A local law firm, without charge, notarized the limited power of attorney form I needed to be able to represent Kevin in his search for a home.
Bank of America had an ad in the paper, asking me what I'd like the power to do. When I told them I'd like the power to help Kevin find a home, one of their people responded, did some research, and connected me with a local transitional housing group, reStart.
A conversation with the leader of reStart got him to the top of their wait list, and, poof, Kevin had a bed he could count on each night.
He also automagically fell to the top of the 2-3 month wait list for the subsidized housing complex where we'd filled out a pre-application just two weeks earlier.
Ms. Mary, the complex manager, was wonderfully patient with me as I stumbled through the process of clearing his credit and gathering the necessary paperwork. Each time she ran into a roadblock, instead of just deep-sixing his file as she could have done, she gave me a couple of days to clear things up.
I talked to more lawyers to clear up a paperwork error regarding a prior eviction; the error would have kept him out of most local housing, not just the place where he was applying. (One of the lawyers called my power-of-attorney form 'dubious'. Hmph. After I'd printed it out myself from the internet and everything. I was able to work with him anyways to get the error cleared up.)
I paid an old outstanding electric bill, and worked with the reStart people to get a letter vouching that he was, indeed, homeless. (who knew such a thing existed???)
As it became clear that a place to live might actually happen, I started to scout around for the furniture Kevin would need to start over. I started by asking my neighbors who were selling their house nearby if they'd donate a mattress. (I knew they'd have an extra one after the house was sold.) They not only said yes to the mattress, they came up with the entire apartment full of furniture, right down to a starter set of dishes for the kitchen and a shower curtain for the bathroom.
I finished working with Mary to get all the boxes checked and all the revised paperwork in just before Thanksgiving. I had a garage full of furniture, and high hopes that if the Universe had gotten things this far along, it would make sure the story ended well.
The Universe didn't let me down. I got an email last Tuesday - his application had been approved; please let her know when he would like to come down to fill out the lease agreement. I went down to the library to find Kevin, and when I told him the good news, he wanted to go fill it out right then. Not really surprised, I called Mary to let her know we were on our way.
She graciously made room in her day to print out the forms and walked him through signing them. We walked up to the third floor, and she opened the door to a small, neat, clean, one-bedroom apartment. She walked him through the place, and handed over the keys.
That first night, he stayed there with just the contents of his four suitcases and two white plastic trash bags (the sum total of his belongings). The next day, I found some help, and we were able to deliver the apartment starter kit my neighbors had pulled together.. Now, he not only has a place to go to each night, he has a bed, a comfy place to sit, and a bookshelf to store his quickly-multiplying books.
Kevin has a home!!!!
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I've gotten some high praise from people who have heard this story. I don't feel as if I deserve it. I certainly didn't get this done by myself.
Everywhere I turn these days, I hear stories that shrivel my heart - caged children, climate change; rancor and division seem to be everywhere. Operation DoGooder was my chance to try to tip the scales just a little bit; to bring a glimmer of light and hope to the darkness.
It was the right thing to do.
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