Mary’s Story
Mary found her way to our booth at the Eugene Celebration in 2013. She lost half her household’s income when her partner lost his job and had to move out of state. Although she was working (at low wages), she could not afford rent and other bills. Then, due to the overwhelming stress of the specter of homelessness, she came down with a fulminant case of shingles that was so severe, that it took away the hearing in her right ear and caused weeks of severe illness. She was so ill she could not work and lost her job.
She had just six months until she turned 62, could receive Social Security, and move into Ya-Po-Ah Terrace, a HUD-subsidized apartment complex for retired people with limited income. So, our organization stepped in to pay her rent and bills for several months until she could get into YaPoAh Terrace. At move-in, we assisted her with get-into-housing costs and other expenses.
She moved into YaPoAh Terrace in March of 2014 and has been relatively stable financially since then, although her Social Security income is too meager to live on. We have, therefore, assisted her from time to time since then with rent, food aid, health care expenses, maintenance of transportation, and phone service. She has worked doing various odd jobs ever since she moved into Ya-Po-Ah Terrace.
Given that the amount of Social Security income a person receives in old age is based on how much money one has made over her working life, women like Mary, who stayed home to raise children for 20 plus years often end up with less-than-adequate Social Security income which can lead to poverty, and homelessness in old age.