DESPERATE TO MOVE! They're here! pg 26

[Chester_s_Mom]

[QUOTE=onthebit12000;2097624]
I spoke with Chanter briefly this morning and she was following up on a few job leads that came with housing and room for horses. Has anyone had a chance to speak to her today to see if any of the leads panned out?

Chanter, do you have enough funds to buy feed for yourself and for your animals? If you are in need of a few dollars to tide you over, perhaps we can figure out a way to get a little bit of cash to help ease your situation.

Gail[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the update! Glad to hear she has some leads!

[physical.energy]

Thoughts to try and help

This is just an intuition. I am unsure Chanter is psychologically able to just jump and run at this time. The last time she did that got her in this situation which is worse than before. The uncertainty in and of itself of temporary accomidations may be too much for her to handle. I sense she is searching for a stable situation she can feel comfortable in.

First if someone could offer a pasture for the horses with hay, in exchange for a few daily chores until such time she can pay for her own feed. Possibly somewhere with a trailer or barn appt where the dogs can be as well. If a special pen needs to be built to contain the dogs that isn’t so much money.

As a group COTH has helped horses in dire straights… what is the difference here. If people would be willing to send some finances to the COTH member who could help Chanter, so a pen can be built for the dogs and the cost of hay covered… it would ensure the money is spent to help. It would also relieve the burdon of taking on such a big expense. Also a portion of money could provide food for the dogs and Chanter as well. Having her work off her keep and assist her in finding a job she is qualified without the stress she is under right now could be just the helping hand she needs. Also she is working off of a phone card? Is it one that can be refilled? Perhaps Someone could add a few bucks to that so we can help her thru this in a productive positive way. It seems to me Medicine Wheel has the most accurate information and I trust her and believe she knows the details. That is good enough for me. Perhaps she could chime in here on other recommendations to help.

Anyone else have any positive ideas that can make this happen in the next 24hours? I think she is afraid to make any moves right now though things are horrible for her. Paralysed so to speak.

If you don’t like this idea, don’t waste space tearing it apart, come up with a better solution yourself. It isn’t a debate here, it’s about helping someone in a bad situation, regardless of age fault or anything else.

I live in ca so I cannot help from 3000k miles away.

[Lady_Delancy]

Catz, FINALLY!! Someone sees it that way I don’t think this is not a fake story, but something is very fishy.

[archieflies]

[QUOTE=Chanter;2097402]

DOES IT MAKE YOU PROUD THAT I FEEL FORCED IN TO PUBLICALLY ANNOUNCING HERE THAT I AM A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY SURVVIOR THAT FUNCTIONS VERY BEST I CAN, WHICH IS ACTUALLY AT A PRETTY DARN HIGH LEVEL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. IF IT IS NOT UP TO YOUR STANDARDS, THEN DO TELL HOW DOES ATTACKING ME (HANDICAPPED OR NOT) HELP ME IN ANY WAY??? IF YOU WANT ME TO FUCNTION BETTER, THEN HELP ME TO FUNCTION BETTER, NOT KICK ME DOWN EVEN FURTHER.[/QUOTE]

EEK! I would think a simple, “I’m sorry, these are service dogs, and due to a disability I must have them with me,” would have done the trick. I understand disabilities are troubling, but I wouldn’t think yelling at the people who you are asking for help would be the best approach. That was a pretty scary post.

[physical.energy]

It was just a post of frustration… I can see how she’d want to yell at this point. Might seem like peole have been a little harsh given the circumstances.

[Shahrazade]

@jetsmom;2097663

I hope everything works out for the OP.

I will admit to being fascinated at the idea of a Shih Tzu service dog. My mom had one that while adorable, was dumb as a box of rocks. I would assume that it isn’t for the blind, since the OP can see, and not one for someone with mobility problems, since the OP can groom, clean stalls etc. Not a hearing dog, as the OP mentioned hearing the FM say things. So if the OP feels comfortable in saying WHAT the dog does, I would love to know. Purely out of curiosity.

I would have to guess possibly the dog is a seizure dog- brain injuries can lead to unpredictable seizures, which dogs can be trained to sense and alert when one is coming so their owner can get to a safe place. Small dogs actually seem to be better at it, but it is mostly the individual dog’s talent and bond with the owner. Dogs can also be trained to sense panic attacks and anxiety attacks in order to allow their human to get out of a situation in which an attack could cause trouble.

