See, I just do not have enough proof of residency no matter how much I try, because I can't pay bills and generally don't have my ID or social security card. I got so screwed, which I'm sure you're all aware of by now, and here was a dude just showing me his ID card with a hotel room number as an address.
So I asked him how the actual hell he managed to pull that off, and after hearing my story, he referred me to a place called St. Martin's. He said if anyone can help me, it's them.
I was so happy I gave him $10 (All I had was 17) and a huge hug, and Tam let him borrow her phone because he wanted to call his wife to say he was heading back home as it was probably 7 p.m. by this point and we were also going to head home.
That was a Thursday (That I didn't have class on, woop!), and we met dad at the bus stop on the way home and told him we were gonna be busy the next day.
That Friday morning we woke up early (excitedly) and waited for mom to go to work. We were still trying to be sneaky because at this rate the most I want mom and dad to do is either find something for me or give me rides, and I didn't want them to make a big deal out of this until we knew if it'd work.
Well, mom left for work, Tam and I ate breakfast, and I put on some of my older clothes, because whenever I need something from people, I like to look kinda pathetic so they pity me more. (Manipulative, probably, but man does it work). Plus we were going to be on the seedier part of town and I'd rather blend in than get mugged.
We bussed down to where Google said St. Martin's is, and then realized it took us to the back door and went around. We realized upon entering that it was a Homeless and Near-Homeless shelter. You'd think it'd be depressing but they worked well with what they had and everyone (residents and workers) were very nice.
I thought for a second that I shouldn't bug them since I DO live somewhere, but then I remembered I'm literally already on my last resort and nothing else worked. What really made the moment magical is the worker we found at the door was a guy who plays his guitar at a local coffee joint, and who me and dad had watched (and tipped) many times. We recognized each other
. I explained my situation to him and he said I wanted to talk to Bernadette. It was only her 5th day there, but she was very good. She was also unfortunately, on lunch break.Fast forward one trip to the literal most ghetto Burger King in history, and a walk back, and we were waiting in front of her door.
Long story short for that part, I told her my story and she asked some questions. She was actually glad I was living somewhere stable (And confirmed that they do help people who have temporary living situations, so I shouldn't feel bad for going to them) and asked to see my birth certificate.
She literally wrote me up a form of residency since she knew from hearing about all my problems that I was just never going to get anything like that. She gave it to me with my birth certificate (I had handed to her earlier) and the form of things I need with what I have circled so they can't try to say it isn't enough again.
One of them was my High School diploma which I had, but didn't bring.
We went home to find that, but by the time we did the DMV was closed. Ah well.
Fast forward to Monday, and we wait for mom to go to lunch with Grandma and we leave again. I have my Birth Certificate, High School Diploma, Residency Form, and Requirements paper.
It's super cold outside, but we bus anyway, because this was the day before Tam left, and because this was IMPORTANT.
We get to the DMV and I need to take a minute in the parking lot to chill. I'm nervous beyond reason at this point, and Tam is adorable and supportive. We go in and get our number (92, AKA my new other lucky number besides 25) and we wait till we're called.
We get called to Desk 10 and I hand the lady all my stuff with amazing charm and finesse. No actually I literally put them on the table and go "PAPERS??????" and have Tam do the talking at this point...
She asks like two questions and then says we can get an alternate ID, which is a state one, but not a federal one, but can start the process to getting everything back so I can get a federal one. I'll take it at this point.
I'm told to sit down until counter 1 is ready to take my photo.
That was easy, and the first time an ID photo ever made me take my glasses off.
After this we're told to wait in line for desk 5, because the number system crashed while I waited for desk 1, and we saw the line in front of the number giving machine, so they had to reboot and drop numbers and just deal with us this way for the rest of my trip. OK cool.
Once we get to desk 5, we spend a while talking to the lady, and we had this whole fabricated story of how I live at St. Martin's instead of my house and how I was "Just finally on speaking terms with my parents again" and stuff, and it held up for a while, and even after she caught on, she kept helping us, while winking after saying things! It was pretty cool actually.
While she's printing my stuff, I fill out a little thing, which was easy, and then I'm asked if I'd like to be an organ donor (I already was on my old Missouri ID that got lost/destroyed) so I said yes, and then she let me register to vote, which I hadn't done before but intended to.
After all that she printed me a paper copy of the ID which lasts 45 days. I now legally live at St. Martin's, which is fine, but that also means my mail will go to their PO box. I can change this near the end once I have proof of living here instead.
Between 7-14 days (though she said it can also be earlier) they'll get my actual Alt ID card, and I'll have to go check with them, but they are very good about holding mail for their residents. I thought since it's across town, I'll check on Day 7 and Day 14, since that's Monday and Next Monday, and mom can give me a ride if it's bitter cold again.
But yeah, step one was completed. I can use my paper ID to look for jobs if I wanted, and to do 21+ things again. I have to wait for the actual card before I can proceed with other legal things, but that's OK.
So now the itinerary looks like
- Get paper Alt ID from DMV (Completed)
- Get actual card from St. Martin's (Working on this)
- Get Social Security Card
- Finish finding any other useful papers here (Kinda already did this)
- Get a debit card again and a bank statement
- Get an actual Federal ID
- Get a Passport
That might be tweaked/updated as more steps pop up, but it's the list! It's progress!!
Also having legal things that say I'm over 21 already has had some benefits again ;D