by Mary E. Ulrich | Aug 3, 2011
photo credit: bixentro
Part 5 | When did Aaron become a Cash Cow?
Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.
In the last four posts, I’ve been documenting our journey toward moving Aaron, our son with the label of autism and developmental disabilities, to a new county with his HUD “housing choice voucher program” and Medicaid Waiver:
HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1.
HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 2
HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 3
Part 4| HUD Tips for Parents of People with Disabilities
“Back on the Ferris Wheel” Analogy…
In Part 4, Aaron and I were stuck on top of the ferris wheel, rocking back and forth as a lightening storm is approaching—tired, scared and trying to keep from hurling our lunches–while far below, the “professional” ride engineer fumbles with buttons, trying to remember if he was supposed to push the forward or backward button….
OR
Ahem. I wish this were fiction, no one will believe the truth and ensuing drama.
When we left off, Aaron and I were waiting for an appointment with the HUD officer in the “receiving county” to accept/deny our “30 Day Notice of Port”:
1. I don’t know these people. And, I really am trying to follow the rules.
2. The 30 days deadline is approaching quickly.
3. The officer from the “receiving county” doesn’t make appointments over the phone. Their policy is to send an official letter with a date and time–and you need to be there. (This is one of the shocks when you aren’t considered to be middle class any more.)
4. By Day 10 of not hearing from them, I am getting nervous the 30 days will run out before we even get an appointment. Everyone seems to be taking vacation time, and then there is the carpet….
5. No one is returning my phone calls. Again, I’m thinking it is vacation and the damn carpet….
Evil Carnival Clowns
A supervisor for the Residential Company we are leaving keeps harassing me that we are not including him in our meetings. “What meetings?” I keep asking him.
Here is where it gets interesting:
Remember back to Thanksgiving Weekend, when the mailman declared Aaron’s house as “vacant” and refused to deliver the mail. See post: Caregivers| This isn’t my job
All mail is sent to main office
Well, since there was a systemic problem with staff not picking up the mail and forwarding bills…the administration of the residential company made a policy to have all mail sent to their main office.
So, the bills do get paid with this new policy.
But all other mail may, or may not, get back to the house ie. Aaron’s birthday card from his grandmother came to the house 2 weeks late.
So, the same residential staff, who couldn’t bother to reach 6 inches outside the door and open the mailbox, is supposed to drive to the main office (10 miles each way—non reimbursed) and pick up the mail.
So the letter from HUD sat in the main office for two weeks. (Voila—date, time, 30 days timeline….)
And, since the mail is going to the main office, any letter which looks important is then screened by the administration. (VOILA—oh my, they are having a meeting and we aren’t invited. Oh my, it looks like we are going to lose Aaron’s waiver money, and maybe he will take the whole house to another company….
Oh my, we will lose the cash cow….
So, the 30 day deadline is ticking away. I am calling the HUD office hysterical I can’t even get an appointment, and the letter with the date and time is sitting in a mailbox in the main office of the residential company I think is totally incompetent and the reason we are leaving the county to begin with.
Plus, since the residential company is trying to sabotage this because they are losing Aaron’s cash cow, they certainly don’t care if the parents miss the deadline, because as all service providers know, “parents are irresponsible.”
So, by the time I get the letter, the appointment is the next day, the same day as the speech evaluation we have waited for, for six months.
Actual Visit with HUD representative
Good news
Once I actually talked to the “receiving county” representative, she was wonderful and we became human beings again.
We scheduled the appointment for the following day. I was on time, she was on time and for the next 2 hours, she reviewed all the forms, policies, restrictions against parents owning the HUD property, and I walked out of her office with Aaron’s packet of forms to be presented to the landlord. She even gave us a list of potential landlords.
We left the meeting with a hug and best wishes. I felt this was a woman I could work with and was excited that we had jumped through this hoop successfully.
Back to Disability World
Now, if Aaron was just poor and had his Section 8 rent voucher for our new county, we would just go shopping for the best apartment/house that would accept the voucher. Because of the low rent, it would be difficult, but doable.
But Aaron isn’t just poor. He also has a severe disability. So, now we begin the journey of looking for not only a landlord (not parents) who will accept the Section 8 voucher, now we must find a roommate who also is looking for a place to live and who has a Medicaid Waiver to compliment Aaron’s waiver.
