Don's Rent Support Project
Make Emma Lazarus Great Again
This
is a successor project to the "Second Chance Bikes Christmas Project" I
sponsored last Nov/Dec. See the link above to the discussion of that
project for background.
Here is the situation: 35-year old
single mom from the MidEast with 4 kids ranging from 3 to 14. Divorced
Dec 2018 after a
tumultous separation involving a court order of protection. There was
no court order of support since he was out of the country, said to be
back in MidEast. The family immigrated to the US in 2010;
she is a legal permanent resident with Green Card; passed the
citizenship test and is awaiting a decision from USCIS. I met her in
early 2019 through my Syrian refugee friends who live near
her.
She had assistance with rent from a charity until June 2019; since then
could only pay partial. I got her a job in November (her first ever) once her youngest
with developmental issues was able to be left in preschool and daycare. She loves work and they love her.
Via
the Christmas Project I was able to help her with car repairs, some
Christmas gifts, and pay the shortfall in December rent. That left her
still in arrears $3000. Then in January she got hit with $500 in car
repairs and fell way short on Jan rent. On Feb 2 she received a summons
for an eviction hearing on Feb 20.
I've
been working on possible solutions since last June. I've combed the
area for a more economical place to live. Best I can find
saves $100 and would be smaller. They are cramped as it is; 5 people in
a 2 BR townhouse. Cost of moving makes that pointless. Section 8
housing waitlist is 2 years and is closed with no prediction of being
opened.
There
are jobs like hers in the area that pay better. I am watching for
postings and have submitted her resume. I hope she can earn more per
hour and over time increase her hours/week. Raising 4 kids alone makes
that difficult. Job has to be really close to home.
Here
is what I have decided to do.
Pay off the back rent and Feb rent; then
supplement what she can pay for 1 year. There is reason to believe that
will be a sufficient "bridge." That will be about $5000
immediately to clear the books until March 1 and I hope get the
eviction hearing cancelled. I will commit to paying the monthly rent in
full on the first of each month myself, with her paying what she can to
me. I expect she'll be short 3-400/month, so an
approximately 4000 exposure. I'm
using my IRA to do this, as I am retired and have only SocSec for
income.
Please help
I have pledges of the $5000 lump sum and of $50/month.
If you care to assist it will be much
appreciated. A repeating donation of whatever you can will
help me to help them without draining the IRA too fast. I opened a separate bank account to manage funds cleanly.
The "Donate" button will process PayPal or major
charge card donations.
Paypal sends me a notice when a donation is received,
with email
address of donor.
Don Cooley, aka @frogcycle
You can write me at DRSP@dbc3.com