Housing is the foundation of surviving any crisis.

I have been watching a lot of videos again.  It is my "recreation" at the end of the day, and the reason I end up posting late.  Some videos are about housing designs, others are about homeless issues, and some are about food or other survival topics.  Tonight I watched a couple new topics - evictions in low-income mobile home parks and squatter rights. 

When everything falls apart, however that may happen, housing will be the main issue.  When we need to overcome huge problems in our lives, having a stable home to start from is really essential.  Trying to solve problems as homeless people/families is very difficult.  

Not having housing makes it very hard to work, to go to school, to take care of yourself or your family, to eat, to do laundry, to shower, and all those little things we don't even think about until they aren't there anymore.

Being alone, being elderly or disabled - or both, being poor, being without a job, being without close family, being a minority or having a criminal history, being a single parent, or having other problems that affect housing options, makes the challenge to overcome our crisis more impossible.

Stable housing allows us to find solutions. It helps us continue in the same neighborhood we have been living in and to access the resources we already know.  Starting over in a new neighborhood means we have to rebuild all those networks we have had.  It takes time to find new resources in a new neighborhood.  If we have to move again, and again, and again, we are starting over each time.  It makes recovery so hard and it takes so long.

In the mobile home eviction video, one elderly man had planned to live out the rest of his days in a mobile home he bought for his retirement.  He didn't have anyone left in his life except his neighbors.  The entire mobile home park was being evicted.  He had no one to help him through this crisis and no where to go.  He planned ahead.  Then, when he was not able to help himself, was being forced to leave everything he had planned and built and needed to survive the rest of his life.  

Someone bought the land.  They wanted to build a different future with their property.  Is anyone guilty of a crime?  No.  This is a process that happens everywhere.  People want to make as much money as they can.  People have to cover the expenses of a new mortgage.  A new property owner has their own vision and plans.

So, what is the solution?

Somehow, the people in the housing park need to be helped to find an equally priced new situation for living.  But that isn't really possible in our age.  These people were living in the same place for years and years and years.  They never thought about moving.  The homes they owned were too old to be moved.  They didn't have other mobile home parks to move to... the other mobile parks in their city were also being closed.  

The poor cannot suddenly find money to overcome an eviction.  The elderly are often surviving on a limited income.  They cannot make it grow to cover new rent prices.

Christians will suffer these kinds of problems as our End Times become worse.  This is not just the problem of a mobile home park or other low-income property being changed into something else.  Christians are losing jobs, houses, and lives they thought would never change.  Christians have prepared for their future, but their future is changing.  Where will they turn when those difficulties happen?

I don't know.  I didn't really find adequate help in my own trials.  I watch these videos and I see again there is still no hope for people in a sudden crisis, even for Christians.  I hate to think about what is coming and what it will do to Christians and everyone else. 

The government is not the answer.

A crisis that turns everyone toward the government as its only support option is a path to socialism, to government control in greater and greater amounts, slowly, in a hidden path, one that makes the government seem like a savior.  Welfare, SNAP/food benefits, Unemployment, stimulus acts, housing subsidies, and programs like this all lead to the government being the sole support of our lives.  It is changing us from free and independent people into dependent followers of whatever the authorities/government decides is what will be. 

Housing is one way to break our sense of freedom.  

Food is another.  

Jobs are another.

What about the lockdowns we all submitted to willingly, which became legal "rules" and brought police force into our lives... over a mask!

COVID really hurt our nation - and we are not yet recovered.  There are still people in authority who want to keep it going.

These YouTube videos on evictions after COVID say there will be more to come.  The government cannot print enough money to save us... printing money leads to even more financial problems.

We must find ways to protect our communal resources.

Winter is visiting again. Dreaming of my ideal housing.

I really don't like all this cold weather.  I am beginning to understand the snowbird mentality.  :-)  Maybe a smaller place to live, like my dream "tiny house," would be better for my senior years.  I don't want a mobile tiny house, my dream is "small on a foundation."

A long time ago I spent a lot of time making drawings of small house designs that might be used for Working Together communities.  I made one for 15x20 and then larger versions.  Every household has different needs.  I was trying to find a way to meet these varied needs within a larger community.  

