STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Andrew Lehman is a Stevens Point resident who by all accounts is living the American Dream.
He owns his own business, Cardinal Home Builders, has a wife and two boys and for the past six years he has been sober.
“I was able to build something that was paying my bills and eventually I got my kids back,” said Lehman.
Lehman said his life has not always been perfect. For many years, he struggled with drug addiction, which led to him losing custody of his son.
“I had multiple warrants and was using drugs with a couple people, and one of the people died,” said Lehman.
Following his friend’s death, Lehman was put in jail where he went through rehabilitation.
During that time, he said he lost many of his friends and his son was set to be adopted by a foster family.
“Those chain of events set it in stone for me,” said Lehman. “This is not the lifestyle I want to live. My kids need a father, and I need to find my way out of this.”
After Lehman left jail, he continued down the road to sobriety and found a steady job. But he realized that his past was not yet behind him.
His criminal record and past evictions were holding him back from finding housing.
“Every time I brought up my background, I just got turned away. ‘Oh sorry, the stuff is too new for us to feel comfortable renting to you,’” said Lehman.
That is when Lehman met Sherry Daniels. She is a family living educator in Stevens Point who helps people like Lehman find housing through the RentReady Program.
“This program alone last year, we housed 37 people that otherwise would not have been housed,” said Daniels. “I have not counted yet this year, but I am sure it will be a little bit more.”
It’s a training program for renters working to get back on the right track.
They get matched with a mentor to help guide them—and connect them to resources, like free furniture and food.
Landlords who participate in the program get an assurance that if a payment is missed RentReady will cover up to three months rent.
Daniels said even with the connections the program had with landlords, it was very difficult to find Lehman housing.
She said she and her team were able to find one landlord who was willing to give him a chance, but first he wanted to know what was driving him to stay on the right path.
“He can’t get his kids back until he gets housing and the other parent is still using, so it was really important to him,” said Daniels while talking to the landlord. “So, the landlord said okay, I will make an exception and I will rent to him.”
Lehman has been sober for six years now. He said the chance the landlord gave him was enough for him to get back on his feet.
”I went from this really dark, stressful situation and now I have this hope, and I am building and things are just getting better,” said Lehman.
He regained custody of his children; he has a wife, his own company and is looking into buying his own home.
He credits the RentReady program for a large majority of his success.
“You just keep putting your best foot forward and I found if you make that your focus good things will happen,” said Lehman.
If you are someone who is looking for housing, or a landlord interested in participating, please contact Financial Wellness Portage County, at 715-346-1321 or email RentReadyHPPPPC@gmail.com.