[physical.energy]

@Shahrazade;2097762

I would have to guess possibly the dog is a seizure dog- brain injuries can lead to unpredictable seizures, which dogs can be trained to sense and alert when one is coming so their owner can get to a safe place. Small dogs actually seem to be better at it, but it is mostly the individual dog’s talent and bond with the owner. Dogs can also be trained to sense panic attacks and anxiety attacks in order to allow their human to get out of a situation in which an attack could cause trouble.

That could explain why the new dog comes in before the older dog retires. Maybe to see behavior patterns before a problem learning from the older dog?. Thats a simple reasonable answer.

[moonriverfarm]

AGAIN - her posts just do not add up!
She was not ONE but TWO people’s SS,and pretty great in the gift-giving department from what they report. If you are broke you just cannot spend on strangers, when you are unable to have basic necessities yourself. Great in theory, not in practice.
I do not understand living in what she calls Rat Haven for 18 mos, many of those months without water. If she is disabled she should get government assistance which would provide an income for her PLUS she had a job.
I do understand hard times. I was a single mom for many years scraping pennies together to pay my bills. But I did not have horses then, couldn’t afford the luxury. So I am not ignorant of what it is like to be less than fortunate.
But I did not have anyone to help me! She has all kinds of offers! The fact that she is being “picky” adds to the confusion here. Plus, it is hard to believe she endured such terrible conditions in her last two homes…???
Sorry to not be able to just jump on this bandwagon.

[Lady_Delancy]

I think that is why some people aren’t very sure about Chanter, not that they don’t believe her, but her posts don’t add up. If you were THAT bad off, and would do anything, like stated in the OP, wouldn’t you do what you had to? Even if it meant going across the Country? MHO. I’d want to get as far away from the situation as quickly as possible if I was in her shoes.

[Wendy123]

[QUOTE=Ghazzu;2097660]
Well, I am a DVM, and I own horses of the same breed referenced, and it isn’t too hard for me to figure out how easy a typo “arabain” is to make.
I’ve done it myself.

And again you got “grammer” wrong.

The point here, though, ought to be what is chanter going to do?[/QUOTE]

Well, obviously as a DVM you know how to spell grammar don’t you? Enough to point it out to me anyhow with a very superior wave of your keypad too.

The point was that the post made seemed out of character with the professional affiliation she claimed in SEVERAL ways leading me to question her PERSONAL knowledge of the situation. I stand by that.

[JBnC]

I’m with Moonriver.

And as far as siezure detecting Shih Tzu’s …that’s got me cracking up:lol: :lol: :lol: .

COTH forums never cease to amaze me, so many interesting things going on here.

[horsesourcetexas]

Alright folks! For those of you who have never had any experience with a brain injured person, let me try to clear thing up.

The more stress they are under, the less their brain functions as “normal” to us. She has become a victim at the last many places she has lived and worked and although she is highly functioning, can not react sometimes like you or I would expect. She and her animals live on a small check and she is comfortable with it as long as there are no surprises. She paid quite a bit for professional haulers to move her horses to this farm just 3 weeks ago. She has been using her own money to feed some of the horses that she has seen on this property to try to make a difference in expectation of being paid like it was agreed upon when she moved there.

The manager has physically and verbally abused her and various horses and it has escalated.

She very much appreciates all of the offers of help but most of them aren’t mentally, physically, or financially feasible. She doesn’t have the money to pick up and move across the country for a very temporary offer in a place she has never been and that can’t guarantee work. She is limited in SOME of the work that she can accept, therefore all of the riding and training positions are immediately dismissed. There have been offers to take the dogs, but, as you all now know, they are service dogs. One is retiring and the other is just finishing his training so they must remain with her. She can board the horses at a training facility down the road from where she is at something like $8 a day/per horse for just the stall but for an unknown time, that can add up quickly and can eat up money needed to find proper permanent housing for all of them if a plan isn’t formulated quickly. Houses with land are usually easy to find fairly cheap in the Ocala area but everyone is already raising their rates to gear up for HITS making this search harder too. Barn jobs where they allow 2 dogs and have room for 2 horses are few and far between and take a bit to scout out. Not an overnight move.

