Day 26

In order for me to get CalWorks one of the hoops I had to go through was filing for Unemployment.  They didn't seem to care the outcome they just wanted to know I filed.  I worked for Safeway for two months and because they would not transfer me because of my short time there not for any other reason I had to quit.  I was moving for my daughters future and couldn't ask her to hold off on her dreams for another 4 months to stay in an area she hated, stay poor and work at a job that paid only minimum wage, still collected union dues out of that minimum wage and would only guarantee me 24 hours a week to have the opportunity to transfer down to where we are with the same minimum wage and still only a guarantee of 24 hours.  Besides Safeway is not my dream it was a means to an end.  This meant since I quit I most likely did not qualify for and unemployment and since it was only for two weeks at part time the amount would most likely be zero.  I got the letter confirming the Zero dollar amount but I was still expected to have an interview to see if I was approved or denied unemployment.

Yes that is right I needed to have a interview to determine if I qualified or not for $0.00 per week for 26 weeks.  I missed my interview time because I ended up having a job interview but I called back within 48 hours. I needed to otherwise they would make a determination on the facts at hand whether or not I qualified to get the $0.00 or not without my interview answers.  She then told me after I was done answering her questions that I needed to remember to keep turning in my biweekly sheets to make sure my payments didn't get interrupted if it was found that I qualified and that the letter showing what I would qualify for should be there any day.  I told her I already received the letter and it said I got $0.00.  She said yes but that was only a letter telling me what I would receive only if I got approved.  It took all my strength to say thank you and hang up.  So I am now waiting to hear their determination now if I qualify or not to receive unemployment for which if I am unfortunate enough to get approved, I will need to fill out every other week for 26 weeks a questionnaire asking me if I looked for work, got paid for any work, if I was sick any part of the time and if I would like to have taxes taken out of my $0.00 biweekly payment.

Now at least someone is getting paid to waste time and paper... Maybe I should get a job at the EDD since it obviously doesn't require much skill or common sense for that matter.  Actually they probably would think I am too overqualified...

Day 23

Lets start from the bottom... #10 Handouts are bankrupting us. 

It wasn't until my daughter's father stopped paying child support again that I went on CalWorks for the second time.  I started in January and in the 17 years my daughter has been alive I have been on CalWorks or what some call cash aid or welfare for a total of 6 months.  I have had food stamps or now it is called CalFresh for 9 months total.  Here is why...

I dont want to be on assistance.  There are many rules and I just dont really want to waste time fighting for scraps.  I would rather be working and contributing to society.  Two of the rules that bug are the welfare to work program that is mandatory for some.  I did it the first time I was on aid and I had to waste time going to an office every day to check in and look for work on their computers.  I am a big girl and know how to look for work.  They taught me very little as I knew most of what they were pushing.  I understand the reasons behind the program but I think that there should be evaluations and if you show that you dont need to be babysat and have the motivation in you to do it on your own you shouldn't have to go. 

The second is the child support being taken.  While you are on CalWorks they take all but 50.00 of your support.  Now for me that amount is neck and neck... both being in the 500 - 600 range.  So If her father is paying support regularly then there is no benefit for me to be on CalWorks.  They of course like that but how many people can support 2 people on less than 600.00 per month even with the addition of food stamps.   Rent where we moved to is much less than in the bay area but is still 500 - 600 even for a studio and a room is between 400 - 500.  Then there is transportation.  Even to give up driving the public transportation is 60.00 per month per person and it is only city wide.  If I was to get work in another city I would need to double that assuming they had a city to city connection in the first place.  Then there is my phone that helps me email prospective employers and make needed phone calls.  Sundries that food stamps don't cover and clothes and shoes only last so long.

In addition for a while I didn't even qualify for either program because I made too much with unemployment.  I know that sounds crazy but it was true.

Day 20

Today was the first day of school.  On the one hand I want to work but on the other hand these classes have a lot of work themselves. Success takes sacrifice.  I just wonder if we can stand to make more sacrifices than we already have. 

