Meet our Community: Megan

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When Megan came to meet with Thrive at the Sisters Community Library, she had already worked diligently on her own to search for a new rental closer to medical specialists, but she was coming up empty-handed. 

“No matter how hard I worked, or what I tried to save… When you end up not being able to work for 2-3 weeks at a time because of infections, it’s very hard to afford anything. I wasn’t qualifying for [market-rate] rentals because I have to make a certain amount to get in there. I wasn’t qualifying for others because it was inconsistent income, and I’m not technically “disabled” because I still can work.” 

Megan lives with multiple sclerosis, which for her means bi-annual infusions and an immune system that is very susceptible to infection. While she’s not able to work a 9-5 job, she has been able to work for herself over the years - doing cleaning jobs, dog sitting, and teaching painting classes to kids. Megan, an artist herself, loved teaching painting. “It just got too hard, kids are always sick and my immune system couldn’t take it.” 

When she decided to come into Thrive’s Sisters Library drop-in site, she said,

“I was really intimidated and embarrassed at first that I had to reach out…but I knew that if I didn’t do something, that I wouldn’t have a place to live. I was at the point where I was feeling hopeless. So I’m so glad that [Thrive] at least gave me the idea that there could be some options.”

Megan met with Bri, who went through the list of landlords and property managers that she had already applied to. Bri gave her some more information and some ideas, and together they reached out to more rentals in hopes of finding a fit. 

Inconsistent income is especially challenging when looking for a rental, as it’s hard to show the “proof” of income that landlords want. Property managers can also calculate your income based on one month’s work, instead of a full year. For someone like Megan, these arbitrary calculations sometimes don’t reflect actual income. For instance, Megan just received an infusion in June, after which she wasn’t able to work for multiple weeks due to low immunity. In contrast, July is usually her busiest month- where she works every day to make up for missing work in June. 

For Megan, reaching out to any private landlord that she and Bri could find was the best option. It may be hard to read through the scams on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, but when you have a team (Megan and Bri) you can more easily identify scams and apply directly to private landlords. 

Megan said of Bri, “Bri was great. She was smart and fast, and a really intuitive person too.” 

A couple of weeks after Megan reached out to a potential landlord, she heard back. It was a great unit, in a great location, with utilities included in the rental price. Megan jumped on it. With some financial assistance for move-in, plus her own savings, she moved into her new rental in Bend. 

Over the past couple of months, Megan has been settling into life “in the big city”🤭. She’s closer to her specialists and she really likes her neighborhood. Every day Megan takes two walks with her dog where she enjoys community outdoor spaces and the Orchard District’s big shady trees. As an outgoing person with a chronic health condition, spaces with outdoor seating are critical to Megan’s emotional well-being. We are so glad that Megan found a place where she can thrive, and that she’s taking full advantage of her new community ❤️

A quote that Megan lives by, that she’s kept close to her door over the years as a daily reminder, is:

“Circumstances will never make me betray my plan for happiness.”

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Megan!