Through MVS, my position at HPP is a housing intern, and I do a variety tasks. One bigger responsibility is to lead an English housing workshop twice a week for clients and community members. I, along with a couple other co-facilitators, go through a 20-minute presentation informing the attendees about various housing options in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Housing can be very hard to come by, especially in the Bay Area, but we are able to give them tips and crucial information and resources for them to succeed. The rest of the workshop is devoted to actually completing applications and sending them out to the properties. Right now, I am also updating our list of open housing options by calling property managers all over the Bay Area, inquiring about income requirements, rent, if their waitlist is open, and how to receive applications. The learning curve is pretty steep, but I am taking it in stride.

We also have a Deposit Assistance Program where clients who have found a place and meet the requirements for eligibility receive the deposit they need in order to move into the unit. The program does not operate like a loan system, but instead, HPP is promised to get the deposit back if or when the client decides to move out. There are specific documents we need in order to use the program, and I have been learning how to put all of that in the right order. I also enter the checks into the database system. HPP partners with another organization called Season of Sharing, which supplements our help if a deposit is more expensive. Every two weeks, I go to a review board where we check possible missing documents and inconsistencies in order to approve or not approve the case.

There are other tasks that I do as well, but these are the hats I wear when directly doing housing work. I hope this paints a picture of what I am doing on the day-to-day. Yes, I have already learned so much about housing, but I am seeing that the clients' stories and experiences are teaching me even more. Blessings!