So, for those of you who have complained that your offers haven’t been accepted, thank you for offering , but please put yourself in her shoes momentarily and ask yourself if it would make good sense to you to a)take a job that you aren’t capable of or b)move somewhere out of the area without a solid plan or c) put yourself in a situation that you know you cannot afford.

I believe that , what would help the most, is knowing that her horses are out of harms way even if it means temporarily boarding, help moving them, a spare pasture. THEN, any leads to jobs or housing that are within her capabilities.

I am so sorry that she felt that she had to publicly announce her disability here just to keep this thread from getting vicious.:no:

Hang in there Chanter. I know something will work out for you soon. I wish I was closer!

Oh, and one more thing please. She was my Secret Santa and has gone WAY above any expectations but she knew of extenuating circumstances of mine and has rallied around me to try to cheer me up. I am the COTHer recently diagnosed with breast cancer and she has been the light at the end of the tunnel for me. So enough of the Secret Santa bashing. She is a very giving person even if it makes it hard on her. I don’t think she expected any of this when she began accumulating gifts for me or the other recipient. Her goal was to give a very Merry Christmas to a couple of strangers and to have some presents to open in return.

[YankeeLawyer]

[QUOTE=BeastieSlave;2097585]
I have been lurking here because I haven’t been in a position to offer help and didn’t feel speculation was useful.

I do now have a bit to offer… Chanter, if your dogs are legitimate service dogs, and not just pets, I believe that you cannot be denied housing because of them. In other words, they can go wherever you go. I could be wrong, but it seems that the ADA prohibits that kind of discrimination.[/QUOTE]

Not when the housing offered is free shelter in somebody’s home.

[summerhorse]

Real service dogs are always neutered. Now many dogs may fulfill the same needs as a service dog on their own and sometimes just BEING there is a service for someone with anxiety problems but the dogs NEED to be neutered if you don’t own your own home. If I were a landlord they wouldn’t be welcome without being snipped first.

I feel bad for Chanter, she’s obviously in a bad situation and seems to lack the coping skills most of us take for granted. But there comes a time when everyone has to grow up and grab hold of life instead of it grabbing hold of you. She has lots of offers it seems, she needs to pick the best one and get moving already.

And it sounds like two horses is too much, even one horse is too much if you don’t have a steady income. See about leasing those horses to someone either for lessons or show or riding or whatever. Or sell at least one if it isn’t a real pet or old and unsound.

Sometimes people just want someone to swoop in and make everything all right but this is reality and that rarely happens. You have to reach for your own opportunities.

[horsesourcetexas]

Alright folks! For those of you who have never had any experience with a brain injured person, let me try to clear thing up.

The more stress they are under, the less their brain functions as “normal” to us. She has become a victim at the last many places she has lived and worked and although she is highly functioning, can not react sometimes like you or I would expect. She and her animals live on a small check and she is comfortable with it as long as there are no surprises. She paid quite a bit for professional haulers to move her horses to this farm just 3 weeks ago. She has been using her own money to feed some of the horses that she has seen on this property to try to make a difference in expectation of being paid like it was agreed upon when she moved there.

The manager has physically and verbally abused her and various horses and it has escalated.

She very much appreciates all of the offers of help but most of them aren’t mentally, physically, or financially feasible. She doesn’t have the money to pick up and move across the country for a very temporary offer in a place she has never been and that can’t guarantee work. She is limited in SOME of the work that she can accept, therefore all of the riding and training positions are immediately dismissed. There have been offers to take the dogs, but, as you all now know, they are service dogs. One is retiring and the other is just finishing his training so they must remain with her. She can board the horses at a training facility down the road from where she is at something like $8 a day/per horse for just the stall but for an unknown time, that can add up quickly and can eat up money needed to find proper permanent housing for all of them if a plan isn’t formulated quickly. Houses with land are usually easy to find fairly cheap in the Ocala area but everyone is already raising their rates to gear up for HITS making this search harder too. Barn jobs where they allow 2 dogs and have room for 2 horses are few and far between and take a bit to scout out. Not an overnight move.

So, for those of you who have complained that your offers haven’t been accepted, thank you for offering , but please put yourself in her shoes momentarily and ask yourself if it would make good sense to you to a)take a job that you aren’t capable of or b)move somewhere out of the area without a solid plan or c) put yourself in a situation that you know you cannot afford.

