Submitted by a client of the Community Action Commission of Fayette County
I was homeless and living in my car for the past few years. I would stay with people a few times, maybe a week, every once in awhile. Other than that, I was 100 percent in my car. I was doing whatever I could to make just enough to eat. Every day was survival.
Through the Community Action Commission of Fayette County, I was able to get a housing voucher, a case worker that will come to my apartment and meet with me once a month to set goals, and I also met with a doctor who explained my mental illness to me in a way that I could understand.
I’m not afraid to be on the streets again – my housing voucher pays all of my rent. I also was assisted to get my electric reduced to $10 a month (through the Percentage of Income Payment Plan – PIPP). I got a voucher to transfer the water in my name and the water bill is paid too. Since I don’t have to stress any more about housing, it allows me to focus on my mental illness and keep that under control, and work on the goals my case worker and I have.
If these services weren’t available any more, I would be back on the streets in my car, doing whatever I could to get a few dollars to eat. Without permanent housing I can’t find a job, contol or manage my mental and physcial problems. There’s nothing more terrifying than being homeless. I don’t have any family at all. Everyday on the street is survival of the fittest and sometimes you lose. While on the streets, I’ve been raped, jumped, stolen from, and that’s a small portion of what happens. Without this program, I would have to go back to that, and I don’t know if I have another round in me. If this program ever closed, a lot of people would be back on the streets.
Community Action saved my life, took me off the streets and gave me a reason again. Every single person there, especially my case worker Stacy, were so wonderful and never made me feel like a burden or that I wasn’t important. Through Community Action you really do matter and they all work to help.
To find a Community Action Agency in your area, visit www.oacaa.org.