losingHOME

I met Kate during a very rough moment in her life, after receiving an urgent call from Bob, a volunteer with the GHKP Housing and Homeless Coalition, wondering if I could help. Her abusive boyfriend split months ago and she was alone with her disabled, high school aged daughter. His disappearance was really a good thing, but now the rent was not being paid and Kate was struggling to keep it all together.

Kate was facing two options: an eviction or a “cash-for-keys” deal with the soon-to-be new owner of the home. He was anxious to close the real estate transaction, and she signed the “cash for keys'' agreement. The deadline was only a day away and lots needed to be done. There was no way Kate could pull this off without some community help.

A while back, a neighbor gifted Kate an RV. She was really happy to have it. She told me it was her “backup plan.” It had been sitting on the driveway for a long while. For the last few nights Kate and her daughter had been sleeping in the RV as they were trying to move out of the house but the RV was not road worthy. The tires were low and the engine did not start. There was no power.

While a few volunteers were loading pickups with some of the last belongings and others were making calls to find a local campground where we could place the RV, I got busy troubleshooting.

We were lucky, very lucky. The RV just needed a new battery. When I told this to Kate she said “Oh, I have a new battery! The guy at Walmart guaranteed that it would fit” as she dragged the heavy brick of a battery across the driveway. It did not really fit, but I got it in there and it worked. Even though the RV has seen better days, it was actually running really well. The plan was coming together.

The next day dawned and it was the cash-for-keys deadline. When I arrived the landlord and the representative who was buying the property on the behalf of the big corporation was there. They were looking for Kate. We found Kate frantically searching for some important documents that went missing, and there were still a bunch of things that needed to be moved. The situation was starting to feel tense. None of this was ideal.

Bob arranged with a local towing company to come as volunteers and pull out a few disassembled SUVs off the property and donate them to a local volunteer fire department to use for rescue training. Vehicles that Kate’s old boyfriend took apart and never put back together were now holding up the deal. The tow truck was running late. I could tell that the weight of this reality was heavy on Kate. She thought she had this all worked out and now she was panicking.

The volunteer efforts to locate a camp spot were fruitless. The weather was great so everyone was camping. No spots were available anywhere nearby. After some brainstorming, Kate's plan now was to move the RV closer to her storage unit. Let's go.

As I drove the RV off the property (Kate was too stressed out to drive), it became clear that something was wrong. The brakes barely worked. Probably air in the lines. The RV was not going very far. In a last minute maneuver we decided to hide the RV just outside the neighborhood in a wooded area until we figured things out. It was the only option we had. None of this was ideal.

There was still one more very important matter to handle. Kate was expecting delivery of special medication that her daughter needs post multiple brain surgeries. The tracking indicated the package was delivered to the house, but there was no package. After a few calls we found out it was held at the post office. We scrambled into Bob’s van and eventually found the package…at the third post office we went to…none of this was ideal.

We headed back to the house to intercept the school bus before Kate's daughter got home. Our timing was off and we found her on the front porch confused and very scared. The keys to the locks were changed, the RV was gone, and her mother was not there. Kate's phone has spotty service out here and in the commotion she did not effectively communicate with the school or her daughter that today was the dreaded day. None of this was ideal.

The representative from the company that purchased the home was milling about behind the house checking on things. While Kate was trying to console her daughter, I approached him to ask some questions. Yes, the home was going to be demolished completely. Yes, a new one would be built. Yes, he sees this all the time. Yes, today was just another day for him. But for Kate and her daughter it was a milestone day.

Today I witnessed what the last steps of becoming homeless looks like. After many months, really years, of struggles, as things fall below a certain threshold, families like Kate’s fall unceremoniously into homelessness. Today was just another day where two more people became homelessness in our community.

Kate needs lots of things. There are many unresolved issues. There are community members currently trying to form some wrap around services to help Kate and her daughter. Lots of phone calls are being made. I'm hoping the YKMN community can take part by raising $450 to help with the needed brake repairs so we can get Kate and her daughter into a safer location. The local food bank is pledging some financial assistance, as well as support coming in from a few other local organizations. This is a group effort! Together we can get enough for the mobile mechanic to come and fix the brakes and address a few other issues. He has visited the RV and has a smart plan to get the RV moving again. Any leftover funds will go to help Kate or someone like her with other needs.

Please donate to our Venmo account @YouKnowMeNow or our PayPal account @CircleOfTen. Please indicate “For Kate”. No funds will go to YKMN. A heartfelt thank you to this community for stepping up. Let's all help Kate and her daughter find a footing so she can get out of these woods.

Key Peninsula Neighborhood | Tomasz