Starting a new life!! (Orlando, Kissimmee: section 8, real estate, apartment)

[EliesA]

Hi

My name is Elizabeth Vega, 54 yrs old. I am a single mom with two teens, Joel 17 and Joely 16. I have been in two "bad" marriages. The first when I was 31, my then husband would beat me up and tried to kill me with a pair of scissors, I ran, got help and moved to the other side of the Island (Puerto Rico) I had four miscarriages, so it was "easy" for me to leave him since we never had children. Years after I married the father of my children after three more miscarriages - he did not hurt me physically but emotionally. I receive SS for disability, I was diagnosed with Depression and acute anxiety so, I have a fixed income of 586/month and ready to start looking for housing and food stamps etc. . Last year I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2. I tried to homeschool my children to the best of my ability but they are way back in their studies. We have 2 dogs Kitty and Schneider who are family too. I have lower back problems and weak knees. My doctor took X-rays of my knees and says I have Osteoarthritis. We need to move to Florida because write now it's all I can afford from PR. I am looking for a good church (I'm evangelical non-denominated) with a youth group where my children can continue growing in our faith in Jesus Christ. They also need a good school where the teachers can help them get up to par, graduate and continue with Collage or Tech School. They play the flute, sax and guitar. I have decided to live in Orlando because a friend who has a friend is going to help us get on our feet. I pray that I will be in Florida by the end of January. Any help or advice about benefits, food stamps, work from home jobs, etc. would be dearly appreciated.

Thank you,
Elizabeth

[Crane's Rooster]

With your income and situation Orlando is probably not the best place for you.

[tinytrump]

You are not going to get any good help here on this forum- they are not kind-
one thing I will tell you, if you have no support system here - friends and family- it will be very hard- housing is very expensive. what most would hope- is that we do not want to see you homeless, but we don't know all your circumstances, good luck-

[EditorJul]

Unfortunately, I don't see your life becoming any better coming to the US, and especially a place with with a much higher cost of living than where you are currently living.

This gives you a good idea of how different the prices are for various things:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Doing a quick look at rental properties in Orlando itself, the cheapest you will find an apartment, condo, or small "house" (think a shack with a bathroom) in a bad part of town is about $650/month. For that price, you will get a 1 bedroom/1 bath of about 500 square foot. That doesn't include pet rent, which can be around $100-200/month additional, assuming the place will allow pets. (Generally the less expensive the property, the less likely they will allow you to have pets.) It also may have occupancy limits, which would mean you might be allowed to have one of your children with you, but not both. If you move into the more rural areas around, you might be able to get the price down to $600/month, but the quality of housing also goes down. If you're thinking of trying to get subsidized housing (like Section 8), according to their web site, the Orlando Housing Authority is not accepting applications for subsidized housing. I have heard from people in the system that when they do open up for applications, the waiting list can be 2-3 years.

In the meantime, if you want a place to live, you will need to likely budget for first and last month's rent, plus a security deposit (usually equal to another month's rent). So if you can find a shack for $600/month, you'll need to be able to hand over $1800 on the day you sign the lease, plus pet deposits and application fees. Is this something you are prepared to do?

At ages 17 and 16, your children are almost of the age where they will be pushed out of the public school system. There will be no help for them in Florida getting up to speed from the school system, sadly. If they don't test close to grade level, they will be "encouraged" to go for a GED and then head out in the world on their own. It is a catch-22, though… if they don't test well, they will be pushed out of school because of their ages, but because they don't test well, there are no options for them to get into college or trade school. (And even if they managed to get into a trade school, it doesn't sound like they would be eligible for any sort of scholarships. The best they can hope for are expensive loans that they will have to pay back for years to come.)

For work from home jobs, most of the ones you see online are scams. I actually work full-time from home. To get the jobs that I have, I had to have a college degree in technical editing and a second degree in biology. From there, I needed more than 10 years working in the publishing industry in office for various clients. I also had to do certification work in editing through the USDA graduate school. At that point, I was able to make the switch to working from home. I'm guessing that you haven't had those sort of opportunities.

Sadly, many of us have heard the "I have a friend of a friend who is going to help" stories…and they never end up well. If someone wanted to move to this area and was okay with a roach-infested shard room in a bad part of town, I'd say that the target income per month should be $1000-1200. At that point, you're still squarely below the poverty line and would be eligible for food stamps of about $150/month. Ask yourself if in PR you can feed yourself for less than $5/day. Then adjust for things being more expensive here.