Medicaid Waiver
I cannot emphasize enough how lucky we are to have the HUD portable voucher. I also have to shout to the heavens a huge thank you that we have a Medicaid Waiver voucher. Without either one of these programs, we would not even have a chance of having a life for Aaron–or traveling this journey toward Aaron living close to us, with a good roommate and the 24/7 care he needs.
From: Mary E. Ulrich [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2011 8:39 PM
To: Administrator of New County
Subject: Aaron Ulrich
Dear Mr. ____,
HUD
Today I asked for the 30 day extension on the HUD rent subsidy, so we have until August 31.
I met with HUD staff in both W and B County.
Our 2 hour meeting in W County involved filling out all the paperwork, and we are now ready to go in W County.
I learned that if Aaron uses the rent subsidy he must stay in that place for a year before he can move. If Aaron is not placed by 120 days he will lose the voucher completely and go back to the bottom of the 3-5 year waiting list.
If I understood it correctly, Aaron could move into our home during the 120 day period. He would not be using his HUD voucher during this time; W County HUD would be holding it for him. We could use this time to establish his W county residence so we could get a support coordinator, etc. I’m not sure how this would affect his Medicaid waiver, but at least he would be out of the clutches of the current residential company and we could get a support coordinator.
According to HUD, In-home support staff can be family members, or not. They would get an extra bedroom in the home if they live there full time. (Not shift workers).
We were given a list of apartments and rental homes in W County that take Section 8 clients. Another housing option is just to check out houses for rent and then ask the landlord to take section 8.
There is an exemption for parents to own the house, but in the 13 years Wendy (the HUD representative) has worked in W County only one was ever approved. So it is a hard sell. (But we could try if we need to.) That person was deaf and blind and the argument was that it would be too hard for him to learn the physical layout of any house other than the one he had grown up in.
Other CompaniesTransportation Money
Aaron is over his transportation budget to go from his current home in to Goodwill/Easter Seals Day Program. At his current rate, he will be out of transportation money by Sept.
The long bus ride (around 90 minutes each way) is still causing him to have increased behaviors (chewing his shirts, biting hands, toileting accident…)
Residential Company
Aaron’s current company is very difficult to work with and putting pressure on us. The supervisor said to move the Medicaid Waiver Support services from one county to the next is also a complex process. (And I’m not sure how cooperative they will be, so we might need extra time.)
Roommates
We would appreciate any phone numbers of potential roommates as soon as possible.
Thanks for all your help. I’m sure there is another person looking for someone like Aaron.
Mary
I am posting the administrator’s response. I like this person. I think he is competent, showed a lot of empathy and truly wants to help. I just want others to see what the process looks like from a parent’s point of view. I also think the 120 day maximum extension period should have some flexibility for special situations.
From: _____________name of administrator
To: Mary E. Ulrich
Sent: Wed, Jul 27, 2011 9:07 pm (notice the poor guy wrote this at night after office hours, before he left for vacation—that gives him bonus points IMHO).
Subject: RE: Aaron Ulrich
Mary,
I am still actively seeking possible housemates that may be a good fit for Aaron. I have requested ___(service coordinator) assist with connecting Aaron and a gentleman living in (county seat). She will be speaking with this person’s SSA to determine if he believes they may be a good match. I am hesitant to involve the other family at this time unless the match may work. I am hopeful it will and then we will assist with connecting you and his mother.
Unfortunately, I am not able to approve Aaron living alone in his own home with 24/7 staffing. The quickest option for Aaron moving to W County is to reside with you. He can receive homemaker/personal care services in your home with a provider of your choosing. If you choose to move Aaron into your home, I will continue my efforts in finding a suitable residential home for Aaron.
I must add that I cannot guarantee a suitable home will be available for Aaron within 120 days of moving.
I understand that this matter is very frustrating to Tom and yourself but I believe finding a good housemate for Aaron is the first priority. While the HUD matter is a concern, I may not be able to solve this dilemma within HUD timelines.
To complicate matters more, I will be on vacation beginning 7/28 and will return 8/8. I have requested ___(a service coordinator) give you a call once she communicates with the potential housemate’s SSA. I am still hoping we can resolve this quickly. Thanks.
