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The Village Fund

My family was displaced by a greedy slumlord + we’ve been navigating the situation for four months. My daughter is about to turn 6 months. I’m so exhausted + I break down daily.

It’s an incredibly long + egregious story, but the gist is that my boyfriend + I moved into a new rental house the week I gave birth do our sweet daughter (our previous landlord unexpectedly sold our house last min!). The house we chose was sort of a “level up” house if you will + was very cute, spacious, in a good neighborhood etc. That was April. In May things the weather became warmer + we realized most of the windows on the main level of the home do not open. It quickly became too warm to be comfortable + eventually too hot to be safe for our 2 month old. In June she showed signs of heat exposure and rushed her to the grocery store up the street to cool her with their AC. I sat in the indoor patio section crying wondering if I needed to take her to the ER.

We relocated from to the finished basement where it was cooler but the stairs going down there were scary steep. Eventually, towards the end of July I fell down the stairs and bruised soft tissue around my spine, ripped off a chunk of my big toe nail + both of my knees were damaged. The stairs were so shallow that I had to turn my feet outward while going down them in order to have enough footing. With all of the relaxin hormone still in my body, my ligaments weren’t able to support my kneecaps + as I continued going up and down the stairs over a dozen times a day my knees became extremely painful, started to buckle + made a cracking sound as I walked.

We found out the finished basement wasn’t to code in tons of ways nor permitted. The city deemed it “critically unsafe” and an unlawful dwelling. I am overwhelmed. I don’t get a chance to nest at our previous home because it was sold + we had just begun to settle in our new place + everything was placed back into boxes + into storage. My summer garden had just started blooming + the peace I had imagined of spending time in sitting in the garden with my baby girl was also ripped away. Our pediatrician wrote a letter demanding that property management relocate us due to the inspection violations and they didn’t. The daily indoor temps on the main level were 85-90 degrees / dangerously hot for an infant. We had to pay for packers, movers, storage, Airbnb all out of our own pocket and it put us in debt. For weeks we didn’t have a home and bounced around with our 3 month old + two dogs every 3-4 days.

During this time property mgmt and the landlord have harassed us in appalling ways. The landlord called our pediatrician and alleged I provided a fake letter. 😳 the situation has turned legal for obvious reasons and every day from morning til baby’s bedtime I’m talking to lawyers, tenant orgs, cost of living assistance programs etc. I’m more than exhausted + so sad / angry that months of bonding / nesting have been interrupted by my contact need to keep property management from doing illegal things. Moving at 9 month pregnant was a nightmare. Becoming injured + not being able to hold my baby 3 months later has destroyed me. I’ve stopped sleeping, going for walks, eating — for three weeks now I’ve had such a severe eczema flare I’m on oral steroids.

Who leases a drastically out of code home to a family with an infant? My partner and I haven’t been able to work with the daily task of calling around for rent + food resources while balancing caring for our baby + making sure we don’t get screwed legally or financially by them. We both had successful careers before the baby and took time to pause + learn the dance of our new family. I’m sad. I’m overwhelmed. I’m to the bone exhausted. They’ve tried to do two retaliatory evictions that are illegal.

We finally found a new home but most of our stuff is still in storage because we can’t afford movers to bring it to our new place. I was so sick throughout my pregnancy that my escape was essentially mood boarding things I wanted to buy my daughter as she hit various milestones. We don’t have a crib, or a high chair or developmental toys or much warmer clothing. I was hoping we’d get our money back soon, but it’s clear they are trying to starve us into taking a low offer for reimbursement just to get us to go away. I will not comprise what we deserve out of this situation, but I also don’t know how I’ll keep going. I’m stressed about money every day. Community resources are overwhelmed by the amount of need for help right now.

My daughter is so silly and playful and I spend most of my day on calls and cranking out desperate emails trying to get social services support. At this point, I have no idea how we’ll pay November rent or buy essentials like formula and dog food. I missed out on all the summer fun / trips I had planned because of this. The Halloween costume for her that I had been eying for months is not possible with our lack of funds. I feel like I’m not present for her and she’s getting a stressed mama that gives her a bottle to be quiet down so I can email more resources. I just want to take her to a pumpkin patch. My boyfriend and I are traumatized by losing our home and all of our money while trying to settle in with our little one.

I know it will get better soon but I’m so burnt out + can’t afford basic self care activities that used to keep me sane. I don’t know if anyone will read this, but I needed to vent somewhere. I haven’t had time for mom groups I joined or seeing friends because every day is fight or flight and I’m too tired. Any words of encouragement would be appreciated. We’re getting closer to the other side of this but I’m running out of steam and resources while also grieving the lost bonding with my babe.