For myself, I finally decided that what I needed was a 40' x 40' workspace on the ground floor, a 30' x 30' housing space on top of that, set into a corner so I could have a porch area, and a roof that was sturdy enough to let me build a garden space on it.  Because of my aging issues, I wanted a small elevator that could go to the roof garden.  That was the extent of my design vision for myself.  I didn't get into the details of the building.

Making a drawing is different than living in a space.

It took me a long time to realize the square footage of my dream housing would have been the same as my son's house.  That was an "ah ha" moment.  A 30x30 living space is small.  I based it on a small one-bedroom apartment I lived in at one time.  But adding the workspace makes it into a large single-family dwelling size.  Plus the garden area.

I wondered how much it would cost to build, and how this principle could be applied to community members.  My design was for my needs.  Other families would need different solutions.

Remember, I was thinking about building a place Christians would be able to go to as their lives were hurting from persecution.  We would need to build communities and all the things communities need to survive.

Food. Shelter. Housing. and then all the things families need, but at a very basic level.  That would be a doctor but may not be a comprehensive care.

Tiny houses are really great.  Small housing is great.  Shared housing is also important.  We would have to find a way to care for each other... eventually, without any cash.

Off-grid becomes essential.  I don't know if we could create a combination (a hybrid) of resources, but that would be useful.

I suppose everything would start with the property.  Where the water is, what kind of animals we would need to protect ourselves from, and hunt for food, and the roads we would need.  It's like becoming a city planner without the education.  More like the wild west before zoning laws.

On my website I have a statement about the End Times and Christians.  How many of us will there be when the Antichrist finally becomes a threat to our lives?  We really don't know.

I decided we need at least one community in every country possible to start with.  There won't be a lot of transportation options for those times.  Horses may become the only choice, for farming and getting around.

It changes every concept of survival to think about life without money and resources we have been used to having.

Taxes become the biggest threat to living anywhere.  The government becomes a tool to overcome all our efforts to live independently.

It is an impossible problem.

How all this will unfold is not known, but prophecy tells us it is coming.  Our lives tell us the Antichrist is very near.

In Christ,  Deborah Martin

https://work2gather.us

FAITH FRIDAY :: 24 SEP 2021 - Housing ideas and Faith in GOD's will for our lives

Well, I almost forgot it was Friday again!  :-)  I was browsing videos at You Tube.  Housing is a big topic for me.  I watch a lot of Tiny House videos, and found one by a channel called Invisible People.  I think they are in the Los Angeles area of California, but that was only a guess.  I made a very long comment about the isse, which I kept for my records, but I think I will share it here.  I mentioned several of my own ideas on housing and government... maybe one of my readers will be able to use them to help the homeless in their area.

Let me know if you think any of these quickly shared ideas has any hope of being implemented !!

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Well, just going to add my comments to the conversation... not sure they will be seen at this date.  I hear comments only register right after posting.  :-)

I heard Santa Monica so I am guessing it's a CA location.

I heard safe zone is only for COVID reasons.  Where will she go as restrictions are lifted.

I wonder if there are any worthwhile updates about her situation... housing, job, future?

I read some of your materials but relying on the government to be all answers to all people is  not going to help the nation.  Taxes can only go so far.  The government has promised too much, abused the funds it has already received, and doesn't seem to think it will ever go bankrupt because, after all, the people can pay more, right?!

The options that are available need government approval, not always funding.  That is a long hard and sometimes futile process.  People like you can make changes on your own.  You are a charity.  Raise funds for housing projects.  Buy land and build a community for the people you are advocating for.

Tiny Houses are legal in California... see what you can do with them... will you make decent housing or just something to cover a human from the elements?  Rehab old trailers, RVs, make cheap containers into housing, create something like a KOA for a small homeless community - they would house tents, cars, campers, and even include cabins for some. 

I think a quarter acre is right for a family, but urban housing often exists on a tenth of an acre.  Buy them all over the city, by transit for poverty transportation needs, and create single living spaces.

I think homeless options exist on the top floors of parking garages.  They have water pipes (for fire requirements) so they can be divided by parking spaces and be modified for cooking and showers and laundries.  Parking garages are generally by transit I think.  Security options can be created to protect all.  The idea is to STABILIZE, so no time requirements... duplicate the options to include more homeless people.

