Full disclosure: This diary was originally published earlier today by KelleyRN2 on behalf of her/his friend "Janet." As the original tags and title did not specifically target Colorado Kossacks, it rolled off the front page without getting some of the "local" attention that it deserves and which would be most helpful to the poster. As such, I have offered to use my diary allotment for the day to re-post for KelleyRN2, and to bring this story to the attention of as many Colorado Kossacks as possible. KelleyRN2 will be commenting and responding below and both he/she and I thank you for your indulgence of this slight bending of the rules. I hope that you will agree that it was for a very good cause/reason. Thanks! -- mindoca
Kossacks, many of you have come to know me over the past year through my comments. I'm not much of a writer, but I happen to be that creature most of you are constantly looking for: an appreciative and voracious reader. I've always said I would publish a diary when I had something original to offer, something amazingly insightful or funny or creative or even "breaking". <smile> That day has yet to arrive. Today, I find I need your advice.
I was sixty-one on my last birthday, and for forty of those years my best friend has been a woman I'll call Janet. Janet is older than I am, almost seventy. We both lived in Houston until 2000, when we found ourselves able to dream of a different life. I was divorced, my only child was in college, and my Mom had just died. Janet, who had worked for an oil company her entire life, had recently accepted an early retirement package. I wanted to pull up stakes and move to the mountains, my gift to myself for the millenium ... but I was afraid to do it alone. Yep, I talked Janet into moving to Colorado with me.
Our new lives were wonderful at first. We rented apartments in a nice complex, gradually adjusted to the altitude, settled our various pooties, and I went to work at the NICU in a nearby hospital. Janet and I were in awe of the climate, spending more time outside in the summer of 2000 than we had our entire adult lives in Houston. We didn't worry about national politics much at all because we KNEW George W. Bush. He had been our governor. There wasn't a chance in hell he could beat Al Gore. <sigh>
Janet's life began to change in 2001. Her retirement funds virtually disappeared in that first Bush crash. Unable to live on social security alone, she got a job in retail, helping open a chain bookstore. Retail is hard work for an older woman with health problems, but Janet has a passion for books, a nice touch with customers, and an easy way with her co-workers. It has been a good fit. She was eventually able to buy a small townhouse, and started rebuilding her retirement finances through the bookstore's 401(k).
Like so many others, eight years of Bush took their toll on Janet. She found herself in bankruptcy and foreclosure this year. Her lawyer, looking over her finances, remarked, "You don't have the usual problem I see, which is people who've been spending too much. Your problem is your income is too low." She was already falling behind on her mortgage payments, trying to pay off credit card debt and medical bills. Filing for bankruptcy stopped her lender's foreclosure proceedings for several months, allowing her to stay in her townhouse a little longer and pay off her car loan. The bankruptcy was filed and finalized this summer; she has until the end of September to vacate her home.
This morning Janet called me, doing something I have rarely seen her do in forty years. She was crying. She has Fridays off, so she used today to look for an apartment or house to rent, something she can now easily afford. After a dozen calls it became apparent that no one will rent to her until she's been out of bankruptcy for at least one year. "There must be someone," I said.
"If there is, I can't find them." And then she hung up. Sobbing.
Kossacks, what do people do for housing in situations like this? People who can AFFORD housing? Seventy year old women with diabetes? A woman who STILL has a credit score of about 640, even with the bankruptcy showing? A woman who can now easily pay her rent? Who is employed full-time? If any of you have faced a similar situation, I would be most grateful for your input.
Once again, I am re-posting for KelleyRN2, who will be responding to your comments and questions below. And again, here is the link to the original diary from earlier today, for those who want to see the comments and suggestions offered at that time, mostly by non-Coloradoans. Thanks for any advice and/or help you can offer from your experience and/or resources. -- mindoca