If you have any advice, I'm open to it. What have your own experiences with Senior or Disabled housing been? Are you facing a rent crisis or inflation problems in your own area or life?
Has Covid made you more broke? Has the inflation crushed your household? Well as everyone here knows I've written about being poor and low income for a long time.
The poor and working class are sliding into invisibility. It's kind of scary. I watch these channels about how the lives of many Americans are really going. You won't see these people and places in mainstream media.
Big Super Living in Arizona
Nick Johnson [endless videos about the state of America now, both rural areas and inner cities]
Yeah while our politicians send billions to Ukraine, this is America today, and while I don't live in Appalachia, a lot of my own state and areas I drive through look like this. People are getting poorer and poorer out there and have become more invisible too. When I watch the news and regular TV, it's like the Hunger Games as everything is marketed to the Capitol people and the rest of us don't even exist.
A lot of people are broke and struggling. For years, I've always feared homelessness, and worse circumstances from the poverty I faced in Chicago. We managed to elude it, but it has not been easy. My husband works hard, but he has medical problems too that affect things.
Health wise, you know disability doesn't bring in the cash. My body always gets in the way of getting things done. I had to do a lot [for me] yesterday and could not walk at the end of the day, that's how bad the fluids get. It made getting to the bathroom hell on earth. I was wrapped but my body expands like a giant balloon, one leg wrapping looked ready to explode. More fluids have come off now from machine and rest and I can walk better but you can probably see how this affects the "getting things done" quotient. Medical bills and needs are high. There's a lot of special foods, medical equipment, supplies, and things I have to spend money on that normal people don't.
We did get a few better years, husband got contract work and there were other circumstances that improved things, we are able to make most bills. I had savings at one time, but we had to use them for a short term lay-off time husband had, but he was doing freelance still during that time.
The wolf is back at the door after having a few years being spared the bad carb rich food of the food pantries. The food pantries are still awful. We went back to one, one lady was there and said, "We haven't seen you in years!" We replied, "Things got better for a time." Sadly it was the same old hot dogs, bag of stale croutons and rivers of spaghetti.
Where we live now is getting very expensive. They are gentrifying this place like mad. We may have to leave. It's bothered me how being poor means often being forced to leave. I wrote about this in the Economic Nomads in the Geography of Nowhere article.
My husband applied for some jobs online, there's two recent ones where if the dice ever rolled my way, we wouldn't have to move, and there would be some stability. Sometimes I wonder if I am idiot to have hopes like this but we have had improved circumstances on the roller coaster. Problem is we are both getting old. I don't know how so many people do achieve the stability they do. He did deserve better. He has job and intellectual skills too.
There's a feeling of not belonging. Class stuff really does impact ones life quite badly. Now we may have to leave again, but choosing where to go or what to do is very difficult. While I have a few regional friends, sadly most friends are scattered to the four winds or online. I don't have a family as everyone here knows.
Most people live lives where they have some relatives in their life, and feel there are people who have their back. My mother had people there to help her. I was just seen as a "burden". As I got older, it was really glaring seeing how other autistic and disabled people were treated by their families even ones in advanced ages. The other day I was thinking how her family was always there for her, and the opposite was true for me.
That's hard when you're old and you have to start over yet again. You fear choosing wrong. In America now there's a lot of places that are high crime or have other problems. It's scary to leave places you know the lay of the land of. My brain has become a mess of too many maps, the more place you live, the harder it is to remember where everything is. I even get some towns messed up in my memories.
As people here now, I regret leaving a town a few places ago, it was my old small town. Going back is too complicated as specialists are all an hour away from that place. We have a car that runs pretty well, but when you have been as poor as me, you don't move away from your medical care. An hour drive away costs money and needing to do so multiple times a month is unaffordable. In my case, there has to be a hospital that is local and a busing system/Dial a Ride. Big cities are more overwhelming to me.