Churches have been a resource for centuries.  The problem is zoning... again, the government needs to approve changes that don't cost money.  Porta-potties seem to work for this option.  Electricity can be worked out.  Help can be found in the congregations. Some churches are by transit.  Some church members have skills that might help a homeless person or family... like mechanics to fix cars or trucks.  Once a church finds out if the person is worth helping more, there might be more opportunities for the individual or family.  Time is always a good thing when people are good people.

Find out what exact properties the city (govt) owns that might be available for use.  Make sure you get an agreement in writing that says the project is forever or there will just be another problem in the future.  Make a purchase of any land by transit or some life need.  Create housing there.

I have the idea that housing needs to stop being a subsidy for the developers and become a small income source for the government.  See if you can get them to establish a new home ownership program where the payment is the traditional government charge of 30% of income... it will change the future for everyone in the whole USA once it gets going.  It becomes non-tax income, but there needs to be a fund in place to pay for the property when a new buyer is created, which would be a pre-approved homeless person.  The seller would see an income from their efforts to improve their property over the years of ownership...maybe use that to buy a new home for themselves.

Look for ways to house people that will take them off the streets and provide for their human needs...spread the efforts all over the city so all the homeless are not in one general space like Skid Row... FIND places, look for things you can do, what other non-profits can do, what the homeless can do for themselves.

viewed  24 SEPT 2021  [probably about 10pm]

COMMENT on this video  ::  https://youtu.be/nT3VGI0V5Rs

Homeless Woman Has a Masters in Mathematics and Engineering

2,174,807 views Apr 21, 2021  -  50K hands up  -  1.1K hands down

Invisible People  -  986K subscribers

===========================

Other than that, I have been fighting the battle to survive myself.

I finally did some experimenting with my resin supplies yesterday.  I am happy about the experience.  I now have to decide what to do with the pieces I made.  With resin there is a layering process.  I am trying to create things I can sell at my ETSY or EBAY shops, or provide as a benefit to my PATREON supporters.

I haven't been doing good with my ART efforts the past couple of weeks.  Been busy with other things.  I cut about three watercolor paper pads into sections to use.  Now to use them.  

Eventually, I will find the crafting directions I want to focus on.

FAITH... it's been a slow path recently.  I think it seems to follow the amount of struggling I do in my life, the harder it is the more I seek GOD.  That seems to be the way it goes for all of us... we just see the suffering, GOD sees the lesson to be learned... or the part of His plan that needs to be accomplished... or the consequences of our sins or someone else's sins.  

I have always figured GOD is up to something if I can't find a way out of what is happening.

Maybe it is my life He's working in, or maybe it is someone else's.  I have to trust Him either way... look for the answers, and wait if I can't find them.

I shared an old photo I found recently on one of my Patreon posts.  I think I will end with it here.  I pray GOD is close to us and helping us to find our answers.  GOD is the only person I have ever had to trust in.  I think I will keep my focus on Him.

Monday, 27 November 2017

Since I am at this device, I may as well get this done!  :-)

I was listening to NBR and they had a segment on Jeff Bezos (Amazon) becoming a very rich man in his stock ownership. In the report they stated he has no philanthropic goals, foundation, etc.  Then they mentioned a tweet (@JeffBezos) from last June asking for ideas.  When I got there, I realized it was an impossible task... good ideas take lots of words, but who has time to read them all!  :-)  I added a link to my webpage, which I am in the process of updating but still has links to all my commenting places  :-)  -- and then shared that housing ownership is the greatest need for the poor and homeless everywhere.  There weren't many tweets there, but it did have the blue checkmark.  Hope that it gets read, but it is also attached to my @FixingAmerica Twitter account.  :-)  Who knows... It's almost December....  It was interesting to see "0" following on the account.  :-)

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Friday was a day of shopping for me... after I mailed all my Christmas cards for this year.

I stayed home Saturday and Sunday. 

I forgot about Cyber Monday. 

I don't have much money to spend anyway.  I'm trying to save what I have left and rebuild my emergency fund, which got spent on lots of things...   I think I have all gifts done, including myself, but there are still some household items on my wish list to make it better here.

Been working on my crafting projects.  If I start making jewelry to sell, I will be wearing more of it... I can tell that already!  I discovered my pierced ears were nearly closed from lack of earrings being worn, so now I have a pair of crafting earrings in them to keep them open.  I was wearing a gift pair from last Christmas, but it was too much for my ears... not hypo-allergenic wires and my ears were sore wearing them... maybe needing time to recover from getting "pierced" again.  :-) 

I'm working on bracelet ideas, too.  I can see how one change is going to lead to another!  I may actually have to buy some NEW clothes one of these days... decent stuff (non-jeans  :-) , maybe even a dress!  What is the world coming to!

