*** An update on our situation ***
As of today, Kody, my puppies and I are still without a permanent place to live….and it’s getting to be alarming; we’re almost completely broke (not including Kody’s income).
First, we’d like to thank everyone in the community from the bottom of our hearts for their supportive words and any donations given. It’s greatly appreciated. 🙏🏼❤️🔥But let me shine some light on our predicament for you:
After our house burned to the ground on March 20th, we thought finding a place would have been a LOT easier than it’s proved to be. Our house was owned by my estranged husband, and he did not have home insurance, and that put us at a very unfortunate disadvantage. He and I have been separated for over three years, and in that time I’ve really struggled…I was not prepared to take over a household’s finances when he relocated out of state…so it was incredibly daunting already.
But in truth, there really are not many resources to assist people in situations like ours. After the fire, The Red Cross only provides a one-time donation for immediate needs after a crisis….and we were able to temporarily stay at a friend’s apartment. But that option fell through - having my dogs longer than a couple of days at that apartment was a lease violation. After that, our options have remained very limited. Most people who donated gave us essentials, canned/dry goods and clothes….all of which have been GREATLY appreciated, you have no idea. 🙏🏼❤️🔥✨ But securing housing has remained elusive. With rent prices spiking nationally, we were not better off seeking an apartment over a house. Having two smaller, indoor dogs keeps us needing a place with a yard, and signing any lease agreement is a major commitment.
We could not stay at the Salvation Army because of the dogs. The men’s dorms are open bunks and do not allow pets, and curfew is a closed door policy from like 8:30pm til dawn….and because Kody travels out of town almost every day for work, at all hours of the night, it wasn’t a viable option. A couple of other places we called simply don’t allow pets, or have beds available for long term stays. We don’t know who else we can contact….the standard response tells us to call 2-1-1, and then we’re given the same list of places we’ve already contacted, who aren’t able to help us. It’s incredibly frustrating.
We began having use money donated to go from hotel to hotel….which is INCREDIBLY expensive. It’s EASILY over $150/per night for two adults no matter where you stay (and rates increase dramatically on weekends), and that’s BEFORE factoring in pet deposits and daily fees per pet. If there’s a $50 deposit and $25 fee per pet, per night and we decide to stay a couple of extra nights, we have to pay all of the pet fees all over again. It’s an absolute racket, but we have to pay it.
Neither Kody’s or my parents’ homes were feasible beyond a night or two….due to a lack of space for two adults and two inside dogs, and Kody’s family lives an hour away from Abilene, too far to be convenient. Both sets of parents have limited incomes and serious medical issues that prevent them from being able to support us. We don’t qualify for FEMA assistance, as our fire wasn’t part of a presidentially sanctioned disaster, nor do we qualify with the majority of charities in the area as we aren’t battered women with children, students, permanently disabled, elderly, teenagers with eating disorders, active military, military veterans, in recovery, or medical patients. And most organizations and churches only offer a ONE TIME rent/bill payment, paid directly to a landlord or utility provider….which doesn’t help us, because we haven’t secured those things yet.
But staying in hotels has been tricky as well. Kody has been working up to 19 HOUR DAYS to be able to make enough to keep us housed. His job doing freelance IT work makes him have to drive all over West Texas, to multiple cities per day, as far North as Vernon and as far South as Llano, sometimes multiple times a day and gas prices are astronomical. That leaves me somewhat limited in my ability to go places, as I can’t leave the dogs unattended, and it’s just way too hot to leave them in a vehicle. We’ve almost been kicked out of a couple of hotels on the nights we both had to work for our wedding business. If I leave, the dogs are COMPLETELY inconsolable and bark and whine so loudly, non-stop and so incessantly managers have given us serious warnings and threats to vacate us from the premises. My poor babies are incredibly stressed and nervous from the displacement and Victra is almost paralyzed with anxiety almost all the time without me or Kody.
As far as securing permanent housing, we thought this would be a LOT easier than it’s proved to be…but the world doesn’t stop turning just because your house burns down. We were still responsible for finishing paying monthly bills that were due at that address. I had to wait almost two weeks to get my identification replaced and sent to me so we weren’t able to apply for houses, and it took almost as long for us to even find a church that offered to help us get into a place. However, they haven’t let us how how much they would help us with or for how long…and it’s been really frustrating because without that information, realtors really aren’t inclined to see us as desirable renters. We’ve missed a few opportunities because they went to other leasing candidates, or because the move-in date was too far ahead to be practical…..and the money we’d be using as deposits would need to go to housing us until the house was ready, a very unpleasant catch-22.
Four different houses we were interested in fell through and went to other people, because if we want to get into a place immediately, that requires we have around at least $3500 in hand for a security deposit and first month’s rent…and that’s not including application fees, security deposits to start up utilities, pet deposits, etc…..on top of still needing ABSOLUTELY everything people need to live life. We just don’t have that on hand - everything we have has gone to daily survival, and with Kody traveling every single day, it’s been almost impossible to schedule meetings with realtors….and he has to be there as the primary signatory and breadwinner. And of course getting a loan isn’t an option, as we have nothing to use as collateral.
We are reaching a point of real desperation, and we are needing a higher level of assistance that doesn’t seem to be out there. Statistically speaking, what’s happened to us doesn’t happen to ANYONE in an average lifespan, across any universal demographic. This isn’t a simple question of economic insufficiency….we simply CANNOT surmount this on our own, and while we are still VERY grateful for temporary offers of a couple of nights on friend’s couches…..we’re getting desperate in locating assistance to help us with finding permanent solutions. If you know of any means that could assist, PLEASE get in touch with either Kody or me as soon as possible.