__________ name
Service and Support Administration Director
W County
O:
F:
Emergency #: 1-800-
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
COMMENTS
WILL THE FERRIS WHEEL LAND SAFELY?
WILL MARY AND AARON SMOOTHLY MOVE ON TO THE NEXT RIDE?
WILL ANOTHER FAMILY TAKE THEIR SEATS ON THE FERRIS WHEEL?
WILL THE “RIDE ENGINEER” LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FORWARD AND BACKWARD BUTTONS?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward.
All my best,
Mary
OTHER RELATED POSTS:
Signing Your Life Away (Literally)
Dream Plan for Aaron (Part 4)
Please recommend ClimbingEveryMountain.com to any other family or professional caregivers. It’s a great way to show how much you care.
If you are receiving this issue of climbingeverymountain.com as a forward, and would like to get your own subscription, sign up for “notice of new posts” on the home page (top left).
by Mary E. Ulrich | Jul 27, 2011
photo credit: kevindooley
HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 4: Are we having fun yet?
Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.
In the last three posts, I’ve been documenting our journey toward moving Aaron, our son with the label of autism and developmental disabilities, to a new county with his HUD “housing choice voucher program” and Medicaid Waiver.
HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1.
HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 2
HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 3
Disability Ferris Wheel
Round and Round and Round we go. Where we’ll stop nobody knows….
WHY AM I SHARING THIS?
Social Workers and other professional solve problems all the time.
BUT PARENTS DO TOO!
We just don’t have the experience, contacts, resources and the emotional distance. So, even if we do have the intelligence and problem solving skills, it takes us longer to figure out the system and put it all together. If we are really considered part of the “team” our communication, resourcefulness and advice/concerns are respected and valued.
Our child’s need is often the first time we are trying to solve this particular issue. I often tell professionals, I had to become and expert on early childhood when my son was a baby and young child. Then there was school-age, and now that we are in the world of adults, I need to become an expert on all the adult life spaces where Aaron lives, works, recreates, and interacts. And this is why I’m learning about HUD, residential agencies, non-profit housing boards, county boards, Medicaid, Medicare funding for communication devices, apps on IPADS…. the list is endless.
I hope that makes sense, because the letter (below) shows some of the frustration, some of the complexity, and some of the layers of needs for just our one son. And, all of this happened in just one week.
And since our lives–and our child’s life–hangs in the balance, we don’t have months to resolve the issues.
They always say the best way to teach or to write is to “show, don’t tell.”
I want to “show” what a parent’s life might look like.
A social worker might be taking care of just the residential piece of a person’s life. A teacher, just the school piece. Those are complex, I’m not knocking their jobs.
A nurse or doctor works on the medical piece. A communication or speech therapist, or a dentist, or a transportation person, or even a residential staff or supervisor only handles one tiny piece of the daily life puzzle.
BUT PARENTS OR SELF-ADVOCATES HAVE TO DO IT ALL.
Often, I feel like we are all on a giant ferris wheel hoping to someday get off. But the wheel just keeps on turning…and all of our life is going past in a blur of meetings and appointments and we are getting nowhere. What do you think? Do you feel like you are stuck in the little car on the top of the ferris wheel and the guy below is purposely letting you swing back and forth with your legs dangling in the air. (Ugh, feeling the queezy feeling.)
Here’s my letter, from last week, to our day care staff person and our social worker. Note: I love these two people, so they are worth communicating with.
Letter to Aaron’s Adult Day Program Coordinator and his Support Coordinator.
Hi P___ and L___,
Tom (Aaron’s dad) spoke to the direct care staff person last night:
1. She hadn’t bothered to open Aaron’s backpack or daily communication notebook from the day program.
2. Tom told her to find the electric razor in the bag and see if she could figure out how to use it. Last week, Aaron had cuts on his face from the straight razor, so at the “meeting” everyone decided Aaron was to use an electric razor. (This is the same woman who used shaving cream and ruined the last electric razor, so we wanted to be specific.)
3. He also told her Aaron hadn’t had a BM since 1pm on Sat. (that’s over 55 hours) and asked her to consult the toileting chart in the communication notebook.
