I suppose I knew it wouldn't be easy...
...but I didn't think it would be this hard. I called the women's shelter where I had been staying and it turns out that I can't go back. Apparently, I am no longer in a "crisis" so unless I go back to my abuser and wait for a new 911 incident and further contusions, I no longer qualify for the emergency housing upon which I had been counting. On top of that, I have 72 hours in which I need to pick up my stuff or they'll get rid of it.
I have no way to get around and I certainly have no way to pick up my stuff and no place to put it. The easy thing to do would be to go back to my abuser's place and stay there but I won't do that. So, I'm about to pick up the 2 little bags I have and along with the clothes on my back, I am about to start walking into a new life. I have no clue what to do or where to go but my plan is to put one foot in front of the other and hope for something good to happen.
They tell me that if I help myself, good things will happen. Stay tuned, I'm curious to check out that concept. That's all I have and it's my first step. The next step will take me away from this computer so I have to take it now.
Good thoughts are hereby requested.
I have no way to get around and I certainly have no way to pick up my stuff and no place to put it. The easy thing to do would be to go back to my abuser's place and stay there but I won't do that. So, I'm about to pick up the 2 little bags I have and along with the clothes on my back, I am about to start walking into a new life. I have no clue what to do or where to go but my plan is to put one foot in front of the other and hope for something good to happen.
They tell me that if I help myself, good things will happen. Stay tuned, I'm curious to check out that concept. That's all I have and it's my first step. The next step will take me away from this computer so I have to take it now.
Good thoughts are hereby requested.
posted by Meg Kelso | 9:02 AM
2 Comments:
Meg, Between a rock and a hard place, eh? I left an abusive relationship with what ever I could grab stuffed in 2 20 gal. black garbage bags and started all over again-literally on a city street about 60 mi. from "home." Or what had been "home" until it wasn't. I had no vehicle, had to quit my job (there were no Stalking Laws in those days) and start from scratch. Camped for a few days with some people I knew in the area, found a furnished studio apartment in a really dicey part of the city and found a minimum wage job working 3-11PM. Which I walked to and from in the freezing cold winter in the darkness. (I walked on the street, never on the sidewalk.) In my rush to get out I failed to grab warmer clothes, coat etc. One night a city cop pulled up along side me and asked me what I was DOING walking alone in this part of the city at night? (I think he likely thought I was a hooker-THAT "kind" of neighborhood.) I asked HIM if he thought I was walking for exercise, fun? I had NO money-what else could I do?
Meg, it's gonna be OK. Really. The Shelter for Battered Folks (or what ever they call them now) SHOULD be helping you find a place-they have access to/know who to contact in terms of Private Non-Profits (Churches, Ecumenical Councils etc.) as well as low-income housing. Also, Meg, you're considered (please forgive the word, I hate it too) "DISABLED." Which gives you leverage (so to speak) over other people looking for housing as well as on-going medical needs/tx. PLEASE make sure the Shelter people are aware of this, OK? Also, the Medical Social Worker at what ever hospital you were treated at most recently could be another resource for you in terms of housing etc.
When I was traveling a lot for work in a situation where I'd be in an area for a few months and then move to the next job site, I use to check out the area were the site was and go to a local Church and ask if they had any elderly people in the community who would take in a boarder. I always had really good luck there-it was cheaper than a hotel, certainly safer, gave me more of a sense of home and I met some really nice, interesting people. Many of them had large, old homes and typically I was the only boarder so I'd have a large Bedroom and a "private" bathroom. (Kitchen use "negotiable.") Not to mention an "introduction" to the community-these older people knew everyone.
Just a few thoughts/experiences.
"Stuff" can always be replaced: Your life can't. I KNOW it's scary. But starting over always is and yes, exactly-"one foot in front of the other."
Troubs and I are rooting you on, keeping you in our thoughts. Please post when you can. Please take care of you. I never could have imagined I'd find myself in this position either, but I was and so have many others. It WILL work out. Promise.
TW
Hey chick, it's people like you who keep me trying so please stay around. I need emotional support now more than I ever have in my life.
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