My husband and I have been separated but living together with our two teen boys, ages 14 and 16, so our kids don’t have to struggle. Well, my husband lost his job and we fell behind on our rent. He found a job a few months later, and we needed an agreement with our landlord that we would pay every two weeks until we were paid up. We sent our landlord over a thousand dollars, and not long after that he reneged on his agreement. In December 2022, I tried to commit suicide because of the stress of what my landlord was putting us through. I was hospitalized for a week in a mental institution. When I left the mental institution on December 17, we had been evicted from our home. Thrown out on the street within 20 minutes. My landlord knew where I was, but told the judge that he had no clue why I did not show up for court.

He knew well that I was in a mental hospital. Mind you, we lived in an a trailer where it was literally infested with roaches, and the hallway floor and bathroom floor were caving in. We had boards going across them to be able to walk to the bathroom. There was mold and mushrooms growing in the bathroom, and I was a good tenant, not one to complain too much about it. Nothing was ever done, and all just to be thrown out.

It’s so heart breaking knowing that he had no compassion for us whatsoever. He messaged me and said it’s your own fault. I suffer from major depression disorder, so yes the suicide attempt was on me, but being treated like crap because we were struggling is so wrong. We used all the funds we had to stay in hotels, and then that ended on February 14. We went to a shelter, and they have been a lot of help, but we’re only allowed to stay here for 3 months. Our time will be up on May 14. We applied for an apartment just to find out we couldn’t get it because of the eviction. Now we are literally two weeks away from being homeless again and have to start all over.

It is so frustrating. I am disabled, trying to fight my way to be able to work, and it just hurts so much that these landlords won’t give us a chance. This is the first time this has happened to me. Still trying to find a place that we can afford so this doesn’t happen again. And finding a landlord that is willing to work with an eviction is very hard. I’m trying to keep my faith. It’s just hard not knowing where we go from here.