4. He told her to give him yogurt, some of the fiber stool softener, and try to put him on the toilet.
5. The direct care staff person listened, but we have no faith she will do anything.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
RAZOR
We traded electric razors when we picked him up this weekend to see why the staff was having such a hard time using it. When Tom checked the electric razor he found out no one had emptied the hair inside the razor in ages and it was full, full, full. Apparently, these were women and they didn’t use razors, so didn’t know they had to be cleaned. Who knows how long … gross, gross…we won’t go there.
Once Tom cleaned it out, the razor worked great. Previously, Tom has showed staff how to clean it out, but apparently they were too lazy, didn’t care, forgot, or were incompetent.
Residential Agency
Because of our continued frustration with the direct care staff, and other agency changes (like they went bankrupt) We hope to get Aaron out of his current agency’s care ASAP. I’m still aggravated his residential supervisor insisted on that meeting last week, and lied about Aaron losing his Medicaid Waiver, because he knew that would motivate us to come. But, basically he wasted our time and was on a power trip to show parents their place….
HUD
I found out each county has different timelines, paperwork and rules. I met with the “receiving county” counselor from HUD and she was wonderful. The meeting took about 2 hours, and I’ll talk about that in another post.
I dropped off Aaron’s current “nondriver” state ID at the HUD Warren Co. office. I also met with the Butler Co. HUD person and signed her paperwork for the extension. (probably drove close to 60 miles). Called current landlord and she FAXed the extension letter.
To: Sending County HUD and Receiving County HUD
Re: Aaron Ulrich, HUD extension
From: (guardian)
July 17, 2011
On behalf of my son, address, we are still in the process of moving to ___ county. We are requesting a 30 day notice to continue at current address in current county.
Thank you.
Mary E. Ulrich (guardian)
Apparently, we will need to repeat this process again next month, if things still aren’t completely in order.
HOUSE in Receiving County
Potential Good News:
The landlord (non-profit company we have had for over 13 years) is going to get back to me next week (person on vacation, of course) about buying a house in our new County.
We think they do a good job.
Aaron could use his HUD voucher and rent from them.
If they buy a house, Aaron would have to start paying rent by his 120 day limit or lose his voucher.
So (vacations or not, new babies, new staff, new carpet or appointments not withstanding) Aaron has to be in his new County by the 120 day limit.
I called and left a message with the director of the new county.
This would solve the problem of “parents owning the house.” You know those evil parents who always try to take advantage of their children:)
IF IF IF this works, we would then have to begin the process of moving Aaron’s Medicaid Waiver to a new company, and
Then we would need to get a roommate, and make sure, not only are the two guys compatible, but also their funding is compatible.
This is a positive bit of news. YEA, *crossing fingers*
DOCTOR APPT
Aaron’s Medical Doctor said to continue the same meds for another month. He said it didn’t look like the Zoloft was helping much, but it was such a small dose he thought we would just see how he did. Aaron was as calm as ever in the Dr’s office. It’s amazing, we try to explain his anxiety attacks and he’s sitting there with his leg crossed, playing with his baseball cards happy as can be. Aaron’s blood pressure was better than anyone’s in the room. Next appt. August 29. Aaron really likes the Doctor.
Communication: S/LP
The speech therapist from last week’s appt. said she wasn’t going to recommend Aaron get an IPAD because she knew his medical card would not pay for it. She would, however, recommend the PECs program. My friend, Patty from the Arc gave me a copy of formal regulations which said Medicaid might pay for the device after Medicare turned it down.
After I passed on that information, a couple emails and calls, we told her we would buy the IPAD device, but we needed a speech therapist to tell us what apps… worked with Aaron.
She recommended a therapist who worked with adults. (Ironic that this is the same place Aaron went for speech therapy for over 15 years.)
I told her Easter Seals also had an IT guy who might be able to recommend some tech applications.
I’m thinking we’ll buy the device, and then if Aaron lives close to us, we can figure out how to get him to therapy (it will be a reasonable distance.) Aaron’s Doctor gave us a prescription for the speech therapy.
Thanks for all your help. Can’t wait to see what this week brings.
Ps. Penny, Would you send me a note to let me know if Aaron had a BM? I forgot to give you Aaron’s yogurt for the week, will you be shopping and able to pick some up? I think you have plenty of raisons and other fiber snacks.
Maybe we should start doing midnight dances or sacrifices to Mother Nature.
