Ssdi/low income housing

Hi,

After going through a lot of trauma, I'm looking at moving - possibly to Oregon. I thought about getting a roommate off Craigslist (@ $400/mo) then putting my name on a waiting list for disability/low income housing (usually @ 1/3 ssdi income) Does anyone here have experience with living in, not buying, government housing? Online the housing looks nice, but that doesn't mean anything. I'm only looking in smaller towns, no big cities to hopefully avoid some crime. In my state I know women moved here and got on waiting lists right away, also the safer housing is for seniors (I guess they don't deal a lot of drugs)

Thanks

There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.

Erma Bombeck

thickntired.....I understand what you are asking as I now live in HUD housing and I pay 1/3 rent. You do take a gamble when you move into subsidized housing. I live in a small community and there is a mixture of young and old here in my bldg. I am an older adult but I agree that the senior communities are a lot safer. Most of the better housing around here is 62 and over and I am not quite there yet so I am on a waiting list to move to another building where most of the residents are over 62.

It is a gamble as you don't know what you are going to get when you move to another area. Even a roommate is a gamble. I have moved a bunch of times without actually seeing what I am getting and have mostly lucked out. You are going to find some crime everywhere and some drug activity in any town. So you can move and hope for the best but do as much research as you can before you commit. Best wishes.

I have lived in public housing for the past few years. I'm grateful to have a roof over my head, but the erm, culture in public housing, at least in the state where I live (southern US) is very different from "regular" housing.

Lots of my neighbors are very noisy, people come into the neighborhood to buy drugs or just to hang out, I have neighbors with rage problems who stand out in the parking lot and yell about things, and I occasionally hear gunshots. I am in the best public housing development in my town.

I can't say what things might be like in Oregon.

There are other types of low-income housing besides public housing that you might look for. There are privately-owned apartment complexes that only charge %30 of your income max. There's a type of housing called LIHEAP (can't remember what that means.) If you are 55+, you generally have a better selection of housing to choose from.

I read your profile and noticed that it said that you have pets. Most public housing usually has rules about how many pets you can have. It can range from none to two, usually.

Oh, another way to get housing assistance is through HUD housing vouchers (used to be called Section 8.) You have to get on a waiting list for a voucher.

If you know where you want to move to, you can call public housing there before you move there and ask some questions. Sometimes you can put your name on the waiting list for housing in a place before you are actually living there.

Hope you find a good place to live.

Thank you for the feedback. Actually, I no longer have a dog but do qualify for a service animal. I am 44, and my ssdi is mental but I have physical disabilities from a car wreck. It seems like some housing is for seniors and physical disability. The only proof I'd have is doctors notes, MRI'S etc. I could buy a house but not afford to maintain. I'd be up all night wondering when I need to replace a $5k furnace or $20k roof. I live in the south and the housing is night and day. Some places are great, others have weekly drug busts.

There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.

Erma Bombeck