So, long and short of it, your quality of life would not improve by moving here -- rather the reverse.

[idr591]

I predict a significantly worse quality of life here.

[Fl1150]

Bigots beware but I think if you need a change in life and your going to get some kind of help then moving here might do you good. You have been through a lot in your life and sometimes people never fully understand because they are not in the same situation. Florida department of children and families would help you with assistance if you need it. Good luck and hopefully your life changes for the better despite comments being very negative for no apparent reason.

[annerk]

Just another statistic waiting to happen. I see life in a dilapidated hotel room in Kissimmee by late March.

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by Fl1150

Bigots beware but I think if you need a change in life and your going to get some kind of help then moving here might do you good. You have been through a lot in your life and sometimes people never fully understand because they are not in the same situation. Florida department of children and families would help you with assistance if you need it. Good luck and hopefully your life changes for the better despite comments being very negative for no apparent reason.

Not sure why you feel the need to name-call, nor why you feel that some of us haven't been in those life situations before.

DCF does not provide housing (due to budget cuts and the ending of EFAHP), except by telling you to go through Section 8 or applying for residency in a homeless shelter, which I very seriously doubt would not be an improvement for the OP (especially since most homeless shelters do not accept pets). According to the DCF web site:
We are no longer accepting applications for help with overdue rent, mortgage payments or security deposits.
Emergency Financial Assistance Program (EFAHP) | Florida Department of Children and Families

Section 8 housing is very difficult to get, even if you've been living here for a while. According to the Section 8 web site for Orlando:
Immediate housing assistance is not available. Your name will go on a waiting list. There are many families already on the Section 8 Program waiting list.
OHA - Section 8 Waiting List Application

And for Seminole County:
The Housing Choice Voucher-Section 8 Waiting List is now closed.
(and when it opens so that you can submit an application)
SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE ASSISTANCE AND YOU COULD BE ON THE LIST FOR MANY YEARS BEFORE RECECIVING ASSISTANCE
Housing Choice Voucher-Section 8- Application

And for Osceola County:
The Section 8 Pre-Application period is now closed.
Section 8 Pre-Qualification | Osceola County, Florida

If you want to be helpful for this person, can you provide a list of real estate listings (apartment, condo, SFH, etc.) that would accept three people and two pets for less than $550/month in the metro Orlando area? Can you provide one such listing?

It has nothing to do with race or religion or age or sexual orientation or life experiences or favorite pizza toppings -- it has to do with a state that doesn't have a whole lot to offer people trying to enter the system when the system is already over capacity with need.

[Soup Not See]

Originally Posted by EditorJul

Not sure why you feel the need to name-call, nor why you feel that some of us haven't been in those life situations before.

DCF does not provide housing (due to budget cuts and the ending of EFAHP), except by telling you to go through Section 8 or applying for residency in a homeless shelter, which I very seriously doubt would not be an improvement for the OP (especially since most homeless shelters do not accept pets). According to the DCF web site:
We are no longer accepting applications for help with overdue rent, mortgage payments or security deposits.
Emergency Financial Assistance Program (EFAHP) | Florida Department of Children and Families

Section 8 housing is very difficult to get, even if you've been living here for a while. According to the Section 8 web site for Orlando:
Immediate housing assistance is not available. Your name will go on a waiting list. There are many families already on the Section 8 Program waiting list.
OHA - Section 8 Waiting List Application

And for Seminole County:
The Housing Choice Voucher-Section 8 Waiting List is now closed.
(and when it opens so that you can submit an application)
SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE ASSISTANCE AND YOU COULD BE ON THE LIST FOR MANY YEARS BEFORE RECECIVING ASSISTANCE
Housing Choice Voucher-Section 8- Application

And for Osceola County:
The Section 8 Pre-Application period is now closed.
Section 8 Pre-Qualification | Osceola County, Florida

If you want to be helpful for this person, can you provide a list of real estate listings (apartment, condo, SFH, etc.) that would accept three people and two pets for less than $550/month in the metro Orlando area? Can you provide one such listing?

It has nothing to do with race or religion or age or sexual orientation or life experiences or favorite pizza toppings -- it has to do with a state that doesn't have a whole lot to offer people trying to enter the system when the system is already over capacity with need.

Maybe FL1150 can take them in ?

[tinytrump]

Well we can post the negatives of moving to an expensive area with out being crude, People have dreams and some make it out of nothing- we don't know her kid might be a genius-or something else---- just be nice. It is expensive and things are not what they used to be- need transportation- but people make it- any reason why posters have to be rude?-