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Today I made my first effort at creating a small evergreen wreath for the door on my room.  It doesn't smell like an evergreen, so I may have to find better branches.  If I can, I will try to add a photo after I am done with this.  It is still such a problem, one I didn't have when I use to use a real computer.  We will keep working on this issue until we find the answer!  :-)

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I'm trying to find my recipe for making your own dog biscuits/bones so I can get that done.  I already bought the dogs some store treats, but I hope to make some from scratch to give them too. 

I'm also working on a gift for the wild birds, one I hope to sell in the future.  Maybe come chicken treats, too.

The kitty that lives here is not feeling well so I hope she gets better.  I think she will get a catnip toy.

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I am working through all the fudge I made without nuts... it is enough for my chocolate cravings.  I ration them out, but I am also working on my next sugar creation/s. 

My diet has suffered enormously.  (so sad)

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I want to send my housing ideas to the local government that is selling their low-income properties... I think to finance new government offices.  It really is a dilemma for everyone... as the government struggles to survive, it sacrifices things it shouldn't... like using the funds meant to finance Social Security and now the system is facing bankruptcy and is paid through debt financing.

The people who are in those units depend on that housing to survive... just to make it through each month because their incomes are so low.  The entire city, the Portland Metro Area, is battling gentrification issues, as are many other places, so there is no other neighborhood for them to move to.

It really is a sad system... not very well thought out. 

From the local papers, I read that Clackamas County was the first to operate low-income housing on government-owned land.  Because the housing is old, I am assuming they don't want to replace it.  The need for money to build new county offices makes it convenient to sell now.  The government will offer "opportunities" to help them find other housing (like Section 8 vouchers), but they generally are worthless because there is little to no decent housing that qualifies and/or provides the schools, transportation, and shopping options that low-income families need. 

I am making generalizations, yes, but this is what I have seen the government do... the programs they create often look good on paper but don't work good in real life.

I already went through my "shock" stage from discovering all these things in the middle of my needs... it's hard to find solutions within the government's boundaries... but some things only the government can do, like my suggestions for prison reforms.

Enough... I hope I am not too late to comment on their plan to sell the land.  I just kept putting it off because it is such a hard topic for me.  I am still just one foot away from living on the street, again... but I pray every day for GOD to provide a better future for me (and WT).

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I guess I will go now... I have sufficiently depressed myself out of words.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May God be kind to all who are suffering, and provide for their individual needs.
May we find a way to change the status quo of government life, and make it more self-sufficient with a lower tax need.
May we give this year to as many as we can.
May our lives see more than us, more than what we get, more than what we want, more than what we have, more than dollar signs.
May our country become debt free, and find leaders that will keep it that way.
May we preserve all that is good about America and change what is wrong with it...for the better.
May the joy of Christmas be welcomed, and remembered.
May our people choose good over evil, right over wrong, life over death, and compassion over fear.
Amen.

Thursday, 16 November 2017

So much happens in every day that can be shared as thoughts that provoke, that change, that need to be expressed, but I get here and the current moment is just a small piece of time.

I really need to write a book about the purpose for Working Together.

How many chapters?
How many words?
How many pages?

How do I fit a lifetime into print?

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I read a news item today about the increasing delinquency rate for auto loans... and that people with bad credit scores "don't have many options to get money to buy a new or used car and often end up getting a subprime auto loan that comes with an interest rate of 15 to 20 percent."  So their lives get worse with every effort to make it better.  I know the feeling.

Since learning that GOD also charges interest when people borrow their tithes, my goals for financial programs has been deeply affected.  When I first started planning some way to help members get through their hardships, I decided to offer member credit towards WT products, programs, and events... with an interest charge of one percent each month on the unpaid balance, thinking it would encourage quicker repayment.  This would be a maximum of 12% a year if the balance continued.  Right?  (I'm not a banker, I was just trying to find a fair option.  I didn't want to charge more than would be needed to pay for the program's overhead and expenses.  Automatic increases with each membership year were planned, as long as the previous balances had been kept up to date -- a minimum payment of $5 was expected to show that the member was aware of their debt.

