A friend of mine needs help with housing.
D is 58 years old and disabled. He is the primary caretaker for his 59 year old disabled brother. They have a Section 8 voucher from Allegheny County for a 2 bedroom apartment.
D has been searching for almost a year for a landlord who will accept their application. He has spent over $2,000 in application fees and been turned down repeatedly because of his credit score. He is willing to locate anywhere in the County that is decent housing. D and his brother have four cats so it must be a pet friendly unit.
D’s voucher expires in mid March, meaning he will have to start the process over again. Meanwhile, they live in a motel spending all of their joint funds for $500/week housing.
I met D a few years ago through cat rescue work. I had a cat tree to give away but it needed to be repaired; D picked it up, got tit fixed up, and into the home of a rescuer. He’s made countless trips to my home to pick up cat food and supplies for the network of caretakers in his community. He’s an active volunteer with the local TNR group – he is working to solve the problems of homeless cats. D’s work makes the community better.
D and his brother deserve decent housing.
People talk about “oh the homeless encampments are sad/terrible” and “oh the cats having endless kittens hurt our neighborhood” but no one will do what’s necessary right now to prevent two disabled older men from ending up in a shelter or worse EVEN WITH A SECTION 8 VOUCHER. Frankly, I don’t understand why a credit check is necessary with a voucher.
The other challenge is landlords returning calls. There are four units that accept Section 8 in McKees Rocks, but the landlord cannot be contacted. That also seems unreasonable given the voucher. It seems fair that a landlord who benefits from Section 8 should have to answer their phone.
So I am asking for help to find my friend housing – a two bedroom unit in Allegheny County that accepts Section 8 and pets and will not hold his credit history against him. He has steady income from SSDI for him and his brother. He’s already on all of the housing lists. He’s tried all the obvious resources. What we need are listings and landlords who will talk with him now. Specific listings and landlords.
I want my friend and his brother to be safe and securely housed. I want my friend to be able to get back to his community work – wherever he lands – addressing the overpopulation of homeless cats. These are things that are obviously good for him, but also good for all of us.
The photo is an image of a stack of applications he’s filled out the past year. He’s doing the work.
