was.
I turned in my paperwork to be told it’d be 7-15 days at least…but I was expecting to move the next day. I couldn’t get my phone back for just 7-15 days. I’d already called utility co’s once to switch dates cuz the guy living there before me didn’t want to move out yet. And if the place failed in 7-15 days I’d have to do this again? Forget that. Between this & not finding anybody serious about helping me move I canceled losing $150-200 in the process. It’ll either take some surgeries or a caregiver for me to try this again.
I complained to HUD to be told I should’ve called them & they could’ve sent somebody there as an emergency type situation. First of all you don’t simply call any state agency or org. Second of all neither they nor THA tell people this…they don’t announce it…it’s not posted anywhere…how would I know to call them?
Of course HUD forwarded this on elsewhere…probably right back to THA. THA says perhaps their clerk made a little boo-boo but this is their policy & I should’ve been paying attention during the 2 hour meeting. Like I said I’ll require something before trying this again cuz I can’t afford their casual “oops”.
Day Center For The Homeless
http://www.tulsadaycenter.org They say M-F 8 to 4 & their number’s 918-583-5588.
2-1-1
http://www.211tulsa.org
http://www.211oklahoma.org
918-836-4357
These folks have phone numbers &/or links to most of the social services in Tulsa/OK.
Youth Services of Tulsa
http://www.yst.org/yst/Default.asp
918-582-0061
These folks offer a range of services to teens & young adults from shelter, a transitional living program, counseling, & even a crisis line. I wish I’d known about this place when I was 17. If you’re around that age I hope you find the help you need here.
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