I like things about where I live now, sometimes it's hard to be the poor person in the sea of affluent people though, it's harder socially, this community did provide some help to the poor. I did enjoy some resources they had here though, from better library, businesses, medical specialists, art center and more. Living here did help me as an artist, because of classes, cultural enrichment and being around people who were successful in creative pursuits. So I see the positive angles of this. Even my UU was a source of intellectual and creative resources. Some folks there remain supportive of my art which is a positive. This town does have the perfect infrastructure in terms of medical needs and resources too.
My husband wants to stay but the way they are raising the rent, it's insane. For some reason this town really failed when it came to housing for seniors and the disabled. One place is even off the busline. Who planned that? There's no affordable housing here. It seems the message is, "Get out of Dodge, anyone who is not rich!"
It's sad the greedy are destroying America and now our personal lives. We know a huge corporate concern bought out our apartment complex. By the way huge corporate concerns are invading the whole country, raising rent and leaving more people homeless. You won't hear about that in the mainstream news either.
I have several neighbors in my own building who have already been forced out. Some had lived here more than ten years. I suspect many had to leave the entire town too. The same greed that destroyed our lives with Covid insanity is now destroying our economic lives and communities.
What is weird about us, is we are always attending to "making money". The other day I tried to sell two antiques, when I find something good out in thrift/garage sale world, sometimes I have something sellable. This included a beaded purse and a 1950s table before. Now I'm trying to sell an old painting and a Victorian era advertisement and picture. The economy is not doing well, so things don't sell as quickly. The antiques contact wrote me back and said no one was interested. Even ebay slowed down years ago but my husband still sells things on there.
I did sell art work during my art show. It helped the last few months. I am glad that my paintings will be on the walls of many homes now. We plan to market more online too.
We also shop at thrift like normal people shop at the mall. I buy everything but clothes and food new. I would get clothes if they fit, and did buy a few dresses at a thrift store that had bigger clothes for a time.
It bugs me still how most poor people are judged as all being on drugs and like they did it to themselves. I get tired of that. I know some personal traits probably attributed to my economic ruin. INFPs like myself make the least money, that didn't surprise me. Whatever personal qualities bought Alex Keaton the cash left me bereft of it. As I have aged, I've tried to make up for all the ADHD and focus on being practical.
The constant grind of money comes on. All the prices are crushing. Everyone's feeling the burn at the grocery store.
Our rent is paid on time but I've been researching housing and to go on housing lists. I do have a good housing record--I've never been late with rent in my life.
We are expecting more rent increases here. Most lists are 1-2 years long for the waiting lists, so I'm trying to plan ahead. This means choosing new cities or towns to move to. I'm filling out some paperwork this week. We qualify for the over 55 and plus places. It has been a stressful process. The housing in our present area sucks. One place is known as the "bed bug palace", they are doing renovations, but it's awful. It's also a "tower", see below.
The other place the apartments are super tiny even compared to other subsidized places, and they are off the bus line. There's some places in the inner city area, but many of those are in high crime areas. I hear horror stories about how the elevator breaks down constantly in one sometimes for weeks.
Some facets I have dealt with.
1. I can't live in a place dependent on an elevator. Our society is not stable enough to keep elevators running anymore. Trust me on this one. Elevators are an invention of more properly operating times when the power didn't go out every week from the latest "super-storm" or "brown-out".
I weigh 512lbs as of last week. My bed for the supersized, shouldn't be on anything but a first floor. Being trapped in an elevator as a normal thin person is different than being a huge person and trapped in one. Even my own building had the elevator shut down for three months, while they worked to refurbish it. I thankfully live on the first floor.
If the power goes out, I am trapped downstairs if I happened to go out, or I'm trapped upstairs. I never could get out in a fire. It disturbs me they built so many disability buildings as "towers", who came up with that idea, putting a bunch of mobility impaired people in places where they can't even get out? I can do a few stairs not well, but the paralyzed and completely wheelchair bound are in worse straits.