Made chili from scratch last night and our roommates loved it so that was a positive thing.  So much of being an outcast (homeless) seems no different than being just like everyone else.  

Tomorrow I plan on breaking down the list I posted earlier in the month.

Day 16

And then there are the bad days...  out of 6 good possibilities on the job front three are a no go, two are a we have to hold off for right now but we will be in touch and only one is still a good maybe because they haven't chosen yet...  It is day's like this that really make me feel useless and insignificant.   The homeless person in me makes me feel like it is unfair and purposeful even though I know that is not the case logically. 

The trick is to not give up.  We have our bad days but also our good ones.  I sit at one of the tables at the shelter and look around and see that maybe 10% - 15% of these people have a chance to be better than they are.  Not because the others can't but because they dont want to.  They hate their lives and they hate themselves but they have no drive to change their situation.  They want someone else to do it for them.   They want to blame others for their situation.   They are career shelter people.  It is an easy way out for them.  A place to stay, dinner,  snacks, bathrooms and no true pressure except for some over the top rules and empty threats.  That is not us nor will it ever be.  We are out of here after tonight only having to be here 2 1/2 weeks. 

Little steps....

Day 14

Today was a good day.  Last night we signed our paperwork to move into the room for rent on Saturday.  Today we both had our appointments for disability accommodations at the college and were approved.  Then we drove 40 miles to Santa Barbara to sign up with another temp agency.   It was worth it l think because he has a position he is going to recommend me for and believes they will take me.  It would be an 18 mo assignment and the pay is good as well.  It would be good for the bay area so it is great here.  We could actually save money for the future.  What a concept...

Day 11

On the first when we moved in there was another person with two rug rats that were sick.  Those two kids started a chain reaction that made most of us in here sick and me within the first 24 hours.  I went to the Emergency room on the 5th since my Medi-Cal had not switched over yet and he told me I just had a cold.  I went back again today and they finally took me seriously.  1 steroid, 1 antibiotic and 2 inhalers later...

Tomorrow I have my welfare to work appointment so I can request school since I am already enrolled.  Tuesday we see if we hit it off with the person who might rent us a room.  I am very hopeful since I think it would be a good opportunity and then we could get oit of this hell hole.  Wednesday we drive all the way to Santa Barbara for another interview with a different temp agency for positions they have here.  We keep working the path and keep our minds and hearts on the future.

Day 8

Today we spent the day at the college.   I am amazed that all the departments except one bend over backwards to help and the one that won't is the one that should be the most helpful.  Financial Aid.  It's not like it's their money.  But this school is making requirements that are impossible to fill and would never be required by any federal entity.   An example... I needed to fill out an adjustment appeal for my daughter's Financial Aid for her to get the maximum.  She deserves it, our other school before this one already determined this.   Since we were from out of town at the time and they won't do email or fax everything had to be snail mail.  This took forever with transporting information back and forth.   We got told we needed an IRS transcript for 2013 taxes.  This was because our aid was based off that year.  That was fine and I ordered it.  The issue was it's other requirement.  They also require a 2014 transcript if your appeal is after December 1st.  I thought it was a typo and was told no that is correct.  I looked right at the guy and said "did you get your W-2 yet from your work?"  When he said no I said "then how can you expect anyone else to not only already have theirs but already have filed their taxes and have it approved by the IRS and generated a transcript by December 1st."  He told me it was policy and wouldn't budge.  I ended up with all my issues with financial aid having to make an appointment with the VP of Student Services.

Day 7

So I said I would try to post every day... last two days were so hectic and stressful but today will hopefully be better.   We got approved for CalWorks last night after stressing that we might not.  This ment we didn't have to cancel our counseling appointments at college tomorrow and I didn't have to cancel my job interview today.  The light on the car for gas was on and without the CalWorks money we had no gas to get anywhere.  We also will get to keep our meeting for the room to rent next week now so yeah.  By the end of the month we should hopefully have a room, a job and our first two weeks of classes down. On a path in a positive direction...

