Today we congratulate Dawn for ending her homeless situation of 8 months by getting into permanent housing. After she called us, we built a budget with her which determined how much rent she could afford on her own. Then after she found a rental that fit this budget we were happy to pay her security deposit so she could move in. Read her story below:

Dear OTS,
i was a live in caregiver for my mother in law after my husband passed away. I was with her for 5 years until she also passed in July 2017 the manager of the apt bldg told me i had to leave by aug 1, 2017. even though at that time i had enough saved to to cover the rent which was 700 for a couple months to find another job. They would not allow it. told me i had no rights. I also had a small dog that my mom and i rescued from the streets. we were very attached to her. but that made it very hard to find a place to live along with packing her belongings , mine and looking for work and a place to live in 3 weeks, so me and the little dog ended up in my car because hotels motels are very expensive in the hottest summer in years and it was extremely difficult. The shelters do not accept animals and right or wrong i was not willing to give up my dog. she has been my companion and helped me get through some very tough times. i decided to come to orange county because my son lives here, but they have very strict rules of no animals and there are signs even in the alleys that one can not even walk dogs there. so i started sleeping behind the church but i am plagued with car problems. My pastor helped me to get my dog into temporary foster care so i can find work , which i did. At savers thrift store and now i found the room available that is very close to my work and she said ok to have my dog. so here i am its been 8 months but im still trying. — Dawn

Dawn is the 64th person we’ve helped escape homelessness this year and the 574th since we started OTS in 2014. Read more about our mission of housing the homeless at OTSHB.COM.