Told by Community Vision’s Housing Access Coordinator, Tova Hershman
Nicolas Smith enrolled in Community Vision’s Housing Access Program in September 2021. At the time, he and his three young children had recently moved into an apartment with a roommate. Unexpectedly, the roommate moved out. Nicolas was left paying all of the rent on his own. His income sources were Social Security, disability benefits, and TANF food stamps. The rent was too expensive for him on his own, and he wasn’t able to cover all of his family’s expenses.
As a first step, Community Vision’s staff helped Nicolas sign up for 15 affordable housing waitlists. Next, we applied to the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP). We hoped this would help cover the cost of Nicolas’s rent for a few months while he was waiting for an affordable apartment to become available. Unfortunately, OERAP relief wasn’t likely to arrive in time. The program was thousands of applications behind, and many Oregonians were being evicted before receiving financial assistance from the program.
In the meantime, we worked with Nicolas to try to receive rental and utility assistance from the county and other nonprofits. He did not qualify for county assistance. And because it was the end of the year, the organizations that help with utility assistance had used up their funds for the year. The situation felt hopeless. Nicolas and his children were at risk of becoming homeless. We were very concerned.
Luckily, in December, Nicolas’s name came up on a waitlist for a three-bedroom apartment for $1,250 per month. To rent it, Nicolas needed to pay the deposit, which was one month’s rent. In addition he would need to cover the cost of the application fees, a moving truck, and some second-hand furniture. All this far exceeded what Nicolas could pay.
Community Vision typically is able to help with moving expenses up to $500 per household. In this case, because we had tried many other avenues and Nicolas was unable to receive deposit assistance from family members, the county, or the state, we made an exception and covered the cost of his deposit. Without this assistance, Nicolas and his family would not have been able to move into their new home and would be stuck in an apartment he could not afford.
The day before Nicolas moved into his new home, we learned that his OERAP application had been approved. Those funds would go to his previous landlord. Therefore Nicolas was able to move into his new apartment without being in debt for rent on his old apartment.
Nicolas moved into his new apartment on January 10, 2022. Sine then he has texted and called multiple times, sharing how much he and his family love their new home. Because of its affordability, he feels much more financially secure and happy.
Learn more about Community Vision’s Housing Access Program.
