Don't Cry for Me...

I'm on vacation. See you in September.

In the meantime, check out Wikipedia's article about Argentina's unfortunate economic crisis, which fortunately allows tourists like me to afford world travel.

Who knew it was so hard?

And by that I mean FINDING childcare, let alone CHOOSING. I'm beginning to really sympathize with all you working parents out there. Finding babysitting is a pain!

Every other week we run a budgeting or credit counseling workshop for our tenants. The biggest challenge is finding childcare for the tenants' children. NOT an easy task. Being a non-profit organization we don't have money set-aside for such things, but it is absolutely essential. How could a parent focus on "FICO scores" or "liabilities" with their children running around uncared for?

Well, we rely primarily on volunteers to provide the childcare during workshops. Unfortunately, after the summer is over we are left with a real dearth of childcare assistance.

How about YOU? Currently we're looking for volunteers to provide childcare for a few kids on Tuesday or Thursday evenings from 6:30 - 9:00 PM. We typically do four workshops a month. Do as many or as little as you like. Drop me a line at tmbarnett@gmail.com if you or someone you know can help.

Now I would expect that I'm likely to get a few comments like, 'You can't possibly understand what it's like for a working parent.' and their right. I can't. But then, I did read this article from last weekend's Washington Post. It says that there is serious welfare reform coming in October that threatens the daycare for thousands of Virginia children.

"One of the new requirements that Virginia and other states are scrambling to meet: move more of their welfare recipients into jobs. To do that, states need to help them pay for child care. In Virginia, money is being shifted from the child-care program that was helping Jones to welfare recipients." Essentially this means that many of those working parents who left welfare in the late-nineties will be forced by this welfare reform to return to the dole just for the childcare assistance.

How is that for irony?

Please read this article from the Mount Vernon Gazette.

It's a very personal story about a family struggling to find a home and how Good Shepherd Housing provided that opportunity.

This is Why We Do This

Did anyone watch Spike Lee's HBO documentary last night? It's called "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts". It's about the lives of New Orleans residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Very powerful stuff. Behind the accusations and drama there is a story about the importance of home and stability in our lives.

With September 11th just around the corner I have been reflecting a lot on what it means to feel safe and sound. I was in New York City working with the American Red Cross five years ago. I was walking up 5th Avenue at 23rd Street when the first plane came roaring overhead. In the following weeks I managed one of their shelters for the people that lost their homes to the devastation at ground zero.

Disasters throw the lives of its survivors into turmoil. Losing your home leaves you with such an ultimate feeling of uncertainty.

Similarly, I hear the same feeling from my clients at Good Shepherd. Being evicted from your home is a terrifying experience, especially when you don't have anywhere else to go. Our clients come to us because they have been turned away from one place after another. Usually it's because their credit scares off prospective landlords. Their bad decisions have come back to haunt them in the most real of ways. By the time I meet them for the first time they have resorted to living in desperate, unstable situations. They are sometimes homeless, living out of their cars or paying $45 a night for a squalid motel room.

We offer stability. Plain and simple. An apartment is the foundation for their future success. I am proud to see my clients achieve so much because we give them a second chance. I see one client graduating with her bachelors degree, another pays off her debt, and another reunites with her child lost to the foster care system. These are the reasons I come to work and do what I do.

One, Two Step

Last year, with your fundraising and walking legs, GSH was able to raise over $70,000 through Fannie Mae's Help the Homeless Walkathon!

This year's walk will take place on Saturday, November 18, 2006.

Starting now, we challenge you to help us break that record by recruiting friends and family to walk. By encouraging schools, churches, local organizations, and businesses to contribute funds, walkers who are unable to afford the registration fees can be sponsored. This is a great opportunity to get the word out about problems facing the low-income population in and around D.C. The more money we can raise, the more people we can help equip with the necessary tools to become self-sufficient.

For more information, visit www.helpthehomelessdc.org or call GSH at 703-768-9404.

It's Treacherous Out There

Did you know this...?

You are responsible for paying taxes on any debt you were forgiven. That means if you settled a $10,000 debt for $3,000 you still owe taxes on that $7,000 you saved!

Ignorantia legis neminem excusat...
Or, in other words: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
Better know it.

This tidbit of fear is thanks to Michelle Singletary's Color of Money personal finance column from last Sunday's Washington Post. Thanks a lot.

