Jenny Gibson's Story: Stimulus Funds Save Single Mom On Brink Of Homelessness

Last year, San Diego resident Jenny Gibson found herself unemployed after losing her job with a nonprofit organization. For this hard-working single mother, accustomed to spending her days bettering the lives of others, it was a jolting realization to be the one in need. After months of job hunting, her situation wasn't improving, and it looked like Gibson and her teenage son would soon be out on the street.

"I've always been on the other end of helping other people and when it came to me I was like, 'oh my goodness I can't believe this is happening.' I just kind of felt lost like what do I do?" Gibson said.

Through stimulus funds given to San Diego County by the U.S. Department of Housing's Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program, Gibson was able to find the help she needed to get her family back on their feet. The program's main aim is to keep children and teens in school by identifying those in danger of becoming homeless and providing rental assistance to families. So far, over 30 families in the county have benefited from the program since November and over 100 more are expected to be helped in upcoming months.

Thanks to the program, Gibson and her son are no longer facing eviction -- she now has several months of rent paid, allowing her to concentrate on finding a job.

Comments

[reno1190]

06:40 AM on 04/27/2010

job well done thanks

[MJinCanada]

04:00 AM on 03/14/2010

Every dollar spent on keeping kids in school instead of on the streets will later save $10 to $13 later in welfare, policing, prisons and medical costs.

For those of you still grumbling about how much this cost you, post your address and I'll mail you your share -- 50 cents.

[yamaniyama]

11:42 PM on 03/14/2010

Good one! And who can even argue with this? Aside from the children staying in school, who wants to argue that it's better for all to allow these families to slip further and further into the cycle of poverty and homelessness than to give them a lift on the front end and give them a solid chance to get back on their feet and regain their position as a contributing member of society? And besides, where is your compassion? Really, I think people who grumble about this kind of thing have never experienced being the one in need. But one day, you will. If not this life, another. In the process of evolution, we (as souls) will experience it all - good and bad. Or what 'appears' to be good or bad.

[America free]

09:58 AM on 03/13/2010

I did not get a thank you card from her
since the obama money came from me.
what a surprise someone from CA getting welfare

[samhaydenjr]

06:07 PM on 03/13/2010

Well, when she gets a "Sorry" card from those who caused this crisis, maybe then you can ask for it (incidentally, did you vote for Bush?) - or maybe you could consider her gratitude for the help and her desire to get back on her feet and contribute to her country better than a silly card.

[PWM]

12:05 PM on 03/16/2010

Maybe you should send her a card admitting your party created this mess with your help.

[icenzi13]

09:21 AM on 03/13/2010

Did you think Obama was magic and going to transform your neighborhood into wondeful place? You have to get involved and make things happen for youself. .

[Roop Daug]

08:53 AM on 03/13/2010

Heyyyy !!!!! Somebody got their Obama Money !!!

[batmancw]

09:13 AM on 03/13/2010

And they weren't named Goldman or Sachs. Remarkable!

[UpFromLiberalism]

03:30 AM on 03/13/2010

i thought the stimulus (our great great grandchildrens tax dollars) funds were for job creation

[samhaydenjr]

06:01 PM on 03/13/2010

And job PROTECTION - so Ms. Gibson was still able to spend some funds in her local community, thus contributing to the protection of local jobs, at threat from the collapse of spending by those who have already lost their jobs or are at immediate threat of job losses - so this is EXACTLY what the stimulus package is for. Time for a wake-up call-because of the economic mismanagement of this and previous generations, it became inevitable that later generations would have to pay for either a shart, sharp spike in the deficit or ever-increasing long-term deficits. This way, at least their parents can still provide for them as they grow up and give them the tools to pay for it.

[plaidsportcoat]

11:10 PM on 03/12/2010

I hope you will check back with her when her funding runs out and see if she was actually able to find a job. The jobless recovery is predicted to continue for quite a while. Let's keep track.

[Elk Hunter 1]

12:03 AM on 03/13/2010

Maybe rather than paying for her to stay in their current location and look for a job, they should giver her money to move to a place where work is still available. There are still jobs out there if you are willing to do certain types of work, and live in a place that might not be concidered "home".

