LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Earlier this month, a local family of five and several staffers at Lake County Social Services met for the first time around a glossy $11,000 check the size of a Publishers Clearing House award.
The Carmichaels have been working with Social Services Director Carol Huchingson, and department staffers Jill Wicks and Annette Adkins for more than three years, but it was only recently that they met in person.
Seated at a large table, parents Miranda and Chris Carmichael – along with their three young sons, Edward, Quentin and Christian – shared the story of how a little-known program changed their lives.
For the last three years Wicks, the housing coordinator for the Section 8 housing program, and Adkins, who is part of the housing eligibility staff, have been working with the Carmichaels through Section 8’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program.
The Family Self-Sufficiency Program helps families set long-term goals aimed at empowering breadwinners to increase their earning potential and live independently from government aid.
Miranda Carmichael shared that before she and her husband Chris came together, she was the victim of domestic violence while in a relationship with the father of her first two sons.
“I grew up with my family in poverty,” she said. “It was really hard in the beginning by myself with two boys.”
She added that soon after her sons’ father was sent to prison, she made up her mind to go school. That’s where she met Chris, a former classmate from junior high school.
“He was a really good person for the kids, a good father figure,” she said. “He helped take care of us.”
The couple are happily married, but even with Chris’ added support, and after the birth of their youngest son, Christian, it was hard to make ends meet.
“He started out working a four-hour job as a cook,” Miranda Carmichael said. “And we were on Section 8 and food stamps and Medi-Cal …”
“That was the least money I’ve made in my life,” Chris Carmichael added.
Before returning to his native Lake County, Chris Carmichael spent 10 years learning the heating and air trade in Modesto where he was well-paid. But the lack of work and hours in Lake County hit the Carmichaels hard.
When the couple signed up for Section 8, they were offered the chance to participate in the Family Self-Sufficiency Program.
“We weren’t sure how that would work out,” Miranda Carmichael said. “Honestly, I didn’t have that much hope that we might get to finish.”
Typically, Family Self-Sufficiency Program participants agree to a three- to five-year contract during which time they work with a counselor who provides referral and case management services to help them address educational and employment barriers.
Additionally, the program takes the difference of their rent – which may increase as a result of higher earned income – and places it in an escrow account that the family gains access to at the end of their contract.
“When the family graduates from the program, they have access to the escrow account to use for any purpose, including as a down payment on a house,” Huchingson said.
The $11,000 check in the middle of the table, the total amount the Carmichaels saved in the program, is a visible testament to the hard work that Chris and Miranda Carmichael put toward their goals over the last three years.
As the Carmichaels earned more, they had to become less reliant on the forms of aid that had supported them in the past.
“At first it was hard,” Chris Carmichael said. “But we’re pretty dialed in now.”
“We do a lot of referrals,” said Wicks when asked about some of the services provided. “We keep in touch with job fairs too.”
Today, Miranda Carmichael is close to finishing her schooling and her husband has found fulfilling work in his trade.
When asked what life looks like for them now, the family exchanged amused glances.
“Busy,” Miranda Carmichael said. “It’s busy but rewarding at the same time. With the kids, we want them to be in sports, in everything!”
“We’re playing the Trojans and we just got our cleats today,” their eldest son Edward said.
“I didn’t think I would want to do social work, until I signed up for Section 8,” Miranda Carmichael said. “That’s when I was like, that’s really cool, helping out people like that, the way we needed help.”
Carol Huchingson takes the opportunity to let Miranda Carmichael in on a little secret.
“Hopefully you’re keeping track of what positions we have open,” Huchingson said. “If not we’ll let you know.”
Miranda Carmichael smiled warmly. “There’s just so many different things I can do now, “ she said, “[because of] their help, the Family Self-Sufficiency Program.”
Email Shari Shepard at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .