Matthew and Darlene Smithers were homeless for months when they finally found a rental property they could afford. They moved into the house that same day because they had been told they would likely be getting assistance from Washington County to pay their $800 damage deposit.
But a couple of weeks later, they got a letter from their case worker saying they wouldn't be getting the money. The family didn't meet the "definition of an emergency" because it moved in before the security deposit was paid.
Darlene Smithers said if someone had told her the rules, she would have waited a few days to move her three children into the property.
"Why even tell you you can get help if they won't tell you how?" Darlene said. "They just didn't make it clear."
Mary Farmer-Kubler, Washington County's financial assistance supervisor, wouldn't discuss the Smithers' case, but she said the county won't provide assistance in situations where landlords let their tenants move in before paying the damage deposit. "We would never not tell someone the different rules of the program, but we don't go through every rule of the program," she said.
This year, Matthew Smithers was working as a youth pastor at a church in Onamia, Minn., and Darlene had a job as a certified nursing assistant. But both lost their jobs this spring and were evicted from their trailer. They didn't want to take their three children to a homeless shelter, so they spent the summer camping around the metro and in their home state of Indiana. Matthew is attending North Central University to get his degree in pastoral studies, so the family needed to return to the Twin Cities by September.
"We're not your typical homeless family," Darlene said. "But in this economy, there are a lot of people like us."
Their pastor paid for a few nights' hotel stay and a woman at their church let them stay in her home for a few weeks, but the Smithers knew they needed to find their own place before it got cold.