Section 8 Housing [Reader Post]

I worked for Section 8 back in the 80’s. One of my jobs was compiling the statistical reports every month to see what the demographic breakout was among the population receiving benefits. Without fail, black single female head of household and white single female head of household were neck and neck for top slot every single month.

The lowest demographic was among Orientals and Alaskan Natives, mostly because I believe their culture emphasizes family.

I also worked as a field inspector and many the time I had to shoulder in an apartment door because the trash was stacked neck high on the other side. We reimbursed the landlords for damages back then, and undertook the hilarious task of trying to make the tenant responsible for it. I saw a lot of great landlords and some pretty crappy ones. I saw good tenants and really bad ones. I’ve had a landlord try to bribe me when I failed one of her units, I’ve broken up fights between landlords and tenants. I’ve drug lots of men out of closets and from under beds.

It sounds to me like your experience has been better than most. That’s great.

Thank you for this article, i’s right to the point!
What I have observed over the years is this, and before anyone labels me racist, so be it: Many in section 8 are black, with children out of wedlock, even have more than one father regarding the amount of children. After they into the housing, usually a boyfriend moves in (against section 8 rules). You can see BMW’s, Escalades, Mercedes etc parked in front of the unit. I ask myself how is it possible that this is going on, and most of all, how wrong it is for people like that to be granted section 8 housing. It infuriates me, because this is one of the sams run by those knowing how to ‘milk’ yhe system. It’s the same with foodstamps, which are being traded for cash in many instances. I’ve seen enough that it makes me angry, and can’t for the life of me figure out how they do it!

@oogoog

Your point will have merit when generals, not teachers, have to hold bake sales to raise funds for their communities.

It is your kind of thinking that leads to underfunded communities.

The government should change its priorities to fund underserved communities and education instead of funding pointless wars that go nowhere fast.

Nevertheless, I think underserved communities should get funded better.

Children will perform better if they can see greatness outside their school windows, instead of undserserved communities with no hope.

@googoo

Children will perform better in school when their parents take personal responsibility for their education and get active in the PTA, etc.

Sorry to shatter your pink unicorn pinata, but you have the kids, they’re YOUR responsibility.

@googoo:

