Meet Rachel

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** Show Some Love to Rachel
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Rachel is from Indiana but now she lives in Los Angeles. Last May, Rachel and her case manager got in touch, she needed a California ID but they had not been able to get her birth certificate. This wasn’t a surprise, Indiana is a notoriously challenging state to get a birth certificate from without an ID. So we got to work. We tried the easiest method first, just in case but also because if we tried to go up the chain they would ask if we had done the first method. So we did it, and were rejected, no surprise.

Then Marissa, our General Counsel, got to work. She got on the phone with the county, the state, anyone she could. She found obscure rules and forgotten forms. She found a form that claimed to be useful for this situation. We filled it out. We mailed it in. We waited.

We were rejected.

So Marissa got back on the phones. Eventually, she determined that we could become a limited Power of Attorney, which is something we have to do occasionally. So we filled out the paperwork and got it notarized and sent it in. We waited. Marissa followed up. We waited some more. They rejected it. I yelled. Marissa got back on the phones. They said they would accept it if we mailed it again. We mailed it again. We waited.

They emailed and said they needed more things. We sent more things. Rachel moved from one Project Roomkey site to another. Project Roomkey is a COVID era program that temporarily places unhoused folks into motels around the county. Rachel is stuck in one until she has the birth certificate and ID that she needs to get an apartment.

Marissa followed up. They needed a photo of my ID. I sent it. Marissa followed up. They accepted it. They mailed the birth certificate the next day. Last week, nine months after we started, I had Rachel’s birth certificate in my hands.

I sent a text to Rachel. Lots of emojis. Today I picked her up and we went to the DMV. She broke into a huge smile when she saw her birth certificate. “I’m a person!”. After a relatively quick visit to the DMV, Rachel had an ID. “Now I can get my apartment.” Today, for $43.74 and nine months of waiting, Rachel’s life was changed.

That is just one of many stories yet to come this year. The work we do takes time, dedication, and care. But it’s worth it every time.

Thanks for helping us change Rachel’s life,

Kat
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