Comments
Please share your thoughts. Do you have any tips for housing for people with disabilities? Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all. (Helen Keller) Is it possible to look at this HUD journey, as a trip on the ferris wheel? The highs and lows are just part of the adventure? Have you ever felt stuck at the top?
Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,
All my best,
Mary
Related Post:
The Right to Communicate and What Parents are Communicating: We are the experts.
Please recommend ClimbingEveryMountain.com to any other family or professional caregivers. It’s a great way to show how much you care.
If you are receiving this issue of climbingeverymountain.com as a forward, and would like to get your own subscription, sign up for “notice of new posts” on the home page (top left).
by Mary E. Ulrich | Jul 23, 2011
photo credit: smcgee
Happy First Birthday| Blog for Parents and Caregivers of People with Disabilities
Can you believe it? On July 21, 2011 ClimbingEveryMountain.Com celebrated its first birthday.
Fellow Climbers
Parents, Caregivers, Advocates, Friends
Parents, Caregivers, Friends and Advocates of people with disabilities need each other. Our journey up the mountain is exhausting and treacherous.
We climb, not because we want to, not because we think it is a fun challenge, not because “it is there”—we climb our mountains out of need—OUR CHILD’S NEED, OUR NEED.
For the past year, this blog has been a basecamp where interesting people from around the world add their ideas, personal stories, ups and downs, advice and expertise. To everyone in our Climbing Every Mountain Community, your love and friendship means so much.
There have been 120 blog posts of original content and 1,261 comments. Here are the first posts which explain what this blog is all about. I’ve updated a couple things, but the mission holds true. I hope you agree.
Shouting my Commitment | Is anybody there?
Climbing Every Mountain is a Team Effort| What this blog is about
I am thankful for each of your comments, emails, phone calls and the many other ways you have reached out to our team. Together we are better. Together, we can each work for inclusion in our own way, and the ripple effect will be that our individual efforts will change the world, not only for people with disabilities, but for all of us.
Google Analytic Statistics for July 21, 2010 to July 21, 2011:
There have been 12,184 visits to https://climbingeverymountain.com from 114 countries/territories. The top ten include: US, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Philippines, India, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand….
3,664 returning visitors. 19,216 Page Views. 1.58 pages a visit.
I’m sure some of these visitors were looking for The Sound of Music or some mountain peak vacation adventure, but I know many were looking for our basecamp for parents, caregivers and advocates. I know Google expects visitors to spend more time on the site and look at several articles each visit, but thank you for a terrific start.
photo credit: hfb
Tech Support
Climbing Every Mountain has a terrific group of people who help with the tech support. I’m a novice blogger and they have held my hand and guided me up the social media mountain. Real mountain climbers need good equipment and guides, thanks for giving me a safety net and strong lifeline:
Tim Gary
Mindcue: Brilliant Ideas Deserve Brilliant Websites (security, tech support, hardware and software issues, fighting off hackers, bad guys, and encouraging a very insecure webmaster.)
Johnny B. Truant
Johnny creates inexpensive websites and helped me with the start-up, plus he coauthored, Question the Rules, a course for non-traditional thinkers.
Cheerleader Team
Alison Golden
The Secret LIfe of a Warrior Women Alison is my blogging partner and has been a terrific source of information and encouragement. We met at Question the Rules. She is a strong advocate for her children. Her gentle spirit and humor are her secret weapons in being a warrior woman.
A special shout-out to my friends at OVRWA. You help me believe in “happy ever afters” and pick me up when I post an article and get more spam than comments.
Learning to venture into the real community outside Disability World is one of the cornerstones of inclusion. If we want this for our children, we need to learn to build community for ourselves. Alison and OVRWA are helping me learn to be “normal.”
Mentor Team
Sylvie and Michel Fortin
Success Chef Academy Every Wednesday night, Sylvie and Michel serve up an “over the shoulder” look at how to create your own success story. In their informal style, they have taught me about the back and front end of an online business. I’ve come to depend on their advice and personal encouragement. Many of my future goals for Climbing Every Mountain are based on what I am learning in the Success Chef Test Kitchen.
James Chartrand
Men with Pens has also been generous in her encouragement. She is working for social justice in her own way, and reminds me each website must have simple design and good writing. It was her gentle push that finally gave me the courage to take the leap into blogging.
