My name is Adrienne. I’m 25 years old with 2 children. A boy, 5 years old, and a girl, 12 months. My mother also resides with us, and she’s 54. I once had a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment located in Illinois that I got with my daughter’s father. Unfortunately her father couldn’t keep a job and was unable to help me with rent, bills and living expenses. He eventually left and everything fell on me. I worked long hours at a factory and as a Door Dash driver when I was off, but it was never enough to catch back up. One day I came home from work with that dreadful letter taped on my door, stating that me and my family would have to leave. I immediately started to call different organizations for help to try and save my apartment, but everyone said funds were gone due to the pandemic. On September 30th, 2022 we officially became homeless. I had to pack all our belongings and move them to storage. Only hauling what we could fit in my truck, and the journey began.

I went to every shelter in my area and was told they were full. We drove to the next state closest to us, Missouri, in search of help. Still our search was unsuccessful. I knew the area a little because I came up here often for work, but I didn’t know where to go. A previous boss I worked for offered us to stay in an abandoned property for 2-3 weeks. The property was infested with mice and had no stove or adequate heat, but it was shelter, so I accepted.

Now I’ve been trying to get my son back in school and figure out how to get my daughters medicine, but haven’t had any luck. We’ve been driving for Door Dashing to make ends meet, but I know the kids are sick of being in a car all day delivering food we can’t eat. I just got hired at Amazon for seasonal work with hopes of getting hired full time, but I haven’t been able to find anyone who will rent to me with a prior eviction. Some days it gets hard and I feel like giving up, but I can’t because then who will they have? Just hoping for better days in 2023.