I haven't figured out the jubilee effect yet.  That is still being decided.

Now I have discovered that GOD charges a flat 20% fee for borrowing the money we are expected to give to Him.  I am trying to work that out in my plans.

You can see how different the world would be if we operated with GOD's plan.  My school loans started at about 30K dollars, they are now in the 150K range.  If I don't win the big lottery prize or sell a lot of products online, it will just keep increasing until I die... and then who knows what the government will do.  My current income is less than $400 a month, plus food stamps and government medical.

I don't know why GOD hasn't provided the income I needed to get Working Together going, but I can't change the world without a decent amount of start-up money.  I guess the banks will win this battle, too.

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I have also been trying to contact local government offices about low-income housing that is in jeopardy of being sold to the highest bidder.  The government sees the program as a burden because they can only see it as a subsidy program... that means it costs them money they just don't have.  I see homeless housing as part of the low-income program, with the government owning the land and the resident owning the "improvements" on the land.  Using the same 30% of income formula that the government already uses for subsidy payments, a poverty household could begin the ownership process and eventually sell their property to the next low-income resident when they are able to purchase their next house.

A lot of changes would happen between the first payment and the last... depending on the property the government sold to them.  Government apartment complexes can become housing associations of owners.  People will have the stability they need, and not be afraid of being kicked out, and be able to slowly improve their future options.  If people have problems that will keep them at the same income level, like senior status or disabilities or other problems, they can still be owners of their homes and have something to build on.

Poverty isn't going anywhere, the people who are poor will just change as each generation passes through this life.  Isn't it better to create a permanent, positive, financially sound program that earns the government an income instead of adding to their subsidy burdens... and the change in direction will allow the program to create more housing options as the years go by.

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Tax reform is overdue, but the government will never do what is right.  Expecting them to reduce their wages, cut off their power strategies, eliminate bad laws that just encourage their re-election, or enforce laws that protect our future, is unrealistic.  I don't know how it can be done, but to save America we need a complete change of direction in tax perspectives.  ONE TAX is what the government needs to live on... ONE reasonable tax that is forever limited, restrained, enforced.  I realized there was only one tax that could be applied at a global level - and divided fairly among our three primary government levels - so I have been advocating a 10% sales tax since then.

Ten percent can be collected at 3% for federal, 3% for state, and 3% for county governments.  Our international commitments can be paid with the remaining 1%.  This covers all the internet sales issues, reduces all the various overhead and oversight issues with the IRS and other tax agencies, allows taxes to be collected and adjusted in real time, allows for arrests with illegal activities by tax evasion, eliminates income tax, property tax, estate tax, and other taxes - which will greatly stimulate the economy, AND it will tie every single decision government makes to the health of the economy.  I just remembered that this limited tax structure would still allow each government to enter into partnerships with the others (for roads and things like that) and would also still allow the creation of government bonds, which investors seem to like.

I'm sure I have mentioned other things since I started sharing this concept, but that is all I can remember tonight.

Imagine how different the world would be.

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I guess I just wish my life would have allowed me to implement some actions toward these goals... get them going, I guess.  The financing changes would disrupt the current practices.  The tax changes would disrupt the government and make it better after a bit of an adjustment period. The housing changes would set the government on a path toward creating its own income instead of always resorting to new taxes, increasing taxes, and abusing tax funding. 

I hope someone will get these things going if I am not able to... but, as I am still breathing, I will keep trying to move in these directions and others that I want to see done...like prison reforms, education choices, business development for the poor, and more...

In Christ,
Deborah Martin
office@work2gather.us

Are you the Christian I am looking for?

Monday, 27 June 2016
http://faith-and-prayer.blogspot.com




The Body of Christ and Money :: Lending to the Poor



I have been trying to get to this blog for several days because a variety of spiritual issues have been winding through my thoughts.  I am trying to decide how they will affect my current life and my life in the near future.  I am looking for GOD in my crisis... what is His path for me through these days, what is His purpose in allowing them to happen.  Sometimes writing helps me to sort through all those parts of a problem.

Right now, the most urgent issue I am facing is housing.  It has again come to the top of the priority list and there still is no visible solution to this problem.  For me the battle always seems to be money... too little of it... to little to easily get ahead of the financial problems it causes.