Chris Brogan
Chris Brogan has more ideas than anyone I know. He also takes those ideas and makes companies, and they make money. (That’s certainly different than anyone I know in non-profit and disability world.) He has a geek brain, but… he can translate it into everyday, everyman language. Chris made one tweet about Climbing Every Mountain and I got more traffic that one day, than in a month. He is the guru of social media and helps non-profits. Plus, he talks about his kids and parents. Pretty neat.
There are many others, thanks to each of you.
photo credit: Ѕolo
Aaron wouldn’t let us end a birthday celebration without a song. Blake Roberts suggested The Climb as a theme song for our Climbing Every Mountain blog. I would like to ask you to listen to the inspiring words and feel proud of everything YOU have accomplished this year. Enjoy the digital magic created by Blake Roberts and Snoopi Botten using DecTalk, an augmented communication software program.
Pastor Snoopi Botten and Blake Roberts have added their magic digitalized and visual effects to The Climb
(click on link)
Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward.
All my best,
Mary
Comments:
What was your favorite post this year? Any suggestions or comments for next year?
Popular articles:
America the Beautiful|Through the autism car window
For more about Blake Roberts and Snoopi Botten, check out Do you hear what I hear, Do you see what I see? for their amazing story.
by Mary E. Ulrich | Jul 12, 2011
photo credit: diegodiazphotography
HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 3
Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.
In the last two posts, I’ve been documenting our journey toward moving Aaron, our son with the label of autism and developmental disabilities, to a new county with his HUD “housing choice voucher program” and Medicaid Waiver.
Here’s the recent status report:
1. On June 29th, Tom (my husband) and I met with two administrators from the residential provider and toured a prospective house for Aaron, recommended by the County Board of Developmental Disabilities. (This is our third different home to visit; the first two roommates were not good matches.)
The two administrators, residential providers, seemed competent and ask the right questions. The one administrator had a sister with a disability.
We shared Aaron’s ISP (Individualized Service Plan) and talked about Aaron’s needs.
Of course, the critical deciding factor will be Aaron’s compatibility with the other two roommates.
The ranch house was only a mile from where we lived. Aaron’s bedroom and most of the house were structurally sound, but there were some issues with the bathrooms needing to be remodeled, a sunken living room (which would be dangerous for Aaron who has a movement disorder and lots of balance issues) and the biggie, would the private landlord take a HUD voucher?
2. We filed with HUD for a 30 day notice to PORT to another county on June 30th. (Had to be in by the 1st of the month.)
3. We signed the physical paperwork with HUD (and the wonderful counselor) on July 5th.
4. Almost immediately, we got a nasty call from Aaron’s current residential company because they were so “shocked” we were unhappy. (Duh, if they had listened at even one of the meetings, they would have known this, clueless is not even close.)
5. Paperwork arrived in new county on July 5th. I called to set up an appointment only to be told they would send me a letter, and they set the appointments–not the consumer. (Okay, power struggle). Plus, the office was getting new carpet so the woman in charge wouldn’t be able to call me back. (Power power struggle). Lots of sighs at our house.
6. On July 5th, Aaron, Tom and I went to revisit the proposed home. We had a cookout with about 20 people including the two roommates and their families. The head of the residential company went into labor and couldn’t attend. The case worker who is in charge of this house (everyone in the house has the same caseworker) also couldn’t attend because she was on vacation until July 12.
7. We’ve been waiting and waiting… so the clock is ticking…the sand is shifting through the hourglass, the … every other cliché you can think of…we only have two more weeks left in July and the 30 days will be up.
Question:
Wonder if there is any loophole in HUD regulations that says, “The thirty day notice is for thirty days, unless the staff person is on vacation, having a baby, or is getting new carpeting in the office.”
What are the chances Aaron will find great roommates and happiness and quality care?
Another month from now will I be sending you all “HUD Tips… Part 25”?
“Will there be enough cliche pictures for all these parts?”
Can’t wait to tell you what happens next.
Comments
Please share your thoughts. Do you have any tips for housing for people with disabilities? If you rented houses, would you consider accepting the HUD rent subsidy voucher? What other cliches can I use? (Up the creek, cat up the tree… “Like the sands of an hourglass, so are the days of our lives….???????)
Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,
All my best,
Mary
Other Related Posts You Might Find Interesting:
HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1.
HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 2
Forgetting Spells, Inclusion and Happy Endings
