I was so excited about today's word, SEE. I meditated on the sunlight and the happiness of my two little guys during our picnic at the park. I thought about the gardeners that I passed on my bike. I thought about this beautiful weather, the sun, the sky, the warmth of God's hand in my life. I'd like to write about that.
But truth is, I've been looking at this rental application and have struggled with how I might fill it out.
What I see is injustice.
For three years I have been helping a homeless woman get back on her feet. She was every sort of mess and heartache that comes with homelessness. For some reason, God called me to her and with an inability to do otherwise, I have journeyed with her and learned a great deal (which in itself could be the topic of a whole blog). In 2011, with a lot of help from Upstairs, she finally took the big step and got into an apartment.
I was uplifted to see her do so well. Taking control of her life, exerting a bit of independence, acting responsibly. Of course, she was far from perfect and she still had days that pushed against social norms that we are all expected to adhere to. But -- that aside -- she was doing pretty well.
Her apartment complex changed management. They switched everyone to month to month and slowly started to evict people. They had good reason. There was domestic violence, drug dealing, and all sorts of unsavory situations in that apartment complex. The buildings themselves were also in poor repair and they were using the opportunity to repair the apartments and rent them out at higher rates to more stable tenants. In November, my friend got a notice on the door. She wasn't blameless, but she was far from deserving -- she paid her rent on time, the apartment was in perfect condition -- my heart sank for her. She has an 18 month old little girl with special needs who has turned her world around.
She cried to me. "I can't let my baby be homeless."
"God will provide." I promised. Hoping in my heart that my prayers would be heard. Though December, January and into this month, I have held on to the promise that God will provide and have been looking for a place.
An apartment opened up a few blocks from my house. $865 a month. The cheapest I've seen in town. Her monthly income is $1,095 plus food stamps. It could work. Its only a few blocks away.
So I've been staring at the rental application and debating how to fill it out -- Evictions? Must have income equal to 3x rent? I have tried explaining the situation honestly to several owners and apartment managers. Once they know the situation, the dialog turns silent and I find myself back on Craigslist. So I ponder the deep ethical questions and ask myself -- what would Jesus do?
1 comment:
This is hard. We know that Jesus cares about people, and their suffering, and wants to meet their immediate needs as well as their spiritual ones. And we know that Jesus did things that were considered sinful by the religious authorities of his time.
Still ... it's hard to justify fudging the facts. And in the case of income, if you put down more than she had and then they asked for proof, like pay stubs, it could backfire. I don't suppose there's anyone who would be willing and able to co-sign her lease?
As for the eviction(s), that, in my mind anyway, is different. The management was/is moving people out regardless of their history as tenants, so even if it's technically an eviction, I would feel like it was okay to leave it off. That still runs the risk of the people at the prospective apartment calling to verify. If the management there want her gone, though, I would think they wouldn't be eager to say anything detrimental to that.
Back to the larger issue -- James says that true religion is taking care of people in need. Is it really better to let a woman and child be homeless than to lie? I have a real problem with dishonesty, and yet--is it not the lesser sin, the lesser evil, in a situation like this?
I know a lot of people would say that God will make everything work out so that we never have to make those kinds of choices. I'm just not sure that's true.
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