September 10, 2006

Homelessness: Just One Event Away for Some

For the working poor homelessness is always one event away. Increasing housing costs, an illness or a job loss is all it takes to plummet a family into its grasp. And once there, it is extremely difficult to sustain financial and housing security. It is the plight of one Washington County, Oregon, woman struggling to avoid it the second time.

By Sherry Harbert

Tammie Fields woke up this morning wondering how long she could call the walls around her a home. She worries each day about getting food for her daughter and herself. And she agonizes over being slammed back into homelessness when she has done everything humanly possible to avoid it. But what she dreads more than anything is being separated from her daughter if she loses her home.

Most people don’t have to awake each morning to such dire circumstances. But the numbers are growing for those who do in Washington County. And it is not a drawn out process that allows for intervention and support. For many working poor in Washington County it takes only a single event. For Fields, it was a simple layoff due to slow business.

Working for an Insecure Future

Only last May, Fields was a success story for homelessness. At a “Put a Face on Homelessness” forum, held at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Fields delivered a poignant speech about her first spiral into homelessness, living in a shelter and working her way out to become self-sufficient. But more than any of the physical gains, Fields netted something better—her dignity. She had proved herself and succeeded. A downturn in the economy changed all that. For Fields, the effects were immediate.

“I keep thinking, where can I go?” Fields said. “Who in this state cares enough to help?” Fields is caught between government regulations and economic conditions where little help is offered. Her wages earned as a waitress just kept the family together month to month. For most working poor, there are no personal savings to access in a downtime. Think unemployment is there? Fields would qualify for being laid off for economic reasons by her employer, but that is only one facet of unemployment. What really matters for those seeking unemployment is their work history 15-three months prior to the date of their claim. The State of Oregon bases unemployment compensation on pay history within that timeframe. If an individual did not work within the beginning of that timeframe, as in the case for Fields, there are no unemployment payments. It is stark reminder of how homelessness can haunt individuals long after they reach above it. Fields can eventually qualify for benefits in the next quarter, but that is little consolation when she needs immediate help.

Fields loved her job at the Tanasbourne Roses Restaurant and Bakery. “Roses was great,” said Fields. She said after she was laid off, her ex-boss even brought her food, a bus pass and a reference letter that Fields says makes all the difference in how she’s treated when she applies for work. “They see it as a legitimate reason for looking for work,” said Fields. “I’ve noticed a big difference in how I’m treated at interviews before the letter and after.”

“I hate asking people for help,” said Fields. “But, I’m almost on my knees. I’ve been looking everywhere for a job. Even McDonald’s isn’t hiring.” Fields, who must rely on public transportation, said this is the worst time for restaurant workers. She’s been in the field long enough to know that most restaurants cut back hours after the summer.

With no money coming in, Fields is becoming desperate for food. She said she cannot qualify for food stamps because she made too much money last month as a waitress and must wait three months before she can qualify. Fields has sought out food baskets, but they are only given once a month. And three to four bags of non-perishables help, but do not last long between two people.

Fields said looking for a job in the restaurant industry is at least quick. Most interviews are conducted on a walk-in basis. But interviews mean little if there is no offer attached. “You’ll have a great 20-minute interview and then they’ll say they aren’t hiring,” said Fields. She has even tried all the fast-food restaurants where the hours are not guaranteed. But so far, nothing has emerged.

Fields says it gets more difficult each day. “I look at my daughter to get strength to go on each day,” she said. “I have to go out and act positive. But it’s hard to be positive when you don’t believe in yourself, when inside you’re screaming.”

Poverty Costs the Family

Fields has never had the illusions of a big house, big car or vacations. “I just want a stable home for my daughter,” she said. “That’s my long-term goal.” Fields and her 14-year-old daughter, Rebecca, share a warm and supporting relationship. “We talk to each other about everything,” said Fields. “It’s always been the two of us, so we’ve always been really open.”

Their relationship is so close that a simple message left by Fields with her daughter’s friend was enough to send Rebecca home with worry. Fields said she worked weekdays and did double shifts on the weekends, so her daughter expected her to always be at work. “I just left a message that said I was home,” said Fields. “She came home early. I told her what happened and we cried and cried because we knew what it meant.”

Fields said the excitement her daughter had to begin high school with friends at the same place was wonderful to see at the beginning of summer. But that has changed. “Earlier this summer she was excited. She was thinking about high school dances and the homecoming,” said Fields. “But she doesn’t talk about it anymore and that worries me. When I see her stop talking, I know she has no hope.” Fields is most proud of her daughter. She describes her as warm, respectful and “mature beyond her years.” Even when she missed the bus one day, she cried because she couldn’t go to school. She regularly gets top grades. It is reason enough for a parent to feel proud. Succeeding when homelessness, living in shelters and not knowing what the future holds is even more cause for praise. It both amazes and worries Fields. “She’s been through so much.”