[plaidsportcoat]

05:15 AM on 03/13/2010

Yes, that's a practical suggestion.
In the bigger picture, tho - having no choice in life about where you live is also a little like slavery, plus having people constantly move to chase jobs is migrant labor and bound to be low paid because of so much competition. Plus it tears apart any sense of community in the country to have nobody actually live and have roots in a place. There aren't going to be all these churches that people depend on to help people out with food and shelter for homeless if all the congregants have to move from one town to another chasing work, etc. etc. Perhaps the feds should build cheap migrant labor camps in areas where there are lot so low wage jobs, since folks won't be able to afford the rents after they pay their health care expenses, food and gas. Also, the landlords will all be large banks and holding companies that are trying to make some profit off their foreclosure properties, so rents should be jacked up.

[Califishing]

11:01 PM on 03/12/2010

One thing about life is time is an equalizer. For those making bad comments all I can say is wait. You never know how your later years will pan out...

[Sandy23]

10:48 PM on 03/12/2010

I am the Director of a social service agency in Newark, NJ. We received about $160,000 in Stimulus money (Homeless Prevention/Rapid Rehousing HPRP). We were able to assist 77 families with everything from utility arrears to back mortgage to avoid foreclosure. There are very strict limit on administrative costs, however there is an opportunity to create some jobs. We hired 2 formerly homeless single moms. They are now working, gaining experience and off welfare.

Did we solve the problem, no but you know the story about the starfish. The people we were able to help were greatful and their lives have been stabilized and the women we hired are now working for the first time.

[Kellyinpdx]

11:50 PM on 03/12/2010

Thank you.

[Mark Harker]

10:13 PM on 03/12/2010

For the rest of the story watch hannity's waste 102.

[Kellyinpdx]

11:50 PM on 03/12/2010

hannity is a waste

[RevJimIII]

01:10 AM on 03/14/2010

Is it a waste to point out where stim money has been spent (wasted)?

[RachelMc]

02:26 AM on 03/15/2010

he's still alive?

[jamaicalover]

10:03 PM on 03/12/2010

Liberal is not a dirty word but Republican should be.

[America free]

10:01 AM on 03/13/2010

liberal is someone that sucks tax money from hardworking people
a liberal will pee their pants if the see a pocket knife.

[PWM]

12:07 PM on 03/16/2010

Obviously you know nothing about libealism. Go read up a bit before making yourself look more foolish.

The Founding Fathers were liberals one and all.

[freeus]

09:00 PM on 03/12/2010

This program shouldn't be a passing thing; if we had a system in place to assist people in this scenario we could keep a snowball effect from occurring; kids who are homeless face a terrible uphill battle.

[MIKEBC]

08:55 PM on 03/12/2010

Thank you for the stimulus funds democrats, dems are for the people and repubs are for money and profits.

[Elk Hunter 1]

10:52 AM on 03/13/2010

So in theory you need the repubs money to fund everyone else.

[samhaydenjr]

06:10 PM on 03/13/2010

However, in reality net federal transfers go from blue states to red states

[PWM]

12:07 PM on 03/16/2010

Repub money is borrowed money.

National Debt increase by president in constant dollars.
Under Carter: 42%
Under Reagan: 189%
Bush Act 1: 55.6%
Clinton: 36%
Bush Act 2: 89%
http://www.skymachines.com/US-National-Debt-Per-Capita-Percent-of-GDP-and-by-Presidental-Term.htm
In graph form http://zfacts.com/p/318.html

[ItsMrHand]

08:13 PM on 03/12/2010

You have to appreciate the picture of the homeless woman pushing the shopping carriage on the headline for effect ... What a joke :-)

[thecesar]

07:01 PM on 03/12/2010

Do you realize how much money could be saving if we didn't pass the bill?

[PatrickJ08]

07:26 PM on 03/12/2010

Tell me.

And does your figure take into account the additional tax revenue as a direct result of the stimulus (+3-4% GDP)?

And are you including the nearly 1/3 of the stimulus that went to tax cuts?

[Elk Hunter 1]

12:09 AM on 03/13/2010

The stimulus isn't the reason the GNP is in a positive state right now.

That is all due to companies doing more with less people and not having to pay the extra labor wages and the benifits packages that are gone due to layoffs. I have seen it first hand in some local companies. People are still losing jobs, when people start reporting that 500,000 Americans went back to work this month without any massive layoffs people can be happy.

Until then the stimulus was mostly a waste of money. It did some good I will not dispute that, but it is hard to support the thing when they caught money going to so many bad things. And money going to districts that didn't exsist.

[Barbie and Ken forever]

09:09 PM on 03/12/2010

And do you realize how much negative effects it will have on the rest of the country if people don't pay their mortgage or credit bills? If the homes in your neighborhood are being foreclosed, then that brings down the value of homes that are fine. Is that what you want?