Sarah joined the ranks of over 130 Section 8 and Public Housing residents who have graduated from a voluntary program designed to assist participants in identifying, locating, and arranging services they may need to reach economic self-sufficiency.

Sarah says that she joined the Family Self-Sufficiency program because it was the only program that did not include behavior modification. “Nothing was mandated or condescending,” says Sarah.  “I didn’t have to do anything.  I chose to.”  FSS provided Sarah with someone to talk to and bounce her ideas off of, someone to validate her efforts, and the encouragement she needed to improve the quality of life for herself and her children.  Sarah describes FSS as the only program in her life that wasn’t coercive.  “It was a reward -- not a punishment.

When she first joined FSS she was on the Oregon Health Plan, receiving welfare assistance, Food Stamps, and was a new Section 8 participant. “I couldn’t even imagine a budget that didn’t include Food Stamps!”

But now that I have graduated from college with a degree in Sociology from the University of Oregon, gotten a job that I can feel proud of, and have reached the goals that my FSS Coordinator and I created when I joined the program, I’m doing pretty good now. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone who could use a little help.     — Sarah

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Sonya:

“I just needed a little help -- that’s all.”   As a single mom with a newborn baby facing the reality of the bills that accompanied this bundle of joy, Sonya anticipated rough roads ahead. “I was just spreading myself too thin,” she shared on the Wednesday morning we met for an early lunch.  We chose a restaurant close by her new job at a local state agency office.

“My story is not like a lot of others I hear from FSS participants. I am so lucky.  I haven’t had to go through such terrible times,”  Sonya acknowledges. “Sometimes within the program I felt bad.  I knew that there must have been someone out there that could use this help more than I could have.  But I’ll tell you, I sure appreciated all the help I got.”

What Sonya didn’t realize was that the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program, offered by the Housing And Community Services Agency of Lane County (HACSA) was designed for participants with a variety of personal and financial situations.  FSS is designed for everyone who is ready to make the commitment of becoming financially self-sufficient. Some individuals enter the program jobless and facing severe economic hardships, while others are more financially secure. Many participants are employed, but barely getting by. Like Sonya, new FSS participants have found it difficult to get ahead on their own.  Sonya’s story is not so unusual.

“I really did it!” She declares. “And so can you.”

“When I moved out of my parent’s house I was basically homeless for a little while.  I had a rough pregnancy with my son.  I just couldn’t work.  So, I moved into the transitional housing program through St. Vincent de Paul.  I was lucky enough to get a job at Lane County’s Head Start Program and I could basically afford to pay my few bills and get my one-month old baby into daycare.  It was when I was on a temporary lay-off from Head Start that I got to move into Public Housing and enroll in the FSS program.  When I went back to work at Head Start, FSS began to put money into my escrow account.  Just like that.  It was that easy.

At this point Sonya and her FSS worker focused their attention on putting Sonya’s life in order.  They met often to establish and discuss Sonya’s goals and about how she planned to achieve them.  “I didn’t have any stability or resources,” she shares. “I needed skills in budgeting most of all.”  Sonya says that while growing up she never learned basic budgeting skills.  Her parents had a hard time dealing with money and they still do.  She wanted to do better for herself and her baby. Her goals were to one day own her own home and have a good job. Utilizing the referrals and resources that FSS could share was exactly what Sonya needed.

“I learned to be accountable for my spending. I got to take some classes through the OUR Credit Union, Lifeline, and NEDCO. They helped me to think ahead about my money.  I learned how to keep a ledger book of my spending and I kept all my receipts.  (I still do!)  I used the budgeting models that they gave me and then I changed it a little to make it fit my own needs.  Now I can afford the little things like going out to lunch today.  I am in control of where my money goes.

Sonya really got to know herself through this process. Her open communication with her FSS worker enabled her to receive support and services concerning personal boundaries, establishing parenting strategies, maintaining self care and, of course, budgeting. She says she’s really impressed with how FSS focused on the whole family. “I’ve always had high standards for myself and I’m my own worst critic.”  This program helped Sonya learn about her personal limitations in the areas of employment, education, finances, and personal relationships.  Her FSS worker helped her improve these areas of her life and reach the goals that she set for herself. 

“Now I won’t get stuck.  I’ve got the skills and confidence to get myself out of whatever comes my way.  This program has really opened my eyes.  It helped me to build my self esteem. I knew that the key to my success wasn’t doing this program because I had to, or because someone else wanted me to, but because I knew it was what I needed to do to help myself.

Sonya has moved out of Public Housing, graduated from the FSS Program and found a new job that she loves.  “I’m getting retirement benefits and the pay is great!”  The escrow money that Sonya received upon graduation from FSS waits in a savings account until she is ready to buy her first home. She’s surprised that there aren’t more people taking advantage of this empowering program.  She encourages everyone to sign up for FSS and work toward their own financial independence as she has.

When people around me share their struggles and I hear them saying that they’re not sure if they can make it, I tell them YES YOU CAN!  --Sonya

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Mary:

“You don’t want to get into a hole the way that I did!” exclaims Mary.  She has struggled with debt all her life.  After becoming a Section 8 participant and then a Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program participant, Mary gained the skills and knowledge she needed to reduce her debt and get her finances on track.  This is her story.

Mary’s daughter was born in 1988. Six months before her daughter’s birth, Mary’s husband became disabled and was unable to work. They fell behind on their house payments and quickly lost their home. Mary and her husband considered living in their car, but instead were able to borrow money from family and friends to buy a used 14 ft. travel trailer.  Mary remembers that this trailer was really falling apart. When her husband finally began to receive disability insurance payments they were able to purchase a 24 ft. trailer.

They lived in this small trailer for seven years.  “It was meant to be something you use for a vacation, not to live in,” Mary remembers.  She also recalls that when her four year old daughter was visiting friends and family she would start running from room to room, switching lights on and off and flushing their toilets. Her daughter was so unfamiliar with such basics that she couldn’t control herself. “Our home didn’t really have light switches, and we didn’t have far to walk from one end of the trailer to another,” she explains.

Mary and her husband eventually got divorced.  Although she was happy to be out of this abusive relationship, she was now faced with the challenges of being a single parent.  With a small child and being rarely in the company of other adults, Mary’s life slowly became more and more isolated.  “I just wished I had someone to talk to,” she says.

On December 5,1993, Mary’s life changed.  She had reached the top of the waiting list for Section 8 housing and was given a Voucher for a two bedroom unit.  Mary had to move fast to find a home for herself and her little girl.  “It was hard,” she remembers. “No one wanted to take my Section 8 Voucher.  I called everyone, and I looked at so many houses.  Finally, I found my home near the Gateway Mall in Springfield.”

“To us this house was HUGE! You actually had to walk from room to room. It had a full-sized bath tub, we each had our own bedroom (although we slept together on an air-mattress for a while because we weren’t used to being so far apart from each other) and there were light switches in every room. We loved our new home so much that we ran out into the front yard screaming WE’RE HOME!” -- Mary

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