Christmas in July

“Ridin’ high, I got tears in my eyes

You know you got to go through hell

Before you get to heaven.”

–       Jet Airliner, by the Steve Miller Band

You may remember that two months ago, I was desperate to find a new apartment, and escape the madness of where I was living.  My prospects weren’t that good.  At a semi-annual health checkup at the V.A. clinic, I mentioned that I was concerned that I might not be able to find a new place before I had to vacate the old place.  The nurse, who was taking down this information, got on the phone and called a social worker to help me.

A small army of social workers moved mountains to get me into an apartment within the week.  Then another small army of friends, neighbors, and relatives helped me move another mountain, the stuff that I had. I was grateful to all of them, and when the last box of stuff was lugged up the stairs, I thought it was over. I expected the social workers to disappear.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Before I was even unpacked, the phone rang.  John-Michael, who had been very instrumental in getting me into the apartment quickly, wanted to know what kind of food I liked.  It seemed like an odd question until a delivery truck pulled up the next day, with boxes of all the things I said I liked.  The lone box of wine in my refrigerator had to make room for a refrigerator full of real food.

Social workers called me up and asked me questions.  They were trying to find out if I qualified for any programs.  It turns out I did.  They e-mailed me forms to fill out and the next thing I knew, I was approved for $234 a month in food stamps.  Not just one month, but $234 a month, every month, until I was making a lot more money.

Then John-Michael called me back.  The V.A. would pay my rent for July.

Then I got an e-mail from Julie at Tenfold.  Did I want to sign two Thank You cards?  Sure.  I thought that they would go to Jen in Housing and the other people who had helped me get the apartment.  No.  There were more people behind the scenes who had helped me.  Julie came over and I found out who they were.

I have to admit, I was curious about the back-story on my apartment.  Since Tenfold is the owner of the building, I was sure that Julie knew the story.  There are 6 apartments in the building and they were all empty and the whole place had been completely renovated.  I was the first and only tenant back in the building.  Why did all the old tenants leave?  Was there a murder in the building?

Julie told me that the building had been owned by an elderly couple and was rundown and falling apart.  Everyone just moved out.  Tenfold, a not-profit charitable organization, acquired the property and a generous man name Frank offered to pay for renovating the building on the condition that Tenfold would use it to provide affordable housing for low-income families.  So, I signed the Thank You card to Frank.

Ames Construction did the renovating, so I signed a card to them too.

I told Julie that was all very touching, but not much of a story for my blog.  I had been hoping for a murder mystery, or something spicy like that.  I told her that in my blog I would stretch the truth a tiny bit and say that everyone moved out because the building was haunted, and now, even though the building had been completely renovated with all new appliances, they still couldn’t get anyone to move in because everyone in the neighborhood knew it was haunted.  Then, I moved in, desperate for housing and not knowing it was haunted.  She liked that story. I guess it reminded her of Beetlejuice.  Certainly, she wasn’t old enough to know about Cosmo Topper, and his TV ghost friends, George and Marion Kerby.  So, forget what I said earlier about Frank and Ames Construction.  As far as this blog is concerned, I’m going with the story that this was a haunted house, and the ghost still lives here, and he’s the reason why the apartment is always so messy.

Now, back to the social workers.  John-Michael called and made an appointment to see me yesterday.  He called a few minutes before he got here to let me know that he had “goodies.”  I interpreted that to mean donuts or cookies.  That’s not what he meant.

John-Michael (that’s his real first name) is a big strong young man, and it still took him 3 trips up the stairs to bring in all the goodies.  It seems that Frank isn’t the only Lancastrian interested in helping low-income people get affordable housing in Lancaster.  A whole slew of people had contributed to provide house-warming gifts for Veterans moving into new apartments.  I’m talking a Hampton Bay tower fan, a Mr. Coffee machine, a toaster, and just about everything else that a person with absolutely nothing would need to move into an apartment, including pillows, blankets, and dozens of other items, right down to toothpaste and a toothbrush.  Plus, in case I needed anything else, inside a card that all the donors signed, thanking me for my service, there was a Walmart gift card.  It was like Christmas in July, and it got even better.

John-Michael told me that I qualified for a “shallow subsidy.”  Naturally, I had no idea what that was, so he told me that the V.A. would pay half my rent for the next two years.  Yikes, if that’s shallow, what’s going on in the deep end of the pool?

I’m settling into my new apartment, and I realize that I need to thank the dozens of local people who contributed their time, effort, and money to make this a wonderful experience for me.  I need to thank all the people who helped me move. I also need to thank the Veterans’ Administration for the great steps they are taking to improve the lives of veterans, especially this one.

It all started when, during a routine examination, a nurse asked me if anything was bothering me.  The question was meant to find out if I had any medical problems, but it wound up going far beyond that.  I was bothered by the thought that I might wind up either homeless or mooching off relatives.  Today, there are a lot of people who have problems that are way bigger than mine were.  Maybe they believe that their problems are unsolvable and that nobody cares to help them find a solution.  The one thing that I have learned in the past two months is that there are plenty of people out there who will move mountains to help others. 

Whether you’re a veteran or a civilian, there are people and agencies who will listen to your problems, and work with you to solve them.  They are reaching out for people who they can help, and you just need to grab that hand, which is extended towards you.  There are numerous hotlines to help steer you to those people.  Call them.  Many problems are, indeed, too big to solve by yourself, but there are people everywhere who will be glad to help you, and they are legion.

Thank you to all the people who helped me in the last two months to make my life so much better.  Your kindness, hard work, and generosity is certainly appreciated. I started this with lyrics from a song by the Steve Miller Band. I’ll close with lyrics from a song by Jimmy Cliff.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl