House of Cards

Homelessness Finds Them

Why do people become homeless? That seems to be the question being asked not only nationally, but just as importantly, locally. The answers are as diverse as the people who find themselves faced with this issue. Let’s look at Tiffany and Thomas, a married couple, living with their two-year-old daughter in an apartment here in Wooster. Tiffany was working second shift with a local manufacturer, and Thomas was taking care of their daughter and working with a counselor at OneEighty. 

While the apartment they were living in wasn’t in perfect physical condition, 7 a.m. renovation work crews made it difficult for the family to navigate their lives. Their attempt to negotiate a later start time with work crews angered the landlord who promptly issued them an eviction notice.

“The early morning intrusions were impacting my family’s health and well-being,” Thomas said. “Instead, even though we tried to work through proper legal channels with putting the rent in escrow while we negotiated with the landlord, we were evicted anyway. We found ourselves staying with friends at first. Then we went from sleeping in our car to getting hotel rooms when we could afford it.”

Eviction Starts The Collapse

Try as they did, having an eviction on their record presented a roadblock to new landlords. The couple was forced to put all their possessions into storage. But the greatest tragedy occurred when their child was removed from their custody and put into foster care until they could secure housing.

“I have been working with OneEighty for years,” Thomas said. I knew how compassionate the people here were, and I realized I was getting nowhere in resolving our housing issue on my own,” he said. “The counselor I work with encouraged me to reach out to OneEighty’s housing program and find the help we needed to get our life and our family back on track.”

Help Can Be Found

OneEighty’s Housing and Homelessness Program has been helping individuals and families find and achieve stabilized permanent housing for years. Available only to Wayne County residents, this program serves  people who meet the following criteria:

1. Homelessness, as defined by living in a shelter or in a place not designated for human habitation
2. Fleeing domestic violence
3. Experiencing housing instability due to an inability to pay rent

Turing The Tide

“Christina, OneEighty’s Director of Housing and Support, helped us identify potential places and really advocated for us with the landlords,” Thomas said. We would follow up with her suggestions but were still hitting roadblocks. One day when we came in, she told us she had good news. One of the properties OneEighty worked with the City of Wooster on had become available. This 4 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom could be ours the following week. OneEighty would pay the security deposit, and we would be responsible for the rent and utilities going forward.”

Community Partnerships Make This House Possible

The Buckeye Street House is a property owned by the City of Wooster and sub-leased and managed by OneEighty, Inc. Available to qualified clients, staff in OneEighty’s Housing Department provide supportive services designed to provide individuals with the opportunity to develop skills for self-sufficiency and housing stabilization.

Making The Move

The Buckeye Street house became available to them mid-February.

“It’s important to me that Christina is recognized for her leadership in the housing program. She absolutely went above and beyond her duties when it came to us,” Tiffany said.

Completing The Circle

“We get to meet with our daughter every Friday,” Tiffany said. “She gets excited and yells out ‘Mommy-Daddy’ immediately. The foster home she is in has taken really good care of her, but we are most anxious to reunify our family.”

As Thomas proudly shares a photo of his blue-eyed, blond-haired, two-year-old princess, both parents realize their home will bring them more than a roof over their head.

“The people at OneEighty are willing to do more than any other place we have worked with,” Thomas said. “People need to understand that having someone advocate on your behalf gave us reason to keep trying and to not give up. The people we worked with gave us reason to hope that something good would happen. Moving into our own home is the first step. Bringing our child back home is the ultimate goal.”