I have struggled to obtain secure housing my entire adult life; I am 38 years old. I played by all the “rules” and still ended up here. I did well in school, got good grades, and went on to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University where I was couch-surfing through at least one full academic year there because the cost of student housing was beyond affordable. I took out extra student loans to pay for rent for off-campus housing and lived off credit cards, all of which are drowning me now. I thought my struggle and financial distress were temporary and once I graduated I would land a job that paid a living wage.
After graduation, I was shocked to find that despite my research, no employer in my field- Social Work- pays a living wage and if there are roles that do, they require a Masters degree. So I served a year in AmeriCorps while I prepared to enter graduate school. I enrolled in the cheapest graduate program at $20k a year- Indiana University School of Social Work.
At the orientation for my MSW, I was informed that students are recommended to not work while in school. I was shaken to my core to hear that, considering I was renting an abandoned home owned by my family. It didn’t have a working shower or kitchen, but it was shelter. I also was skipping meals because I simply couldn’t afford to eat. I could not get EBT (food stamps) because my AmeriCorps stipend and student loans that went directly to my tuition were considered “income”.
That money barely graced my bank account before it directly went to the school. I worked over 50 hours/week between three jobs while working on my MSW; I even volunteered to coach youth sports and had to complete unpaid part time and full time internships. I don’t think I slept for the entire 2 years I was enrolled in the MSW program.
Despite the challenges, I completed my coursework in
18 months and graduated with one one-hundredth of a percentage point away from making the Dean’s List. I got a job weeks after graduation, however, I only made $12/hr as a mental health therapist and still struggled to afford the abandoned family home. I had to get roommates who eventually stole my life savings and any item I owned that had some value (things I had been gifted over the years).
I moved to Seattle for better work opportunities and a future, because that’s what people say right? Get a better job. Move. I did. Once in Seattle I began attending trainings to earn more certifications, hoping this would earn me a better wage. It did not.
I was making $14./hr when Seattle implemented the $15/hr minimum wage and my rent was $950. Again I was finding myself unable to afford food or even transportation. By the time my lease was ending, my landlord was raising my rent to $1200. I tried finding better paying jobs but they didn’t exist. I was facing homelessness so I left Seattle at the end of my lease to go back to Indiana where I could rent the abandoned family home again.
I lost my job in Indy and took the first job that was offered to me which landed me back in Seattle. This time I was living with an abusive partner but I had no choice- it was either stay in the DV situation or be homeless on the streets. I couldn’t afford our 1bd apartment at $1600 by myself working as a co-occurring disorder therapist with a laundry list of certifications and specialties at $17/hr in Seattle in 2017.
I nearly lost my life while in that abusive relationship, but luckily found roommates to split an attic converted into an apartment for $1900- 4 adults in a 2bdroom/1bath attic (one person slept in a closet turned bedroom, the married couple took a bedroom, and I got the laundry room/bedroom) we were pretty certain the space was not legal to rent to us in this way, but what choice did we have? Once our lease was ending in 2019, the landlords decided they wanted to cash in and sell the place that they had owned since the 1970s and had been renting out ever since.
I was again homeless since I could not find an affordable place in Seattle for a Social Worker making $19/hr, not to mention my student loans had tanked my credit by this point, dropping it down to the 500s despite the fact I have NEVER missed a credit card, utility, or rent payment before in my entire life. I have a squeaky clean record; never even gotten a detention before in school. No one would rent to me with that low of a credit score and I couldn’t afford the 3 months of rent due at lease signing as well as the extra fees just for being low income. I had to move back to Indiana and rented an unfinished unit from a friend in a duplex that said friend lived in. I didn’t have heat, a kitchen, or interior doors- their realtor suggested renting the place in that condition at $1000/month. I was making $13/hr working in DV services in Indianapolis in 2020.
I again lost my job in Indy and got into another abusive relationship to afford housing which led me back to Seattle in 2020. I landed a job that finally paid more than poverty wages- $25/hr, the most money I had ever seen in my life. I was able to leave the latest abusive relationship that also nearly ended my life (he had access to a lot of firearms, the odds were not in my favor and he made sure he reminded me of it daily. By the time I left, he forced me to sleep on the floor with the dogs).
Thankfully, I was making enough I could this time afford to leave before it got worse. The COVID relief stipend and the fact that rental prices dropped briefly during COVID-19 are the only reason I am alive today. I was able to find a 500sq ft apartment for $1200 that didn’t require a ton of extra fees. However, in 2022 my rent went up $300 a month which I was able to negotiate down to $150/month more. In 2023 the large equity group raised my rent again, however it turns out this equity group has been using software meant to artificially inflate the market rate and most places in Seattle use this to increase our rents to the point of homelessness.
In 2024 I was nearly homeless again because I struggled to find affordable housing after my rent on that 500sq ft apartment went up to $1900. I make roughly $70k a year, I have 2 college degrees, 20+ years of experience in my field, a laundry list of certifications and specialties in my field, and I work two other jobs (adjunct professor and artist) and I still can barely afford to live. I don’t have an extravagant lifestyle, I’m not bougie.
I live a very simple life and I don’t attend or purchase unnecessary events/things. My dog eats better than I do. I don’t even have a car, I sold it spring of 2023 because the cost for maintenance on my 2015 Chevy Terrain was too much not to mention the car insurance, registration fees, parking, and gas. I do everything I can to live within my means, but living is unaffordable.
[Credits: Pixabay: FrankyFromGermany]