2. The income cut offs are way too low. I realized with horror even if husband is on full Social Security, we could be over the line at one place. How are we supposed to survive if a spouse is told you can't make more than 13,000 a year?
80% AMI buildings that allow for higher [moderate] incomes seem rarer than Dodo birds, I found one in an extremely small town and I haven't even found one in my county yet. One place, limited the income to under 30,000 a year but expected you to pay 900 a month for rent. I'm going on lists with the lower income cut offs because husband may have to go on full Social Security but even than I worry we will be told "You're too close!"
3. The best buildings, that are newer nicer, not towers of inequity all seem to be in very remote rural areas. I don't mind small towns. I consider having us move to a smaller town because I was happier in my old rural small town. There's a few small towns I consider moving to. However there again the medical issue makes itself known. How far away are the doctors? Can I get to them? One place I plan to call and ask if the Dial a Ride system will take you to a hospital in a neighboring town. One place is pretty decent, and was recommended by friends. Some of these details can get complicated.
I'm happier in smaller places. Big cities stress me out. The traffic, noise and crime are all negatives. I visit a couple smaller towns I like being in. Sometimes a place can be too small and remote, there's a few things I need but trying to achieve an ideal balance is difficult. My old small town does have a hospital and I thought of just calling it a day and going there, even with the far away specialist problems. Here's two problems, most friends from there are now deceased or left, there's a few people I know left and for some reason the rent there seems to be skyrocketing almost keep apace with this place.
Sometimes I think go to a bigger town, but then the resources for the disabled, seniors and more are overstretched. I don't want to be a nobody lost in a sea of people, where its far more impersonal and harder to get to know people. This town I live in now always felt "too big" but was small enough to get to know some people at least.
4. There's a lot riding on things. I have to be wise and choose the best place I can to survive in as an old disabled woman. My husband is older than me and we are rapidly aging. One asset the present place has is a PACE center for the severely disabled.
5. I have had friends in subsidized housing and they have told me problems that can come with it. One said "you have to report every little bit you make". So if I made 100 bucks selling a painting, my rent would automatically go up? Some say they do constant "housework inspections". I suck at housework because of my horrible body. The trash is taken out and stuff is bleached and scrubbed at on occasional intervals but the white glove inspectors would go nuts. Last week I did get some crap out of here to give to thrift but it feels like teaspoons out of the ocean.
My husband says, "We are barely surviving now how are we to survive under those income cut-offs". Also there is the worry lets say you move into subsidized housing but circumstances change for the better? Remember we got a couple "better years" They were working class level but over all of the cut-offs. I have said to husband, "Maybe we can find a cheaper town, but live in private housing". Oh it's confusing. Honestly except for very remote towns, it's like all the landlords got together and decided unless you can pony up 1,000-1200 a month for rent you don't deserve to live.
I watched this video of this man warning about low income housing and what can come with it. He is younger and wants to try advance himself and I hope he succeeds but some of this warnings make sense to me.
6. I am trying to find higher 80% AMI buildings and senior housing with reduced rent. I am going to go on the lists of the places with lower cut-offs because our income by the time I come up on the list, my husband may be on Social Security only anyway with a little supplemental income. One place is pretty decent and at the top of the list. All of this is complicated but I'm trying to make the best decisions I can.
7. I can't describe to you how it feels to be forced out of another place. I do wish my present town had better Senior and disabled Housing. It's like going through the death of my small town again. Also being 50 something and lacking roots like this, it really bothers me. I'm the kind of personality who needed a place to belong and feel apart of. I did for a very short time in life. It's all hard to explain.
8. If something happens to me, I want my husband able to survive which is one reason for the Senior/disabled housing.
What happens in a country where there's no place to call home anymore? It's going to fall apart. It's all in the service of the greedy here. They wonder why some places are a sea of homelessness when the rent's so high.
