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In the Words of a Participant
It was the beginning of the New Year when my former husband lost his battle with mental illness. He wandered off and out of my life, leaving me with the realization that I was now the sole provider for my two children and myself.
The first thing I did that morning, after picking my heart up off the floor, was call a friend who just happened to be the counselor at my children’s school and ask her what to do Within twenty minutes I was in her car on my way to Santa Barbara City Housing Authority.
In Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice, the character Shylock says it best at the conclusion of the play. When everyone is trying to take everything from him, he says “When you take the prop that doth sustain my house, you take the means whereby I live.”
For the following four years, my children and I struggled struggled. We borrowed money from just about everyone, and relied on the support of friends and family for many of the necessities that we had always taken for granted: food, clothing, a trip out to the movies, or just to the local Taqueria. My children knew why our lifestyle had changed, and I was blessed to have them remain understanding and patient as I searched for better paying jobs, and waited for the letter telling me that I had been approved for the Section 8 program.
My landlords encouraged me to continue calling the Housing Authority to keep checking on the status of my application. They are very successful property owners in the Carpinteria area and believe strongly in renting to people who have Section 8 vouchers. They believed that once I received Section 8 assistance, I would be able to breathe again. My landlords became the “prop that sustained my house.” With their acceptance of my Section 8 voucher that I just received, they are thrilled because now I have a “means whereby we can live”.
The letter from the Housing Authority came. I sat down in my kitchen, the very same kitchen where four years earlier I watched my husband vanish, and I knew that I had just been handed my future back to me. My children watched as I opened the letter and I could see in their eyes that they also knew that their lives were going to change as well. We had talked about, dreamed about this day for four long years, and now it was only months away. My landlords did everything possible to speed up the inspection/lease signing process, and my rent, which had been $1350.00 per month, was reduced to $718.00. It was a joyful day when I handed them my first check.
Those of you reading this letter are the property owners and landlords of our community. You may not know how it feels to have to borrow money from friends to be able to buy groceries, or gas for your car. But what you do have is the unique opportunity to change people’s lives in a most profound way.
By accepting Section 8 tenants, you are not only helping the adults who plan for the future. We are able to make plans for the future.
It is because of the Section 8 program and the landlords who participate in it, that our family has a new outlook on life, and we thank you all for that.
With much gratitude,
Brenda & Family
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