Any advice,suggestions,or tips for us?

Hi, I was wondering if you had any advice suggestions, or tips for my mother and I? Here is our situation she is a single mother (my father passed away in 2006) and it is just her, I , and our two adult dogs (3 and 10 years old well mannered) I have two older siblings but they don't stay with us. Any ways we are looking to move this summer but have a few issues we have a tight budget so she can only afford $700 or under a month. we have to move because our current home is small and in bad condition (i.e. mold threw the house, poor paint jobs, drafty) and no matter how much effort we put into it, it just can't be fixed and the landlord is always pre occupied with other properties. well we are having trouble because we can only afford to rent houses in bad neighborhoods. My mom doesn't the money to buy a home and couldn't handle the burden of fixing and repair it if things go wrong. I will be starting 8th grade in fall 2010 but I don't mind if I have to start a new school but my mom doesn't care what neighborhood as long as we stay in our city (our whole family lives in the city). thank you!Any advice,suggestions,or tips for us?
Have your mom call the housing authority where you live and see if they can help you rent a suitable home or apartment. Some may even have rental assistance.Any advice,suggestions,or tips for us?
The only way to improve your situation is the increase the amount of money coming into the house. Did your dad leave any Social Security Death bennies, if your dad worked for any amount of time that could be money your mom is entitled to? It's worth looking into.
Contact Habitat For Humanity to see if you might qualify. These are new homes with minimal maintenance requirements. There is a work equity required, but you could probably help with that.