joy

miss destiny butler rolled up to public counsel today and i had the pleasure of meeting her face to face for the first time. we've had an interesting relationship over the last 7 months, though most of it has been fruitless as far as the law is concerned.

in march, destiny first called from her section 8 apartment on the verge of eviction. she was, in fact, so close to the edge that we were unable to assist her beyond words of comfort and encouragement. you see, the housing authority screwed up - big time. months earlier, destiny's apartment building was sold to a new owner. when the transfer occurred, destiny made the simple switch and began paying her share of the rent to the new owner. the housing authority, however, failed to make the same simple switch. for months, the new owner rightly wondered why he was only receiving the tenant portion of the rent and pursued an unlawful detainer action. by the time destiny called, the period for answering the unlawful detainer had passed and a sheriff's notice had been posted on her door. destiny didn't have a choice - she and her small children, well, they were moving.

in subsequent months, i provided advice and counsel for destiny via the phone. after her eviction, we wrote a letter to the owner of her apartment building demanding the return of her security deposit. he refused but will have a future date in small claims court. in april, i obtained a letter from the housing authority claiming full responsibility for destiny's eviction - perhaps this'll prove useful when she needs to search for another apartment, sub-standard credit history and all. in the summer months, she found trouble at the department of public social services. i did my best to straighten things out.

despite this mix of minor success and yet-to-be-determined success, the fracture in destiny's life that resulted from the housing authority's oversight had yet to heal. she and her children still had not been able to locate a new apartment or home to rent, though thankfully they weren't in the streets. the kids probably haven't been in school for months and destiny sure wasn't getting any closer to finding work and getting stable. not only that, but destiny got pregnant again. another child on the way and still no place to call home. it'd only be a matter of time before she wore out her welcome with family or friends and no longer had a warm bed to sleep in. time was ticking.

face to face today, destiny told me that she had found an apartment near rampart and washington. it's a three bedroom, in a decent neighborhood and, *gasp*, miles north of the 10 freeway. the housing authority went by yesterday and found nary a deficiency - 4825 pickford is ready for move in. my goodness gracious, homegirl found herself a place outside of south los angeles, that accepts section 8 and passed inspection. talk about hitting the lottery. once she gets her move in money from beyond shelter, things'll be peachy again and the healing can begin.

and to think, all of this, just in the nick of time. she's having her c-section tomorrow and the miracle of birth will be meet head on with the miracle of affordable housing in los angeles. destiny or just the Lord's timing? you and i both know the answer to that one. thank you Jesus.