Help Finding A Catholic Charity

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LazarusWaiting

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I live in Riverside County, CA and apparently it’s a black hole for charities. I’ve been trying to find a Catholic charity for help with Eviction Prevention/Emergency Rental Assistance but either the office has moved, I’m referred to someone else and then someone else and then someone else, no one answers, or the mailbox is full, etc. I’m not complaining just because a couple phone calls didn’t work out, I’ve made scores and scores of calls and probably written a couple dozen emails, so I’m genuinely confused and wondering what I’m doing wrong.

Does anyone know where I can get in touch with someone involved with Catholic Charities who can actually provide some assistance? I’m not trying to be pushy, please don’t take my persistence the wrong way, I just feel like I’m trapped outside the loop and if I’ve learned anything it’s that you can’t give up easily because things are rarely easy, if ever. I’m sincerely reaching out for help, I loathe to be asking and I know I don’t deserve anything more than anyone else, but I have no choice at the moment.

Also I don’t want to lose my father’s belongings, which aren’t much, but that will happen if I’m forced out in a few days. Due to physical limitations I simply cannot physically move everything he has (a lot of books) and most importantly I don’t have anywhere to put it, yet. This all happened so quickly and I was consumed with his medical care and traveling back and forth from the hospital during the last week and a half before he passed, and I honestly thought he was going to get better.

If anyone out there can lead me in the right direction I would like to hear about it.

Thanks.
 
Have you talked with your parish or the local St. Vincent de Paul Society?
 
The local SVDP has closed down so I have to call around, and yes I have contacted the local parish. On the phone they referred me to other numbers, which I’ve called, two said flat out they couldn’t do anything and the main number goes right to a recorded message. When I click on the option it just puts me on hold until it hangs up on me. I’ve been re-dialing it for two hours today.

Like I said in the post, my area seems to be a black hole for charity.
 
What kind of help are you looking for exactly, I don’t really understand.
 
I put it at the beginning of the post, Eviction Prevention/Emergency Rental Assistance.

It’s temporary help for people who get behind on rent for whatever reason and are about to be evicted.
 
I need to amend that for clarification, everyone in the office at the local Parish is out until Jan 2nd, two days too late. I was given referrals by someone at the next closest Parish.

This is literally the worst time of year to get into this mess.
 
You are FAR more likely to find secular agencies open over the Holidays. United Way, Salvation Army, local shelters.

ETA the Social Workers at the hospital were you father was treated is another place to call.
 
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I don’t know that many people here, it’s kind of complicated and a bit personal, but after I moved here I got really down and became isolated. Not due to drugs or alcohol or anything like that, just a lot of difficulties that were pressing me down and I stopped going out except for absolute basic needs. All I did was stuff for my dad and things for friends and neighbors close by who need my help, but nothing that involved any kind of social gathering. I’d rather not go into all that right now because it’s embarrassing, but I have little to nothing to rely on right now, hence the desperation. The neighbors I know and help from time to time are extremely limited themselves, I can get a ride here or there but that’s about all they can do.

211 @ United Way gives me a beeping sound, I tried some other option so I could get hold of a person and I’m still waiting for someone to call me back. The closest Salvation Army offers a kind of lottery first come first serve deal on a scheduled day, the next one is 4 days after I’m supposed to be out, that in itself may cause some real problems. I’ve called and/or emailed all the local shelters that I know of to no avail.

It’s not that I’m not trying, I feel like I’m on the outside of a closed loop, that’s why I made the post. I felt like it was better to reach out than to give up.
 
I’d keep trying your parishes StVdeP conference. Even if they don’t have the funds we have a thing called twinning where we work with parishes who do. Be persistent. Call as many parishes as you can and see what they can do. Not all conferences are active as they should be.

God bless!
 
LazarusWaiting said:
I feel like I’m on the outside of a closed loop
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And you are not necessarily wrong, to be very honest with you. In a metropolitan area, the requests surpass the resources many times over every day. I am in a town of 35K people, when we had a StVdP, there were 20 - 25 requests every day. We had enough donations to help maybe 5 requests per week. Multiply that out and you will see why ever group has to have some way (like the Salvation Army “Lottery” system) to answer requests.

The other challenge is the holiday. There is always going to be an approvals process, the charities can’t simply write checks without a little bit of due diligence. Over the holidays, that time is going to be extended.

Your landlord knows your father just died? Will they not give you a 1 week extension? Let you make a partial payment? If you have children, by then the schools will be back in session and you can work through the school administration into a homeless prevention service.