Fields said she was numb upon first hearing about being let go, then she spiraled into a deep depression. It was only seeing her daughter that forced her to get out and look each day. She has done all she can at the State of Oregon Employment Office, even matched her skills with the jobs posted. She worries it may not be in time to save her apartment. “We’ve only been here since April,” said Fields. “It’s not like I’ve been here long enough to form a history.” She fears that when she has no money next month, she’ll have to home. And this time she worries that it will destroy her daughter’s future if they become homeless again.

Fields’ only hope is not what any parent would ever willingly choose. But it may be the only way she can somewhat protect her daughter. “When we were in the shelter, one of her friend’s family said they would take her in,” said Fields. “While it makes me feel good that she would be able to go to school with her friends and be safe, I can’t even wrap my mind around that we’d be separated. But I’ll never put her back in a shelter.”

The Last Place on the List

Though Fields says the Community Action Family Center in Hillsboro was a good place with good people, she entered it last year feeling lost and confused. “You feel worthless—worthless,” said Fields. “I felt like it was the end. We just stayed in our room and cried. We did a lot of crying.” Fields said the only thing that kept her going was her job. “That was the saving grace,” she said. “I saw other families there that didn’t have a job. At least I had one and I could work to save money for an apartment.”

Her experience at the shelter proved better than she initially thought. She too had misgivings and misunderstood what a shelter was and how people ended up in one. The shelter allowed her to work and save money for her apartment. Besides giving families a place to stay and meals, the four Washington County shelters also provide life skills training, financial planning and household donations to help families when they can actually acquire private housing. The Committee on Homelessness asked Fields to speak at the May forum as part of a multi-tiered campaign to raise funds for the county shelters which can only serve one-tenth of the homeless needs in Washington County.

Without the shelter, Fields may not have even had a chance to succeed. The events that led to her entrance into the shelter had been long in coming, leaving her with no other option.

When her father died suddenly in 2002, Fields was devastated. It was even more painful when she heard insinuations at the church he attended that he “must not have lived righteously with the Lord.” The cold comments shocked Fields. It was not what she expected or needed in her time of grief. Those events led her to pack up and move with her daughter to Florida to get as far away as she could. But her time in Florida fared no better. She began a relationship that turned abusive. She feared for herself and daughter. Her mother managed to get enough money for bus fare back to Oregon last year. Back in Oregon, she soon found herself homeless when her mother was evicted last December. Her mother’s social security wouldn’t cover a new apartment for the three, so Fields was faced with looking elsewhere. She found a state program that paid for three days in a motel, but before she could even begin establishing herself, she fell ill with meningitis. On the day she was discharged from the hospital, she and her daughter entered the shelter.

And yet under such debilitating circumstances, Fields had one thing that kept her going—a job.

No Money, No Room

The affording housing crisis is drowned out over the boom in new home construction in Washington County. It hides a growing problem of income disparity in the county. In 2004, Oregon ranked third in the U.S. for the number of renters spending 30 percent or more of their household income on rent and utilities. The figures from the American Community Survey show almost half of all renters pay more than 30 percent. Add that the closing of eight mobile home parks in the last two years in the county, one of the only other affordable housing options, and the future looks bleak. The Oregon Food Bank has been steadily strained in meeting hunger in the state, based primarily on what it says “is the lack of affordable housing.” Oregon has had one of the highest rates of hunger in the U.S.

Fields lives within those crisis conditions, even when she worked. She placed her name on the Housing Authority’s list back in February, and just met with the agency last week to see if she qualifies for help. “It took six months just to get an appointment to see if I qualify!” said Fields.

Beyond the bureaucratic maze Fields must deal with, her growing frustration is with attitude of many people. “Homelessness is not a drug problem, it is not a lazy problem,” said Fields. “It’s all around you. It’s everywhere. It’s everyday people who want to work.”

Fields says she feels like she has a disease that is contagious by the reactions from many people. “I just want people to take their head out of the sand and notice,” she said. “This is a real problem. People tell me there are all kinds of jobs. But I’m 36 and I even applied at McDonald’s.”

© 2006, Foreign Interest

For more information:

Community Action of Washington County: www.caowash.org

Community Housing Fund: www.thecommunityhousingfund.org

Washington County Department of Housing Services: www.co.washington.or.us/deptmts/hse_serv/contact.htm

State of Oregon Employment Department: www.employment.oregon.gov

Contact author: sharbert@foreigninterest.com