Because I cannot suddenly create the income I need, I am believing GOD will provide a way to access the housing I need, the workspaces and equipment I am searching for, and other necessary items required to continue building Working Together Inc. 

You may be the Christian GOD uses to help me.

I don't want to endure another homeless experience, but that seems to be possible.  I am really too old and tired and not healthy enough to fight these battles again, but I also realize there are already many others suffering the same plight, and these are the times of persecution.  The means may be different, the source may have changed, but the effects and the motives are the same.

So, again, I am looking for the Body of Christ, trying to find even ONE Christian to be the answer to my needs and my prayers.  I am looking for GOD in the middle of my distress, my prayers, my hope, and my life.

I am praying for a place I can OWN 

so I won't ever have to move

or be homeless again.

Here are some of the things I am looking for in my housing prayer ::

• As I near the end of my earthly life, I am praying for a final place to live, a home and land that I will never have to move from again.  
• It needs to be in the Eugene OR area, where Working Together has been existing almost since it was born.
• It needs to be a decent home that won't need a lot of repairs, be big enough for me and my planned work projects, have space for the help I will need, and include land to develop food and other resources. 
• I am praying for a place that is on a major bus line so I can travel to town for what I need to survive daily life with, so customers will be able to reach me, and so I can hire employees who ride the bus. 
• Because of my financial situation, I need a flexible payment structure, and the first three years of survival and development income included in the loan (approx. $18 to $30K/year).  This will allow me to survive as I develop the property for income purposes. 
• Having discovered that GOD lends us the tithe if we need it, requiring a 20% fee when it is repaid, I am looking for a similar arrangement over at least 15 years, but will repay this loan as quickly as GOD provides the income for it.
• Using the property for collateral is expected, but the goal is never to move again and to (finally) have the workspaces I have searched for almost all my life.  Considering the property a tithe unto GOD is also an option, which would make GOD responsible for paying you through other channels in your life.

The loan I am searching for would look like this...

• Principal
• plus 20% as interest 
• divided over 15 years or more (180 months or more) 
• with no payments due the first three years 
• and flexible payments for the remainder of the loan 
• possibly smaller in the beginning 
• and larger at the end
• an early repayment option (including the full 20%)
• maybe a partial balloon payment option

I know it is asking a lot, but this is the prayer I need answered,

now, as soon as possible.

How much do I need?  I'm not sure.  It will depend on the property.

I would like to share that I have been looking for housing answers for the homeless (and Christians as the End Times get worse) for many years.  I have always been a fan of Habitat for Humanity, but then I discovered the $20,000 House at Auburn University's Rural Studio.  After that, Tiny Homes appeared on the scene.  I have been trying to design my own version of homes that will fit in this loan category.  I feel it is possible to help millions of homeless, disabled, and low-income people to own a small home now, changing their lives forever. 

Below I would like to describe the financing program I hope to build to achieve this goal.  It is based on the Bible concept I shared earlier and puts that concept into real numbers, so you can understand the possibilities.



When I was working on my budgets for tiny/small homes for those on a fixed income, the maximum biblical loan I felt fair was $50K, which included $40K for the house, $8K for the biblical 20% flat fee interest and a $2K loan processing fee to cover expenses in that direction. 

Another option I figured out was to take the 30% of the income that would become the monthly housing payment a person could pay and multiply it by 180 months to get a maximum loan amount for that person.  In my current financial status, that would be $115 times 180, or $20,700... which would become $20K for math purposes.  This loan amount is divided into $15K maximum for the house, $3K for the interest, and $2K for the loan processing fee.

Fifteen thousand dollars doesn't afford much of a house, even in tiny houses.  Larger loan options are needed for people at the lower end of the economy, and that is why I went up to the $50K maximum for each loan.  This maximum loan amount creates a monthly payment in the $275 range.

Another issue poverty households face is the debt collection process.  Debt collections can cause homelessness in the lives of people trying to recover from poverty or a financial crisis.  It may be important to limit the final equity in a house to less than the legal amount at the time a loan is created for a house.  That limit was $30K the last time I checked.  This debt collection process is why so many with unpaid medical bills end up losing their home... they are forced to sell their house by creditors because their equity is more than $30K.  Where do you turn when the bank is the collector?