I believe that , what would help the most, is knowing that her horses are out of harms way even if it means temporarily boarding, help moving them, a spare pasture. THEN, any leads to jobs or housing that are within her capabilities.

I am so sorry that she felt that she had to publicly announce her disability here just to keep this thread from getting vicious.:no:

Hang in there Chanter. I know something will work out for you soon. I wish I was closer!

[MoonBallad]

[QUOTE=horsesourcetexas;2097812]
Alright folks! For those of you who have never had any experience with a brain injured person, let me try to clear thing up.

The more stress they are under, the less their brain functions as “normal” to us. She has become a victim at the last many places she has lived and worked and although she is highly functioning, can not react sometimes like you or I would expect. She and her animals live on a small check and she is comfortable with it as long as there are no surprises. She paid quite a bit for professional haulers to move her horses to this farm just 3 weeks ago. She has been using her own money to feed some of the horses that she has seen on this property to try to make a difference in expectation of being paid like it was agreed upon when she moved there.

The manager has physically and verbally abused her and various horses and it has escalated.

She very much appreciates all of the offers of help but most of them aren’t mentally, physically, or financially feasible. She doesn’t have the money to pick up and move across the country for a very temporary offer in a place she has never been and that can’t guarantee work. She is limited in SOME of the work that she can accept, therefore all of the riding and training positions are immediately dismissed. There have been offers to take the dogs, but, as you all now know, they are service dogs. One is retiring and the other is just finishing his training so they must remain with her. She can board the horses at a training facility down the road from where she is at something like $8 a day/per horse for just the stall but for an unknown time, that can add up quickly and can eat up money needed to find proper permanent housing for all of them if a plan isn’t formulated quickly. Houses with land are usually easy to find fairly cheap in the Ocala area but everyone is already raising their rates to gear up for HITS making this search harder too. Barn jobs where they allow 2 dogs and have room for 2 horses are few and far between and take a bit to scout out. Not an overnight move.

So, for those of you who have complained that your offers haven’t been accepted, thank you for offering , but please put yourself in her shoes momentarily and ask yourself if it would make good sense to you to a)take a job that you aren’t capable of or b)move somewhere out of the area without a solid plan or c) put yourself in a situation that you know you cannot afford.

I believe that , what would help the most, is knowing that her horses are out of harms way even if it means temporarily boarding, help moving them, a spare pasture. THEN, any leads to jobs or housing that are within her capabilities.

I am so sorry that she felt that she had to publicly announce her disability here just to keep this thread from getting vicious.:no:

Hang in there Chanter. I know something will work out for you soon. I wish I was closer!

Oh, and one more thing please. She was my Secret Santa and has gone WAY above any expectations but she knew of extenuating circumstances of mine and has rallied around me to try to cheer me up. I am the COTHer recently diagnosed with breast cancer and she has been the light at the end of the tunnel for me. So enough of the Secret Santa bashing. She is a very giving person even if it makes it hard on her. I don’t think she expected any of this when she began accumulating gifts for me or the other recipient. Her goal was to give a very Merry Christmas to a couple of strangers and to have some presents to open in return.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for this post. I’m totally horrified by the nastiness some people have shown here to someone in a desperate situation. I spoke with Chanter on the phone for more than 3 hours last night and I have NO doubt all she says is true and she needs help. For some of the people here to assume that she’s lying because they don’t understand her situation and to come on here and say some of the things they’ve said is sad and unkind at the very least. Just because you have never been in a situation like she is and you can’t understand or comprehend it doesn’t mean it isn’t actualy happening to someone else.
I’m very late and can’t write more now but I’ll try to when I get back

[moonriverfarm]

PEOPLE HAVE OFFERED TO MOVE HER HORSES FOR FREE.
She should ask the “service organization” who gave her the dogs if they can have them neutered, explaining her situation.
And, she has been offered FREE ROOM AND BOARD.
All her immediate needs have been met on this board. What next???

[YankeeLawyer]

I have no idea what the story is but am willing to give the OP the benefit of the doubt. I know one thing – it is extremely stressful to have limited access to phone and internet when you are trying to sort out a big problem; I learned that first hand during the Katrina evacuation. And Chanter ostensibly has been trying to juggle her job, making reports, and finding a new situation in just a couple of days, with a computer that is on the fritz and only a phone card. If nothing else, her horses are in need and plenty of times COTHers have helped horses without asking questions.

