A single mother has issued another desperate plea for work and a home as Government will soon end financial assistance to her and she will have to move from a $150-a-night guest house.

However, although the Financial Assistance department head Dianna Taylor said she was sympathetic to the the woman?s plight, it is not the department?s mandate to find housing for people.

The rooms will be let to someone else by tomorrow, and Government has told the woman, who does not wish to be named, that it has ?already gone above and beyond the call of duty? and can no longer give her financial assistance while she searches for a job and home for herself and her two children.

Once she has an abode she can apply for financial assistance and the department will reassess her need. But Ms Taylor added: ?Locating housing is not our mandate.? published an article on the woman?s plight on April 8 in which she described her situation. Asked to be a caregiver for her disabled aunt, the woman and her five-year old daughter were living in the aunt?s house.

However, the family was ?understandably? evicted from their home in March after the woman?s 19-year-old son had to move in, violating the terms of the lease.

She said she immediately alerted Government in the hopes of getting her aunt assessed and possibly placed in a home, while she looked for a job and living accommodation for her family.

With the eviction deadline approaching, and Government appearing to be dragging its feet, she contacted Opposition MP Louise Jackson for help.

?In three days (Mrs. Jackson) did what Government did not do in three months,? the woman said. Mrs. Jackson?s efforts resulted in her aunt finally being placed in a home.

However, the woman said, the effort came too late.

Having been unable to leave her aunt alone so she could begin the search for a job and home, she and her children were left homeless.

?I?ve put my children and myself in jeopardy,? she said.

Since March 22 the family has bounced from guesthouse to guesthouse, with Financial Assistance stepping in to take over payment for their accommodation on March 26.

They are now living at Domaine Guest Houses ? but will have to leave by April 27, the same day that Financial Assistance will also cease paying for their living accommodations.

That the Department was paying for it at all was unusual in that applicants do not usually qualify for financial assistance until they have a place to live.

?As a special need, we assisted her for a 30-day period to give her time to find adequate accommodations for herself and her children,? Ms Taylor said yesterday.

?We agree housing is an issue,? she said. ?But Financial Assistance cannot find apartments for our clients. That?s not part of our mandate.

?We will assess the applicant once an apartment has been found to see if they qualify for Financial Assistance.?

If so, then Financial Assistance will determine how much they can subsidise a client?s rent, and reassess that decision periodically.

?We have been trying to work with her and on her behalf,? Ms Taylor said of the woman. ?We have even been trying to locate a place for her, although that?s not in our mandate. We are sensitive to her dilemma.?

The woman?s 19-year-old son is also searching for a job, she said, however, neither have met with success so far. ?It?s really stressful.?

But they are looking, she added.

?We?re on the ball with that.?

Going to other family members was not an option, she said, and with a large debt to the Bermuda Housing Corporation she doubted she would be able to take advantage of Government emergency housing.

?They figure I?ll go away but there?s nowhere to go,? she said.