A $30K house would also have a $6K interest fee and a $2K loan processing fee... that would be $38,000 divided by 180 months, or monthly payments just over $200.  With a maximum of $50K possible, there might be room to add to the loan to cover insurance for the first few years, or more improvements to the property.

The key to success in this kind of lending program is flexibility... working with people through their problems, helping them to succeed, protecting them from more homelessness, building supports into their lives, and trusting GOD for the process.

I am looking for this kind of loan, but probably at a much larger financial level to cover the land and start-up costs of what I hope to do.

Are you the Christian I am looking for?

Moving my focus to this blog

Friday,  17 JUNE 2016 - about 11am my time

It has been awhile... I have been praying and thinking about how to best use my limited time.  I want to do more blogging and want to have the spiritual focus in my writing, so I am going to move more of my personal posting to this blog.

I have been trying to post Thankfulness entries at Etsy.com forums, and have a forum thread for Bible verses there.  I am trying to get those to a more neutral space... maybe...well, so far that is the plan... and this seems the natural location.  I think it is important to be in the public arena with our faith, and I like the crafting focus of Etsy.

I have encountered problems related to my Christian faith at Etsy, but I don't know if that is because of the employees or is the unspoken stance of the business.  I am just trying to sell there, so I am looking for solutions that will work for me.  I think the team approach may be better for me and for any Christians selling there.  There are Christian teams, and I hope we can network and support one another within the Etsy framework.  Only time will tell.

I have also been posting prayers at the OR Decision America Tour Group at Facebook (FB)... and at other posts on FB when the situation seemed to call for a prayer from my heart.  Twitter is a bit short for a real prayer, but I think I remember adding some words of prayer there.  The online environment is a good place to share these kinds of things, so people can see what we care about, how we share needs with GOD, when we feel prayer is necessary.  I still remember thinking I would never be holy enough to pray out loud.  I still feel that way, but when I can write what is in my heart I don't have to think about all those eyes on me...  it can become a conversation online.  I think that is good.

For myself, I am still praying about my housing need (FEB post) in the Eugene area.  I am trying to "land" in my final resting place for the remainder of the life GOD has planned for me.  You might find this hard to believe, but in my original family, we moved a lot.  I always wanted to be settled into one place before my kids started school.  It didn't work out that way.  I still have the same dreams I've had most of my life, just no permanent place to build them.  I try to find ways to help other low-income families find the stability I wasn't able to find.  I think this is how GOD works... the things we suffer become the focus of our life/ministry later on.

I guess I will end with my thankful focus for today...

Today I am thankful for writing again, for posting my views, for blogging again, for finding more of the direction I need to go in.  I am thankful for the food I finally got at the local farmer's market the other day... it tastes really good.  I am thankful for rest, for improving my budgeting, for coffee, for getting my order from Amazon on time, for plans to create, for hopes and dreams and GOD in my life.

May the GOD I love bless all those who love Him...  Amen.

Until next time,
Deb 

Wednesday, 10 FEB 2016 :: This is my prayer for help.

I am on a quest for help from the Christian community.

I am praying for a decent house
(as large as possible,
not in need of serious repairs)
with internet access,
on as many acres as GOD will provide,
on a major bus route,
and in the Eugene OR area. 

I need to purchase this property privately,
with very flexible terms,
from a Christian person. 

I must have help to move. 

And I must have enough money
to help me survive the first three years.

This is a lifetime prayer,
a near the end of my life prayer,
and urgently needed at this time of my life prayer.

My deadline is the end of March 2016.

I have just begun to share this prayer, adding different explanations to it depending on where it is being shared.  I decided that making it into a blog post would help me to share my prayer (and its many, many details) as a short link on Twitter and other places.  I won't have to keep writing it out. 

I give you permission to share this prayer need with other Christians, in your church prayer groups, or with anyone you think may be GOD's answer to it....
Please remember, I am looking for ONE Christian...

 the one who owns the house and land I am looking for. 

It is my hope that this will be the last time I will have to move, that I won't have to lose all my belongings again, and that I will finally be able to build Working Together.  (http://work2gather.us)

**********************************************************************************

PRAYER is just a bunch of empty words, right?

People who pray are talking to the air.

There is no "power" in prayer.

Our prayers are really our hopes and dreams.

Praying just make US feel better.

There is no GOD, so praying is pointless.

Any prayer that gets "answered" is a coincidence.

