Jason had moved out and in with a roommate. Several months ago his roommate packed up and left when Jason was out of town visit his father. We helped him out by paying for his roommates share of the rent while Jason looked for a new roommate. He could not afford the rent on his own. His income level is so low that he can't even get the Obama medical care. That confuses me, I thought the plan was for everyone to get insurance. Apparently not if you make too low of an income.
After several months of no success of finding a roommate Jason looked towards finding a cheaper rental property. He found an efficiency that included utilities but couldn't afford to get the deposit and firsts months rent together while still living in his current place. I didn't know all of this until he came to me and asked me to watch George for a while. On the first he moved out and basically became homeless. He is couch surfing while saving for his deposit and rent in a more affordable place. We have told him that he could move back home but he doesn't want to. He does come home for showers and occasional naps on the couch.
We have helped many of our kids with rent and deposits. The fact that he didn't want our help and is doing it on his own shows me that he is growing up. I wish he would go to a community college and learn a trade that would give him a higher income but he isn't interested. He loves bartending. Loves working with the people. He did tell me this week that he got a second job. I hope that the extra income gets him into his place in November.
It seems to me that it is harder for a single person to afford all the basics than when I was younger. Rent, utilities, food, insurance have all gone up. Jason does not have any credit card debt, no cable or internet, no car payment. He had the bare basics and still couldn't afford to pay the bills. It is hard as a parent to watch your kids struggle to provide for themselves. You want the best for your kids, want them to be comfortable and able to support themselves and their children. However, you can't do it for them. They are now in charge of their lives. I can only offer advice at times but ultimately it is up to them whether they take it or not.
Hopefully George won't be living with us much longer. He gets so excited when Jason comes to visit. It is obvius that George misses Jason.
Has Jason applied for assistance? He could qualify for Medicaid, rent assistance, etc, especially because he is technically homeless right now.
ReplyDeleteOne caution: many bartenders are/will become alcoholics. If he likes working with people, a job in social services might be good for him. Counseling, teaching...i would encourage him to go for a tour of a community college, and meet with someone in admissions, at the very least. I have taught at CC's and found that many of my students delayed their education out of fear, masked as "no desire."
Oh, I know the life of a bartender. We had him enrolled in college twice and both times he said he really wasn't interested and couldn't commit since he didn't know what interested him.
DeleteJason has not applied for any assistance. He says he doesn't want it. Thankfully he doesn't have any kids, just his dog.
DeleteI am in a similar situation with Ty. He lacks the people skills so it's even harder. He was told he has a job stocking shelves but now they've put him off starting for three weeks. So I guess they hired more guys than they needed.
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