Chattanooga is full of single women with children on the brink of homelessness, and the Neediest Cases fund helps many of them.
Caseworker Laurel Sapp testifies to seeing Neediest Cases rescue a single woman with five children from homelessness as the woman raced against what Sapp calls “the five-year welfare clock.” She explained that people receiving Families First benefits, including food stamps, financial assistance and child care, have five years before it ends.
Most women work desperately to stabilize their lives before their assistance runs out, but the woman with five children had a hard time finding affordable housing with her minimum-wage job, Sapp said.
Then the Chattanooga Housing Authority pulled her number in a lottery for a housing voucher. Having the voucher meant the federal government would pay the larger portion of her rent and the woman would be responsible for paying only one-third of her income toward it.
The problem, Sapp said, was she couldn’t afford the deposit. Enter Neediest Cases with the money to pay it. The voucher and the deposit allowed the woman to move into an affordable home.