And, although I have not seen the pms or been privy to phone offers, I have not seen any concrete offers of housing except one, which is out of state. The only offer for transport for the horses was, I think, a link to someone who says they have a van going from FLA to VA on 1/2.

Chanter – for your safety I would tend to agree that you should get yourself OUT OF THERE asap, even if the accommodations are only temporary, until you can find something better. If you want to get another position as a groom, etc, try to go to an area where there are a lot of horse farms. Surely SOMEONE in Ocala must have a need for help – it took me 6 months to find a helper in VA, in a very horsey area. Can you find a pasture situation or a foster home for your horses? And I would take any job to get out of there. McDonald’s probably pays better than your current employer (who apparently doesn’t even pay what is owed).

Finally, while it might be prudent to give away, sell, or free lease these horses, these options take TIME, which Chanter obviously does not have. By the time they could be placed she could perhaps have already found a better situation.

[archieflies]

[QUOTE=physical.energy;2097761]
Might seem like peole have been a little harsh given the circumstances.[/QUOTE]

I can definitely understand it seeming that way to her, because she does know the circumstances. But when others don’t know the circumstances because they have not been told, I don’t think anyone has been harsh at all.

I realize these aren’t the types of resources that the OP was asking for, but I honestly think they will be more useful to her than the help we can provide. None of us (that I know of) are mental health specialists, but we can all see that, no matter how accurate or inaccurate the details of the story might be, Chanter needs an advocate that can help her work with her disabilities. We all see she has a problem and needs someone to reach out to her, because any offering of free housing and board will be nice, but it won’t meet her real needs. She’s obviously having a breakdown that needs real help. That beign said, here are some resources I’ve found in Florida that can deal with Chanter’s deeper problems:

http://www.torallaw.com/about.php (this is a law firm that deals with Traumatic Brain Injury patients- if nothing else, they can put you in touch with advocates that can help you get your life straightened back out.)

The Brain Injury Association of Florida has severeal family/community support offices around the state offering support groups, counseling and helplines- they have people who can help sort things out for you. You cna find a list of offices here: http://www.biaf.org/BIAF-Family-Community-Support2.html
I believe the office closest to Ocala is the Gainesville branch:
Gainesville (serving Jefferson, Medison, Taylor, Marion, Levy, Lafayette, Dixie, Citrus, Gilchrist, Alachua)
P: 352-335-6001
F: 352-336-8677
gainesfss@biaf.org

State Protection and Advocacy Agency:
Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities
2671 Executive Center Circle, West
Suite 100
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Phone: 850-488-9071
Fax: 850-488-8640
Toll-free: 800-342-0823 (statewide)
TDD: 800-346-4127
Spanish: 800-350-4566
E-mail: info@advocacycenter.org
Internet: www.advocacycenter.org

Somebody at one of these should be able to help you find a permanent housing situation where your needs are met. That may require gaving up the horses, but you have to do whats best for you and them. I understand keeping the dogs, but the horses may not be good for you, and you may not be good for them. But soemone with experience advocating for those with special needs will be more preepared ot help you than any of us. It’s obvious you’re not finding what you wanted on this board, so please, instead of lashing out at those who you feel aren’t helping you in the way you feel you should be helped, call up someone who will understand your problems. You can’t honestly expect a bunch of horse people to know the best solution for you, and you can’t honestly expect strangers to fight over the chance to give you free shelter on YOUR terms.

[Lady_Delancy]

Her own words are why everyone is getting confused and irritated, nothing else! Everyone keeps hearing something different, and when the offer a solution, she turns it down faster than I can blink. She comes up with some of the oddest excuses, I understand that a brain disorder is hard to deal with, my boyfriends sister-in-law is Epilectic, but she’s still able to function completely normally, even with stress. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought this upon herself like she has. I’m just saying, that she needs to step up and do something for herself. People have been putting offers out there, and if she thinks the offer is still going to be there in a month, she is in for a shock. Offers like that just don’t stay on the table, because circumstances change. She’s got to look our for herself, and I think the animals are just holding her back. Something has got to be given up, and I hate to say it, but it looks like it might have to be her horses. I’m sorry, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I have had to give things up in my past that I cared deeply about, but if I hadn’t given it up, lord knows where I’d be now. I’d rather have my life and health than not only one, but two horses that wouldn’t be able to take care of me if worse came to worse.