Day 4

Bit from the past... It was June of 2012 when I got laid off.  Up to that point I had not worked all of 6 months in my life from 15 years old when I got my first non family job.  I did on different occasions try to go to school to get a degree but supporting myself and then at 25 being the sole support of my daughter as well made it difficult.  Without that degree my pay options were limited though and this made having a savings impossible.  Unfortunately the economy afforded businesses the ability to use the degree as a filter and my years of experience couldn't compete with that piece of paper.   The funniest ad I saw on Craigslist in my search for work was the one that was found by a case worker at the employment development department connect job search.  She decided to use accounting as the search.  The ad said Bachelors degree in Accounting from a top tier university with a 3.5 minimum GPA.  No experience necessary.  Then she got down to the pay.  They were offering 12.00 an hour.  Even the case worker was shocked.   12.00 an hour is not bad if your significant other makes the big money and you are working out of boredom and not because you need the money.   If you're a sole income single parent 12.00 doesn't even keep a roof over your head.

Day 3

Sitting in the parking lot of the shelter.  Its getting cold but neither one of us want to go in.  Have to by 6pm.  House rules.  Did a lot today.  Got stuff organized for our meeting on Monday for possible CalWorks money.   Dont want to go that route but her father refuses to pay anything and we can't live on nothing.  Car needs gas and we need other incidentals that require cash.  Can't get her to school even on bus without money.  Can't go to job interviews, wash clothes for interviews, get occasional haircut to look presentable for interviews (even at a beauty college) without money.  Also applied for 4 different employment opportunities and finished my testing online that one placement agency sent me.  Productive day I would say...

Day 2

Found this very interesting so I wanted to add it to my site.  Hope to help break it down a little more over the next month and how it relates to my situation...

10 Poverty Myths, Busted
No, single moms aren't the problem. And neither are absentee dads.
—Erika Eichelberger | March/April 2014 Issue

1. Single moms are the problem. Only 9 percent of low-income, urban moms have been single throughout their child's first five years. Thirty-five percent were married to, or in a relationship with, the child's father for that entire time.*

2. Absent dads are the problem. Sixty percent of low-income dads see at least one of their children daily. Another 16 percent see their children weekly.*

3. Black dads are the problem. Among men who don't live with their children, black fathers are more likely than white or Hispanic dads to have a daily presence in their kids' lives.

4. Poor people are lazy. In 2004, there was at least one adult with a job in 60 percent of families on food stamps that had both kids and a nondisabled, working-age adult.

5. If you're not officially poor, you're doing okay. The federal poverty line for a family of two parents and two children in 2012 was $23,283. Basic needs cost at least twice that in 615 of America's cities and regions.

6. Go to college, get out of poverty. In 2012, about 1.1 million people who made less than $25,000 a year, worked full time, and were heads of household had a bachelor's degree.**

7. We're winning the war on poverty. The number of households with children living on less than $2 a day per person has grown 160 percent since 1996, to 1.65 million families in 2011.

8. The days of old ladies eating cat food are over. The share of elderly single women living in extreme poverty jumped 31 percent from 2011 to 2012.

9. The homeless are drunk street people. One in 45 kids in the United States experiences homelessness each year. In New York City alone, 22,000 children are homeless.

10. Handouts are bankrupting us. In 2012, total welfare funding was 0.47 percent of the federal budget.

*Source: Analysis by Dr. Laura Tach at Cornell University.

**Source: Census

Day 1

So today we left flying flags where we were camping.  We were there for two weeks but even camping can be expensive.  Her father has not been paying and despite looking at work options before we came down here I have not been able to find work yet.  We are down to $7 so I called the local shelter and they had a spot for us.  Smaller town means less homeless I guess so no waiting list.  I am praying that something breaks so we don't have to be here long.  There are different types of homeless and the emergency shelters usually house the ones that give homeless its bad rap.  I also don't like my daughter being around this element.  Got to do what you got to do I guess.