Where to live? Every family should be able to have safe and affordable housing, and occasionally folks go through difficult times that makes that challenging. You might qualify for Section 8. There are 2 forms of section 8 you can access. The first is a section 8 portability voucher, which allows a family to use their voucher in any apartment within the rental guidelines that a landlord agrees to, while paying 30% of their income as rent. If you are a single person (elderly or disabled) and you make less then 25k a year you qualify. A family of 4 making less then 35k a year qualifies just by being within the income limits, you do not have to be elderly or disabled in this circumstance. You get this by applying at your local housing authority. These certificates are hard to come by and the lists are usually closed. Call your local housing authority to find out more about this.
The other kind of section 8 is the property based subsidy. It also alows you to pay 30% of your income towards rent. This subsidy is based on occupancy of a specific apartment, such as the case with public housing. You also see this subsidy applied at transitional residential programs for families such as The McCauley Residence (207) 773-5289 , MAPS Shelter Services (which includes private apartments) 772-3678 and YAI's Young Parent Program. You can find a listing of property management agencies in Maine that offer these subsidies here: http://www.mainehousing.org/DATASubsidizedHousingListing.aspx
click on the county you want. If your child is young and you are working towards a degree and plan on staying put through kindergarden, don't forget to consider the school district. You can find similair listings for other states by doing a HUD search.
Another option if you happen to be a student, which Skimmy herself used, was family housing on campus. We lived in Portland Hall, which if you live in Portland you are probably aware is no longer an option. I do not know the status of family housing available to USM or any other colleges, but I encourage you to call your school's student life office and inquire about the possability of living on campus with your child. If they do not currently offer this option, ask them if it's something that could be considered. Portland Hall had set aside 4 or 5 family housing suites when a young woman by the name of Amy called and stated "look, I don't care if you put us in a closet, I just want housing for me and my daughter." (She later noted in the mama 'zine Hipmama that it was significantly larger then her apartment in New York City had been). In our case we had a 1 bedroom housing suite on campus which was paid for on my student loans, grants and scholarships along with my tuition...just like any other college student. I was charged for a person and a 1/2 per semester, which was fair and broke down to about the fair market rate of a 1 bedroom in the area. This included all utilities, basic cable, and local phone services. We had a bedroom which functioned as nursery, a living room where I slept on the futon, a rather large bathroom and a rather small kitchen. It was more then sufficient. & for some reason it had a ton of closets and odd little compartments everywhere. See that picture? That was our first living space, a fmaily housing suite in Portland Hall. After 1 year they generously transferred us to a bigger, airier suite.
That's what I have off the top of my head. I may come back later and add comments an more info. Feel free to chime with any helpful and supportive info others might benefit from.
Questions? Ask Away. Skim Milf Mama is wordy and loves to talk.
The other kind of section 8 is the property based subsidy. It also alows you to pay 30% of your income towards rent. This subsidy is based on occupancy of a specific apartment, such as the case with public housing. You also see this subsidy applied at transitional residential programs for families such as The McCauley Residence (207) 773-5289 , MAPS Shelter Services (which includes private apartments) 772-3678 and YAI's Young Parent Program. You can find a listing of property management agencies in Maine that offer these subsidies here: http://www.mainehousing.org/DATASubsidizedHousingListing.aspx
click on the county you want. If your child is young and you are working towards a degree and plan on staying put through kindergarden, don't forget to consider the school district. You can find similair listings for other states by doing a HUD search.
Another option if you happen to be a student, which Skimmy herself used, was family housing on campus. We lived in Portland Hall, which if you live in Portland you are probably aware is no longer an option. I do not know the status of family housing available to USM or any other colleges, but I encourage you to call your school's student life office and inquire about the possability of living on campus with your child. If they do not currently offer this option, ask them if it's something that could be considered. Portland Hall had set aside 4 or 5 family housing suites when a young woman by the name of Amy called and stated "look, I don't care if you put us in a closet, I just want housing for me and my daughter." (She later noted in the mama 'zine Hipmama that it was significantly larger then her apartment in New York City had been). In our case we had a 1 bedroom housing suite on campus which was paid for on my student loans, grants and scholarships along with my tuition...just like any other college student. I was charged for a person and a 1/2 per semester, which was fair and broke down to about the fair market rate of a 1 bedroom in the area. This included all utilities, basic cable, and local phone services. We had a bedroom which functioned as nursery, a living room where I slept on the futon, a rather large bathroom and a rather small kitchen. It was more then sufficient. & for some reason it had a ton of closets and odd little compartments everywhere. See that picture? That was our first living space, a fmaily housing suite in Portland Hall. After 1 year they generously transferred us to a bigger, airier suite.
That's what I have off the top of my head. I may come back later and add comments an more info. Feel free to chime with any helpful and supportive info others might benefit from.
Questions? Ask Away. Skim Milf Mama is wordy and loves to talk.
Please note that these are not emergency resources. if you are homeless with children, please go to the City of Portland (General Assistance) on Lancaster St. You will most likely be reffered to a family shelter, where they will also work with you on housing resources.
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