I played catch up all day after the conference, trying to do mounds of laundry, put ATN money in the bank, drop off and pick up Stephanie from work (her car was in the shop) and for the last two hours, talk to two moms. Here it is after dinner and this is the very first chance I have had to sit down and blog. Earlier today I did a three-way call with a contact I made at the NACAC conference and one of his friends (a woman I met several years ago), and on that call I ranted and raged about families not getting services and families imploding while so many people were turning their heads the other way and ignoring the elephant in the living room.


The two moms were prime examples. One mom has such serious PTSD she felt compelled to hide the household knives, and she expresses all-too-easily-provoked tears. She receives little understanding from anyone in her immediate environment, other family members included. Both moms were dealing with teenage kids, both kids were internationally adopted, and both moms were still working very hard to adjust their expectations down to their reality.


Speaking of reality … remember how I mentioned that Amy moved into an apartment last September, with six months rent paid for in advance, using money we made her save from jobs we made her get? She was supposed to save enough to pay the last six months' rent. She also had access to nearly three grand that merely required her to submit photo identification as proof of who she was. She didn’t get the photo to the proper folks in time (after I did the preliminary groundwork), so when they told her she must reapply, she dropped it. She told us she didn’t have enough money to pay six months rent in advance but she paid for three months and she would have the other three months ready when needed. Well, that was a lie, because the apartment complex informed my husband this morning that Amy owes them nearly $4,000. She hasn’t paid any rent since my husband gave them the first six months. After much pressing from my husband, Amy acknowledged she had “less than a thousand dollars” in the bank. He figures it is more like a few hundred.


So, we will “help” her collect her three grand (I am a co-signer on the check and it will go towards her back rent), we will pay off the apartment bill (which will include another month’s rent before all is said and done) and she will find herself homeless and broke by mid-September. She couldn’t have handled this more poorly. And of course, she had a million excuses for my husband, including that she was “working her butt off.” I wonder where her tired butt will be landing in the near future? I know I am preaching to the choir here, but do you all have any idea how hard I worked to avoid this exact scenario? And to no avail.


I'm going horseback riding with Beth now ...


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