Check out YouTube.com for more videos like these.


Increasing at a rate of
$1.72 billion per day


.

Hmm...




Why didn't I think of that? (By the way, this is what's wrong with a typical SNL skit. They beat a good joke to death.)

*Ouch*

I've been running budget and credit counseling workshops for a few months now and there's one thing that nearly no one has heard about: universal default. It's a shame because it affects anyone with a credit card.

Basically, it means that if you pay one credit card late then all of your creditors can raise the APR that you pay them, too. Therefore, not only will the late payment show up on the payment history on your credit report and cost you more in the future, but you're also paying for it today. Lesson? Don't make any late payments. Ever.

This New York Times article explains how it all happened.

And yes, in case you didn't know, you can also get a free credit report from all three credit bureaus online.

Follow the Links

Speaking of school supplies... The Homeless Guy has a very popular blog you should check out and he mentions a similar drive for school supplies in Chicago and why it's so important. It's all very interesting.

Lotsa Books, Lotsa Buck$

I'm always amazed at the generousity of our donors and volunteers. This week it was impossible to miss the giving. In fact, it materialized as a tidal wave of book bags, markers, pens, notebooks and other school supplies that came pouring into the GSH office.

My boss, Liz, was lucky enough to come in on Monday to find that the wave of supplies washed into her office. (That's what you get for going on vacation! We trash your office! :) Amparo, our Program Administrator in charge of Children's Resources, has spent hours sorting through the items and stuffing the back packs with a full year's worth of supplies. I've had the enjoyable responsibility of handing out some of these book bags. I wasn't surprised to find that all of the kids were ecstatic to receive the new supplies. What was surprising was to see the smiles on their parents' faces.

And this all comes to my revelation of the day... children are expensive! For you parents out there it may be obvious, but as a single father-of-none I am constantly amazed at all the ways that children change your life and empty your wallet. I find it hard to imagine being able to live in the DC area and support a family.

Yet, I remain hopeful. While working in social services for about 8 years I have seen so many families survive, even thrive, on very limited incomes. The children remain fed and clothed. They're engaged and entertained. Can you live off of love? Sometimes it sure seems that way. The reality is that my clients have taught me more about budgeting than I have taught any one of them. For that, I am grateful.

Public Transport

Waiting for my clients to show up to our appointments is an all too common scenario. No-shows are a part of life for a Case Manager. Clients know that when they come to my office I'm going to ask some tough questions about their money and life in general. Sometimes, however, their absence is due to reasons beyond their control. Such was the case today when a client came in an hour late for an appointment.

He takes public transportation every day to his job in DC, and he has to be there very early. So he is at the bus stop at 4:00 o'clock in the morning every weekday ready for his hour-and-a-half commute. Not pleasant. Well, today was a particularly hot and steamy DC summer day. He made his transfers from train to train to bus and he was chugging South along Route 1 and then, bam. No more bus. It broke down on the side of the road, completely out of commission.

So, he was faced with a decision. Should he walk the rest of the way, some 1-2 miles, or should he wait for the next bus? The clock was ticking, I was waiting and he was sweating. Well, he decided to walk. He knew that he would get here quicker walking. Needless to say, he arrived at my office one angry, hot and exhausted man. He apologized and we had our meeting, but it got me thinking.

I told one of my co-workers the other day that I want to avoid making this a "being broke sucks" blog. (Very tempting for a Social Worker.) But it's like, "No duh." I'd like to make this something different for social services. But... sometimes you just can't ignore the obvious.

Now don't get me wrong. I love the concept of public transportation. The low impact on the environment, the affordability, and the co-mingling of diverse parts of the population. It sounds like a great idea.

But then there's reality... As a former New York City resident, I've found that I take a great deal of pride in my public transportation experiences. Unfortunately, it's a pride more similar to a war veteran than an idealistic do-gooder. Those cold nights waiting for the bus in sub-zero temperatures, those sweaty sprints for a bus ahead of schedule, the insane sounds of steel drums mixed with violin on a crowded platform, so many memories.

I guess my point is that we should all be grateful for what we got. When you're driving up and down Route 1 slow down for those pedestrians crossing the street. Don't cut off those slow moving buses. You never know, cars break down too, and you just might find yourself on one of those curbs.