Restoring Stability

When Carol was laid off from her full-time job, she struggled to find new employment. She not only lost her income, but also her apartment, had to put all her belongings in storage, and depleted all her savings. She ended up staying with a family friend temporarily.

“I got online and applied for jobs and went to job fairs. I finally got the call back from DeKalb County Schools. The older you get, it's not as easy getting jobs as you might have in times past. You don't want to jump around to different jobs either. You want job stability, and that's what life calls for. I was holding onto my job and had been there for three and a half years and was trying to save and purchase a home. And so I had to start over. That put me in the situation, and I had to see where I could live. "

"Now I'm trying to rebuild stability since it took so long to get the job. I had to deplete all my savings and that's when I heard about you guys."

She finally was hired as para professional for DeKalb County Schools, working with disabled children, but then struggled to find an apartment she could afford. One thing she didn’t count on was all the added fees.  

“I would not have had the money (to pay the deposit). I would have had to put things on hold longer. With the cost of living, it's hard to afford anything more than a one-bedroom apt. When I first wanted to move in, the apt was cheaper but at the time I didn't have money. It was $1200. You have to pay the security deposit, the admin fee, application fee, one month's rent, and they want that all at one time. A family friend had allowed me to stay with her, but I still had the car to pay and gas. It's a lot. I'm no longer in my twenties and 30s, and I had to pray and thank God. It's really hard. I don't live a really lavish life. I just deal with the basics. “

Finally, with a little help from A Home For Everyone In DeKalb, Carol was able to move into a new apartment. 

“I think that now I can breathe a little better with having somewhere to live and I could get rid of one of the storage units and save that money. With the help (I received), I was able to have a jump start. I didn't know how long it was going to take for me to come up with a security deposit and I didn’t want to be a burden to the family friend that took me in. It really worked out.

“I always had a motto that when I get paid, I pay all my expenses first. I've never had a problem with paying on time. While I was laid off, I had to do smaller jobs like Instacart and grocery deliveries. You can be out driving your car around and I was so shocked at the prices. I probably got paid $5 to deliver some McDonalds. You'd have to be out all morning to night to get remotely close to $100. It would take a lot of that just to put your gas back in your tank. My very first one was so devastating because I was driving to a McDonalds and by the time I got there, the order dropped off and I had already driven there. I see people sitting in their car and when an order pops up, they are right there, and I had to learn you have to sit in the parking lot until an order comes in. That was very challenging.” 

This last year Carol went through a lot but when she sees people on the street, she realizes that that could have been her.“It's a sense of peace, having a place to come home to and be able to relax.  It’s a place that's unfamiliar but I do believe in God. I'm thankful that I'm able to have a place. I'm just thankful for your agency for helping someone like myself and others. A lot of people that I talked to are just barely making it so when places are saying I have to have this deposit and that fee, and I just need that money to pay the rent that's hard to do."