Help Tai Johnson Move to a Stable Home

Tai Johnson here. Due to cut work hours, inflation, and debt, I need help moving into a home more suitable for my financial situation.

The main goal is about $4,000 to $4,500 total for just in case purposes. This is the amount of one month rent of where I’m currently at (to ensure I have time to move without panic), first and last months rent at the potential new place, one month extra for rent (to get a hopeful start with utilities expenses dealing with moving), and renting a moving truck (there’s a rental u-haul place close by). 

*spreadsheet image below*

At this point right now, I am breaking even with bills, rent, utilities, and groceries. It is difficult to get ahead due to the fact my pay has remained the same and will continue to stay the same for the next year. My boss was forced to cut hours. I’ve applied to places in my area for a second job, but no one has called me back for an interview in over a month. 

For the past two years, my mom and I have made attempts to get into a program where I can get paid for being her caregiver. Each time we’ve been denied. This is due to there being no specialists in the state for her diagnosis (keep your fingers crossed because her primary doctor found some specialists in adjacent fields to her condition that might be able to get us approved for the program). 

Note: my state no longer has a caregiver program, therefore, the program is a non-government agency.

Note: Ehlers-Danlos is what my mom has. 

When it comes to rent, my new landlord raised the price from roughly $850 to almost $1,200 a month. The community I live in is old housing, where it is mostly working class individuals and families living here. The rent price is now comparable to new housing that opened up last year. 

I need to move myself, my mom, and my cats into a place where I can get stable again with my finances. A coworker of mine is keeping me updated with an apartment that would be good for us. It isn’t available yet, but it should be soon. The rent is going to be around $950 a month. Which means I’ll need $1,600 for the first and last month payments. Pet deposit is going to be $250 for me. I don’t know what the security deposit will be, but that’s because my coworker informed me she heard different amounts from her neighbors. 

I want the chance to get this place, but have no means of quickly saving the funds in order to move soon. I’ve looked into programs and I do not qualify for them (single, no kids, no assets). 

Note: Section 8 is in my state. However, the waitlist is so long that it would take years to move up the list. Even if I applied and qualified, I wouldn’t have any means of moving by that point. Plus, I’d lose my current job due to location and it would take years to get approved.

I fear eviction is in my near future. It’s a truth I don’t want to hear except, but it’s there. 

I just need help getting to a point where I can continue to survive and my mom doesn’t have deal with a nursing home (she likes her limited freedom currently and told me that she’d be okay with a nursing home when she’s completely wheelchair bound). 

For those who are concerned with my mom’s financial situation… She is on social security, but her funds get used up fast. Her benefits keep getting cut, making it harder for her to save money as well. She has been fighting with doctors to sign off on her disability, but without a doctor who knows and has the means to sign off on it, she has yet to officially be considered disabled. She’s the only reason why I’m able to keep us here, with that little amount of money. 

To expand on my mom’s disability, for decades she’s been tested to pinpoint exactly what is wrong with her. She’s been tested for things such as lupus, fibromyalgia, and even narcolepsy. She’s doesn’t have any of these, but doctors still kept making her go through the same tests over and over again. It wasn’t until a few years ago when a doctor diagnosed her with Ehlers. While this was finally an answer, this doctor was only temporarily in our state and she just randomly got lucky to have him be her doctor at the appointment (he was there helping the doctor’s office). When she went back to have him sign off on her disability, even if she needed to have more tests done, he was gone. No one else in the office could help her. She’s made numerous attempts to find a doctor to sign off on her disability, but they all kept saying she needed a specialist… when there isn’t a specialist in the state for her. This year, we have some hope with a doctor finally signing off on this though. A new doctor started working at her primary and he instantly knew what she was talking about when it came to all of her symptoms with Ehlers. He even narrowed down which type she possibly has. Though, he’s not a specialist for Ehlers. However, he sent recommendations for her to a few specialist in the area that can progress her chances on disability. They aren’t Ehlers specialists, but they are doctors who have the highest chance of declaring and signing off her disability status as legit.

Her first appointment is in October though. Which is why I’m nervous about finances currently. We have enough to make it maybe a couple more months by breaking even, but not enough time make it until she’s legitimately on disability.

(Will update when I can)

DAE HAN