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No Longer A Statistic
Chantel Vanderhost
Fall 1998

I have lived in subsidized housing for the past seven years and am proud to say that I will be buying a house in the next six months. It all started when I became pregnant with my second child while I was in college pursuing my bachelor’s degree in business. Still living at home with my parents, I was determined to not become a burden on them with two small children. During my eighth month, I was offered the opportunity to locate housing under the Section 8 program. I again state opportunity because I didn’t have any other options available at that time.

I moved into my two-bedroom apartment one week after my daughter was born. Luckily, school was out for the summer and I had a chance to recoup and settle into my new found sovereignty. Did I forget to mention that I was also on public assistance from the state? Quickly I realized how difficult it was to budget $270 for a family of three. Often, I couldn’t afford to pay the full amount of my utility bills and resorted to paying the minimum. That usually messed up my budget for the following month.

This was not the norm for me because I came from a family of college-educated professionals and hated to ask them for money when I came up short. I wanted to be independent and make my family proud. Talk about learning the hard way. However, I continued with my education (using student loan refunds to keep me afloat) and eventually graduated with honors.

Determined to get off welfare, I accepted an apprenticeship with Public Allies, a ten-month service learning program, where I taught GED to female high-school dropouts. Many of the females were going through a lot of the things I had overcome. Housing was a major problem for the young ladies. Most of the time they moved from place to place and shelter to shelter until they got public or subsidized housing. I became a master at referrals, sending them to various agencies depending on their problems. Even though I have since moved on, I still keep in contact with many of them because they need a stable supporter in their corner.

I have written letters to agencies and state officials about issues that keep people like myself and others from succeeding. Lack of proper education, healthcare, daycare, job readiness and housing along with additional environmental barriers are often interlocked and can make someone’s goal an impossible dream. I can say that it took me a while to gain the self-esteem needed to overcome the numerous hurdles. I know it can be done because I’m living proof.

Chantel Vanderhost is a single parent of three, working as a college recruiter and also pursuing her master’s degree in higher education administration.