Testimonials

I have lived at Floral View for 3 years now, and it has been the most life changing experience for me and my daughter. I came from a sober living house and was afraid that would make me ineligible for housing, but Sara was so kind and understanding and didn’t write me off. She required me to turn in my certificate of completion and other papers regarding my sober living situation, but it was a very smooth process moving forward with being able to live here. Since living at floral view I have gone to and graduated college and now have an amazing job helping others who find them in the same situation I was in so many years ago. I absolutely know I have taken the right steps, but I also give credit to public housing because living here opened doors for me from day one to have stability for myself and my daughter. I have not experienced many barriers since living here. Nothing with the agency anyways, it is more with neighbors, or other tenants not picking up after themselves. It would be nice if HUD had a better, or quicker, process in evicting people who cause a lot of issues or damage, and it would be great if there was eventually a way to pay our rent online. Other than that, I really do like it here and appreciate having this place to live.

Before being accepted into public housing I my daughter and I were living with my parents. Being able to get out on our own has been both a challenge and a blessing of new experiences. Stable housing for my daughter is very important for me, and even though I know my parents would let us continue to stay there, it was important for me to get out on my own. I am young but take my responsibilities seriously, can’t live with mom and dad forever! I am grateful that I have the opportunity to live at Washington Commons and have the help that comes from subsidized housing. The only barrier that I have experienced since moving here is having to pay rent in Troy, but management has been helpful in giving me rent extensions if my schedule doesn’t allow me to get there on time. IT would be nice to have an electronic payment option.

I have lived at the Morris House for many years. I actually left due to medical issues and had to live with my son for about a year, but was able to get back into a great unit at Morris House not long after re-applying. I love it here. The people are people, but mostly enjoyable, I appreciate the management and maintenance team, they are always helpful and quick to respond to anything I have questions about, or need fixed. If I didn’t love it here, I definitely would not have re-applied. I am one of the lucky ones who had a little bigger of a unit, so my timing to get back in here seemed to work our perfectly. There are definitely some barriers that I have experienced over the years, mostly personal or with other residents, however, it would be nice to have better carpet in the hallways, or an additional washer and dryer so we all aren’t rushing to get down to do our laundry before someone else. But otherwise, I have no complaints and just appreciate being able to stay here. With surgery coming up, it helps to know that I still will have stable housing while I am off work for a bit.

The PIPP program helps me keep my electric on. It lets me stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I really don’t know what I’d do without access to this program on my fixed income.

The HEAP, PIPP, and Winter Crisis Program has helped my family not fall behind on other bills and has put gas in the car. I’m not sure what we would do if this program wasn’t available—definitely fall behind further behind on everything. I am thankful for everything that you were able to do.

I would not have been able to afford the repairs on my vehicle without the program. After being approved, I was able to focus on meeting my monthly expenses without the stress of coming up with money for repairs. The process was lengthy but fairly clear cut. With the assistance, I was able to use those saved funds to provide groceries and maintain my monthly expenses (rent, utilities etc). I would have never been able to “save” funds to put towards my car. At some point, my tires and brakes would not have been safe and I could have found myself in a much worse financial position without this program. I was extremely happy and thankful for this program. I absolutely needed the assistance and did whatever was necessary to apply for the program. I had become overly stressed trying to figure out how I was going to save money for these repairs when I was barely affording my month to month living expenses. As a 1 person household, it is very rare that I qualify for any assistance as I am usually barely over the income limit to apply for programs. In my situation, I would benefit greatly from utility assistance and food assistance programs but I do not qualify for those. If I were eligible, some of the funds that I would normally put towards utilities and food could be saved to build a better financial future for myself.

My wife and I are elderly and live off Social Security and a pension. Our income is very fixed and limited. We had a lot of out of pocket medical expenses and weren’t able to make ends meet. We were so happy to get on the voucher program because we are now able to afford housing and medication!

I was a single parent with a medically disabled daughter with several medical issues. I wasn’t able to get a regular job due to caring for my daughter full time, so I become a home seamstress. My daughter is now in college. I was and still am able to be there for my daughter because of the assistance I receive through this agency.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that Morris House have given me to have stable housing. Before getting my select letter, I was couch surfing between friends and family, and had been doing that over multiple years. Public housing gave me the opportunity for a fresh start and new beginning. I am 62 years old, too old to be figuring out stable housing, and feel like my life has been renewed with this opportunity. I have not had any barriers since moving in to the Morris House and hope it continues to be that way.

Having access to the utility assistance program has given me the ability to have extra money for necessities we’re not always able to afford. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to pay my full monthly bill, and my family would struggle from day to day.

I’m a single mom with three children. With my voucher, I was able to go to school for dental hygiene. I now have a higher paying job with room for advancement. Because my rent portion was not increased immediately, I was able to save and prepare for that change. In the next year, I expect to be off the program completely. If it were not for this program, this future for my family would not have come to fruition. I’m so thankful.