The best way to get your request for assistance to the head of the line is to be recognizable to someone who is doing the triage. This is a reason I suggested the Social Workers at the hospital where your dad died. They knew your dad if they did not know you, ask if they can make a call to get your request in front of the eyes of the folks who might have assistance available. Perhaps your dad was a member at a parish? Was he a member of the Knights of Columbus? Find someone who knew your dad who can maybe at least rent you a storage locker and help you move his things if your landlord will not give you a “after the holidays” extension.

When business resumes next week, go to Catholic Charities, The United Way, etc.
 
Thanks for letting me know.

I have been persistent, I’m trying everything I can think of to present my case and be heard, apparently it’s just bad timing and unfortunately the local StVDP was closed down a while ago so my area is kind of like an orphan as far as StV goes.

As for Parishes, everyone I’ve been able to reach has told me they don’t have anything or don’t offer assistance, they usually tell me to call StV, or refer me to ‘Catholic Charities’ who’s staff isn’t in until later on next week after my deadline.

This is what I was afraid of. For whatever reason Everyone is depending on everyone else to offer the assistance, and now I have the strong suspicion that even if I’m able to convince management to gamble on allowing me to stay long enough for some of these offices to open, it will just be more of the same.

I’m going to keep trying today though, I’ve already been at it for a while.
 
Like many things, it’s complicated. I wouldn’t be asking for advice like this if it were a simpler matter, but everything’s so topsy-turvy right now, nothing seems to be working.

We were both on good terms with the manager and the staff, but he passed away right near the end of the month, so immediately we/I fell a month behind. The manager has expressed a willingness to work with me, but the actual owner of the place is never around and doesn’t know any of the tenants, and from what I understand he’s very much concerned with the bottom line and that’s about it.

I had talked to the Social Worker at the hospital the morning before he passed away and I’ve contacted her again but she doesn’t seem to have much experience helping people with this particular issue, when I brought it up she sounded somewhat perplexed and told me what they usually do is give people a “packet” with a list of resources. (A list I could most likely replicate, and probably add to, from my Sent emails and Dialed Calls list) I specifically mentioned StVDP and CC, and politely asked if there was any way she could validate my situation to someone and she said she would see what she could do.

I’ve had a couple calls while writing this out and it’s the same thing each time, nothing can be done because there’s no conference for my area. I keep getting bounced to numbers of parishes and organizations that are close by, and when I call they bounce me back to someone else. I can’t be upset about something that’s not owed to me, I fully appreciate that, but the fact that I still don’t know who I’m supposed to be in contact with is frustrating and disappointing, but that’s all I’'m going to say about it.
 
I’m going to continue trying to sort this out, but I’ve spent most of my time on the phone and writing emails and I’m still on the same first step a week later, that’s what’s frustrating.

I guess I’m just nerve wracked.
 
It is a nerve wracking situation.

If you are a vet, be sure to reach out to the VA. They have homeless prevention programs.

With Friday on Holiday Weekend, so many offices are closed.
 
Thank you, yes I’ve contacted 211, I’m about to call the number they gave me again since I haven’t heard anything from them yet.

I’ve been using RentAssistance as a reference as well. I’ve called Path of Life, City Link, the Settlement House, etc.

I may re-call all of them just to see what happens. I’m trying to be persistent, but without becoming a nuisance, it’s a fine line though.
 
How much do you need (dollar Amount) to keep your head above water?
 
At this point the 800 I owe for the previous month’s rent is probably the minimum I can pay and be able to stay, as long as I make good on the utilities owed in a timely fashion.

Unfortunately there’s an unusually large electricity bill since before my father went to the hospital we were using an oxygen machine most of the day, and running an air mattress, and because it’s been quite cold the heater was on all night, and part of the day.

I’m trying to take care of the utilities separately, either through some kind of assistance and/or through whatever piecemeal work I can do. It’s been a catch 22 having to stick around to make the calls and write emails, and be here to answer the phone if someone calls, while at the same time needing to find ways to earn money, not knowing which will work out.

If I am able to get caught up I’m going to see if I can negotiate a lower rent, or switch to something even smaller than the unit I’m in, if there is such a thing, to make my position more secure for the future. If not then I’ll work on transitioning to some place that’s cheaper. I really don’t know what’s going on yet, everything’s happened so fast, but I know I don’t want to end up in this position ever again.

We’ve been on good terms with the people running the place, they know about my situation, and they know I’m trying to put the pieces together, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to work something out that’s reasonable.
 
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