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As is often the case during this time of year the weather can be a challenge to anything taking place outdoors.
This week we were only able to get in the first of the three Walk Arounds planned. The other two will be new dates for the two postponed events will be posted as soon as possible.
The event that did take place, however, was a definite success thanks to the efforts of our partners at New Community Corporation, who was the lead agency for this Walk Around.
The Hand of Fate
While doing outreach on a particularly hard hit block in the northern part of the West Side Park neighborhood, the hand of fate lead us to brought us to the door of a single mother and her six year old daughter, who live on social security disability and a small monthly child support payment, that were less than a day from moving out of their home of two years and moving into a homeless shelter.
This family has been renting their small but well kept single family home for two years, always paying their rent on time. So why the move to a shelter? Because the landlord had lost the home to the bank in a foreclosure and the real estate broker was pressuring to move out of the house, trying to circumvent her rights by offering them money to leave, threatening tenants court and eviction if they didn’t leave. And to increase the pressure, every day that they didn’t leave, they decreased the amount that they would pay. When asked if they could stay through Christmas because her daughter had spent the last two Christmases there, they were told if they did then they would get no money. And if that wasn’t enough, they sent PSE&G to turn off the electric and gas.
So in order to get an $800 payment in hopes of using to try and get another place to rent, they were going to abandon their home for a homeless shelter.
This Walk Around was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but because of a scheduling conflict it was changed to Tuesday. Only because of a light on inside that caught the eye of the canvassers of NCC did they ring the bell as this property wasn’t on our list of homes in jeopardy. If we had come on Wednesday or that light hadn’t been on this family would now be in a shelter. And now we are working with this family so that they know their right as tenants as well as connecting them social services to help them moving forward.
A Special Thank You New Community for helping keep the light of hope burning!
NEXT EVENT:
SOUTHERN IRONBOUND: TUESDAY DECEMBER 16-10AM TO 1PM
Contact Don Baldyga @ Episcopal Community Development for more information
973-430-9985 or don@ecdonline.org