What would you do?
Posted by in HomelessnessAfter talking further with this new job, I discovered that I’ll be getting less than 20 hours a week. Since this is a caregiver type position, I will be required to drive to two different clients, and the first one I met with last night was 30 miles away from Maggie’s school and tentative daycare. The second client is 30 miles away from the first one so we are looking at 60 miles one way. Multiply that by $4 a gallon. First client only needs me for 3 hours a day. Second client also only needs me for part time hours and after I added up the hours, it came to 15 hours a week. Now multiply that by $10 an hour. Keep in mind that childcare expenses are $119.00 a week after I front the registration fee and first week’s rate of $119.00 in advance.
I talked to the daycare and told them that this new job only pays once a month and they said they couldn’t wait that long to be paid so that means I have come up with cash for the entire month until my first paycheck next month. Obviously, after I get that first check, it won’t be enough to pay for childcare or all the gas I spent going to client’s homes. The daycare receptionist asked if I qualify for childcare assistance through the state and I told her yes but it’s not immediate, there is a 6-8 week waiting list before they would pay and that won’t help right now.
This blog will be a short one because all I want to know is….what would you do?
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Carey, would it help if you had a bus pass? That way you wouldn’t have to put so many miles or gas into your own vehicle to get to your clients. (Assuming they are near a bus line). I’m sure myself and others could get together to get you a bus pass until a more sustainable arrangement can be made. Otherwise, I can see how the current arrangement could make the job feel like it is more trouble than it is worth. What days/ hours do you require childcare and how old are your kid(s)? I hope others join the conversation – two heads are better than one!
Monthly bus passes here are $113.00. The first client I visited lives in the woods nowhere near a bus line. Second one lives in a small town a little over 30 miles away and since buses are at 40 minutes to an hour intervals out here, I would be late all the time not to mention how long it would take to get back to daycare on time because the daycare’s contract has a provision in it that they will charge $2 a minute if I’m late…plus, the daycare is not open afte 6 pm….
This is why I had to find work from home type gigs– I could never afford the daycare for six kids. That’s a tough one– although it’s apparently easier to find work when you’re already employed.
Yeah…that’s the catch-22!
First, I’d see if they could give me clients that were closer by. For how far away they are and the lack of hours, if they can’t do better, it’s not worth it to keep that job. Also, you have said you have a teenager. I’m sure she has things going on and you wouldn’t want to take that from her, but why can’t she watch your younger daughter after school, just temporarily? You’ve probably heard that before, but I was just wondering about it. Also, isn’t there anything within your younger daughter’s school that she could particiapte in (chorus or something), so that she could stay there a little longer… or maybe you could get some of your youth that you trust to help you out by keeping an eye on her. You do so much for people, that I bet some of them might be willing… maybe. I hope whatever you decide, it turns out for the best.
My teen has to catch up for all the lost credits last year due to not wanting to go school so she has to stay after school to make those up. Also, she has to be in school before Maggie does. Even if she could watch her sister after school, where? We’re homeless, remember? Thing with after school activities is we can’t afford them so my kids don’t join them and we don’t exactly have anybody we’re related to able to pick them up and drop them off. Since this employer is funded by the state, client’s are only approved a set amount of hours that they will pay. Now you see my quandary….Good thing I’m still applying for other jobs!
Yes, I see. Hmmm… back to the drawing board. Someone will figure this out… maybe not me, but I’ll keep thinking up ideas for ya.
Ha ha…so will I because I’m no quitter!
Isn’t there a Federal law that says they have to pay you for mileage?
Yes and they pay 39 cents a mile! Lol! I got the paperwork that shows that!
ARE THESE PEOPLE INSANE?
They only pay you 10 bucks an hour and want you to drive that many miles and survive on so few hours???
AND you only get paid once a month on top of that, so you have all that gas money that has to be paid out to get to the job to begin with???? IN-FREAKING-SANE!!!
I know someone who does this for a living and they allow you to have clients within an easy range of where you live.
This ones easy to decline in my book, these people are NOT living in the same world, they are in some sort of dream world back in the day when gas was 2 bucks a gallon.
This makes me ill!
Do you only qualify for state assistance daycare if you already have a job? Since the waitlist is so long aren’t you already on it?
No because I was told that I had to prove I was hired first before being “invited” to apply for childcare assistance. That’s why I made a video of myself calling the state regarding childcare assistance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=totEwcVX5Ds
You are evaluating your (limited) options very carefully. This job does not sound like it could work.
What would I do? Keep on looking. Keep on blogging about the roadblocks homeless parents experience. I would focus primarily on my children’s safety given that they do not have a home to return to after school. Also, I would not want to be 30 – 60 miles away from my children. You do not owe anyone any explanations about your priorities. Truth is, you are working hard everyday to help others. Happy Mothers Day!!
Carey, I had zoomed out from your story because I thought others were on the details. I see that it’s been a couple of days since this last post, so I’m not sure where you are at now. But it seems to me that the whole point of being with Hopemob.org is that we stick with you, long term.
That means if you didn’t solve this childcare issue, then it’s our responsibility to help. So what would I do? I would ask for help. Again and again. Until someone does!
Thinking over options. Will see what I come up with.
Jackie
@jackinessity
Heya- it’s me again. I threw out some tweets and heard back that there are in fact others on your team keeping an eye on things. I’m always here if you need me, but since there’s little I can do other than send supportive thoughts, I will step out of the ring for the moment.
You know where to find me!
Jackie
Carey, You and your family are in a rough spot like so many Americans. I am sorry to hear about the challenges you have faced. Eventhough your new job turned out to not be what you expected or needed, you were hireable! You now have an upper hand that you didn’t before. Someone else responded that people who are already working are more desirable than someone who is unemployed.
With that said, what do you want?
What would life be like for you if you got what you want?
If you continue what you are doing will you be able to get what you want?
Best,
Wendy
cufitforlife@gmail.com
Wendy, thank you for your comment but did you happen to notice that the job is not worth having if it costs more than I’m making to keep it? Regardless if someone is more desireable when they are already working (which by the way is absolutely ridiculous if you think about it. Where’s the sense of applying to a job if you don’t need one?), paying more than you’re actually making only pushes me further into homelessness, not out of it. Due to the current senselessness of our economy, it doesn’t matter what I want, it’s what I get left with that is the major problem. Nobody gets what they want when a small percentage of the population controls everything to their advantage. Rich people do not create jobs, that’s a myth and contrary to so-called data, homelessness isn’t getting better. We can slap a bandaid on it and move numbers around to fake the truth to sway public opinion but there’s still not enough affordable housing to go around and the poor are still starving. I am just one face in a crowd of millions trying to survive on breadcrumbs. I have always been hireable it’s just that employer biases are allowed to be justified.