 

Praying is as much a matter of faith as salvation is.  I will admit it has been a difficult challenge for me to keep my faith alive through my long years of poverty and my struggles to overcome its grasp.  It can be hard to keep believing in GOD, a good and loving GOD, when your prayers seem to go unanswered -- while the testimonies of other Christians sound like every request they make is immediately granted!  It takes a long, long time to find a way through the spiritual maze of understanding faith and prayer.

One of the biggest hurdles in Christian circles is deciding which praying theology is right ::  do we tell everyone our need so they can participate in the providing of it, or do we keep it to ourselves and expect GOD to provide what He knows we need? 

With this request I have chosen the public sharing route, which is kind of like crowd-funding without an official website.

Crowd-funding is a wonderful tool to solve financial issues... I hope to see it become part of Working Together's efforts to meet the needs of individuals all over the world.  Crowd-funding is very similar to what I hoped to achieve with ACTION PRAYER, Working Together's program to meet the needs of others.  

The group funding idea, by prayer or by crowd-funding, is to share a need, provide a way for others to respond to that need, and then deliver the response to the person with the need.  The internet makes this sharing process much easier than it use to be, and allows the message to reach a much wider audience for the resources needed to help.  Christian oversight can make this a better, safer process.


With my own request for help, there are a number of ways to connect with me and help answer my prayer, many of which I have mentioned before.  I hope you will become part of this process.

These are the ways you can choose to share your financial blessings toward my need ::

 

http://work2gather.us
When you join Working Together with the current TRIAL Membership (only US$5 for one year), you build its ability to create resources for members and to hire employees...including me!  (11 FEB 2016 :: I had computer problems before I could post this yesterday, and have since created a "press release" about my new PayPal button for joining Working Together.  I will be creating a new post with that information... be sure to read it!)
 

 

http://etsy.com/shop/work2gather

When you make a purchase at my ETSY shop, you help provide personal funds for my living needs.  I have requested people buy my SERVANTS writing, which is also only US$5, as my fundraising item.  I want to share its words with every Christian.  

 

http://fiverr.com/work2gather

At FIVERR I currently have my "crowd-funding" item -  a GIFT gig, which is basically a donation of US$5 reduced by sales fees.  These funds would also go toward my personal living needs.

 

I have a Fiverr shop for Working Together (http://fiverr.com/workingtogether), but have to find an appropriate gig to put there again.  When I do, all the funds from its purchase will be used for Working Together income.

 

 

http://ebay.com/usr/work2gather

I currently do not have any items available at my personal eBay shop, but I am working toward listing personal belongings for sale.

 

I also started an eBay shop for Working Together products, and have been trying to find suitable listings to offer there.  (http://ebay.com/usr/workingtogetherinc) 

 

 

 

for Tuesday, 2 FEB 2016 :: My BIG prayer request

It is actually Wednesday, 3 FEB 2016, but I thought I better share a Facebook prayer I entered yesterday...  I hope you will also pray for GOD to provide these things for me.  [  I couldn't get the quote function to work, so here it is as an indented bulleted list  :-)  ]

Tuesday, 2 FEB 2016 I filled in a prayer request on a John Hagee post and wanted to print it out for myself... so I am posting it here. I hope this is within GOD's Plans for my life...  :-) ================= I am praying for a decent house (as large as possible) with internet access on as many acres as GOD will provide on a major bus route in the Eugene OR area...to be purchased privately with very flexible terms from a Christian person...and help to move... and money to get me through the first three years. -- This is a lifetime prayer, near the end of my life prayer, and urgently needed at this time of my life... by the end of March 2016. ================== If you know anyone with the godly urge to help, and the financial means... this prayer will help me to establish Working Together better.... (http://work2gather.us)

I suppose you can support these efforts with purchases
at my Etsy shop (http://etsy.com/shop/work2gather)
and with my fiverr gift gig (http://fiverr.com/work2gather)... 

I will be creating a partial membership link to PayPal for Working Together  (link above), which you can also choose... and which would be the best option for me.  Building WT is what all my efforts have been about anyway.  Membership is the key to getting everyone at the same placed.  I think I will be going back to my original TRIAL membership for $5/year, which will only be a quarterly newsletter (in print OR by email).  We can build from there.

I have another faith blog to write for today...  please share this prayer request, if you can.