I’ve had enough of this nonsense. Don’t we have a troll-hammer? 😡

My my. I am a college educated female who has been unemployed due to health issues. There are some days that I am in so much pain that I actually throw up. But guess what- I force myself to go on.se I have no insurance and.. I get no government assistance. Instead, I provide childcare for different individuals. Since I reside in a one bedroom/one bathroom apartment the state will only allow me to care for three children at a time. Four years ago I took in a child who is not related to me. He has Hyperactivity Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. The mother has six children in all and has custody of none. The first two are twins and she was married to their father, the third and fourth are the same age because she had them so close together and one was premature and have different unknown fathers; the fifth one lives with the married man she claims is his father and the one that I now call my own is asking about his father, also unknown. All the children have some type of disorder such as the ones I mentioned earlier. The last two children would be left alone in motel rooms alone without food for days at a time-the baby was only a few months old. At times they lived in shelters but she would walk the streets with the two children because shelters have curfew and she refused to comply. She was arrested four different times for imminent child endangerment-arrested numerous times for other things as well. She changes men like she changes underwear and will lay down with any man who looks at her or will buy her drug-by the way she drank, smoked and used drugs with the last two. Her family has the other four but refused to take in the last two. The last I heard she was prostituting.. But enough about her. I also have custody of another child who’s father is my brother. Well, as you can imagine my apartment in which I have lived in for nearly thirty years is quite cramped. So I started looking for a new place and was horrified at the cost of rentals-my current rent is $375.00 monthly and includes water and gas. Its difficult even for two income families here to cover housing cost since we live in a college town- college students rent a three bedroom and split the cost. I have seen as many as six cars at homes that I know have three bedrooms,so if rent is $1200-$1500.00 that means each student is paying $200-$250.00 each and splitting utilities. They throw wild parties, do not mow the lawn and just destroy the house. Now back to my situation. I heard about Section 8 and decided to apply. There was so much paperwork and forms to fill out, I had to take papers to the police and sheriiff’s department and have them sign them to show I had no criminal record, I had to take papers to two housing projects for managers to sign and state that I never lived in or was evicted from either and this had to be done in a day’s time . I was then placed on a waiting list for three months, then contacted and given sixty days to find a three bedroom house or apartment for $650.00 a month. To assist in my search I was given a list of prior approved landlords and dwellings. I was so disgusted by some of the places-none were in decent areas and all were smaller than my current residence. I know of people who live in nice areas in three and four bedroom homes and they are on section eight. I discovered that Section 8 pays all of their rent and if not they were allowed to pay the difference. When I brooched the subject with a lady fro housing I was told no that I could not pay the difference because after all I had applied for Section 8 because I “didnot have money for rent” and the program was for people who could not afford rent. I explained that I had no problem paying my current rent on a place designed for one person but needed assistance for a bigger place. By the time I got up the nerve to approach a landlord about my paying the difference my sixty search period was up. So now the kids and I live in a nice and safe area in my cramped but clean one bedroom apartment. By the way, did I mention that the children’s birth mothers and the college students are white. I am black and I am nothing like the people all of you are writing about. I myself do not wish to live near or associate with such people be they black or white and I see lots of white people in my town doing the very things all of you contributiing to blacks. So just for your info not all black people on assistance are triffling nor would I want to rent from, live near or know someone who thinks so. Another thing, I was the first person of color to rent in my current neighborhood and in my building-a tri-plex. Over the years I have seen white people come and go here, some got evicted, some just left rent unpaid, most tore up the unit, and not one made improvements inside their units or did anything outside to improve curb appeal. Over the years I have planted flowers and trees and kept my unit clean inside and out. Only one other tenant stayed any lenght of tme, payed rent on time and added to value to this building-he”s black , had been here ten years but left three months ago because he purchased a home. Again be careful not to lump all blacks on assistance into one pot. After all I am sure if I judged all whites by the whites I know of on assistance, white females with, anywhere from two to six kids with different fathers, the young white mother across the steet who could not describe her two year old or knew what he had on when she reported him missing( he was actually at the police station and had been there all day while she slept) because she did not dress him -the five year old did it before he left for school on one of the rare days he went to school since she usually kept him home to watch the two year old while she slept; the whites who pass my home and toss trash and beer cans in my yard, the whites who park in front of my mailbox even though I ask that they not do so and least I forget the white college students who remove my trash cans from the curb on trash pickup day because they need a place to park and walk to class. One last thing, my mother gave birth to eleven children – two by my father and nine by stepfather and raised my niece- and we are all educated. One of my brothers even continued working towards his Master’ Degree while being treated for Hodgkins- died shortly after graduation. I remember when my niece’s mother died and social services contacted my mother and offered her $24.00 a month “since she was a relative and social services paid more to a none relative” to care for the child instead of placing her in foster care. My mother’s response was “keep it and give it to someone who need’s it because I pay more than that for her dresses.” They tried to give my mother that $24.00 for nearly eighteen years. Another deceased brother’s two sons are in my mother’s custody-their mom is deceased also. When we applied for survior benefits via SSI for them we were told that since my brother had died so young the children then age one and two were not eligible for SSI. They are now nine and ten and my mother with help from my sister is raising them on Social Security. Yet, there is a young white mother across the street from my mother with two children by two different fathers who gets SSI for herself and her children because -she has mental issues-as well as food stamp and WIC(free milk,eggs,cereal,juice and cheese) for the kids. She is also on housing. Sleeps all day while the kids both under age four play outside all day and are never clean. Need I say more!!!!!!!

Donald Bly; hi, you know the TXA POST is getting close to 200
so if you want it check it up now. bye