Help Us With An Emergency Move to a habitable home

Well, it was hard to settle on a reason for the fundraiser because there has been so much pain and turmoil over the years. I’m in the process of healing medically and emotionally, and I’ve been working on rebuilding my life/credit to buy my first home, close to my mom in NJ. I never imagined 4 months ago, I’d be in the middle of the crisis I’m facing now. I’m trapped in an apartment with roaches, mice, and now bedbugs. 

I had hoped to purchase a home before my prior lease ended. I made the decision to move back to NJ to be there for my mom in case she needed me. She’s in the photo with me and she is my best friend. To be honest, I needed her too after all I’ve been through. Unfortunately, I found out too late I needed more time to qualify for a mortgage. My landlord had already accepted a deposit on my apartment and I could not extend my lease. I had a month to find somewhere to live.

I thought I got lucky when I found a community managed by the same company who managed the apartment I was in. It was only a 1BR apartment but it had enough space for a daybed so my kids could still come visit me comfortably until we found a house.

Move in day was a huge disappointment. With access to only 1 small elevator, the move took twice as long as expected and cost me double what I was prepared for. The interior of the building looked nothing like the photos on the website. It was dark, there was a foul odor, and the carpets were worn and filthy. The apartment itself was not the apartment I had viewed on line. It was much smaller, the “upgraded” kitchen was missing drawers. Not one drawer for utensils. The leasing office did nothing to correct the problems.  I didn’t have a choice at that moment, where else was I going to go? I had to smile and keep moving. Disappointed but it was only 10 months and a home was waiting at the end of it all.

Fast forward to today where I’m creating an emergency fundraiser because I just don’t know what else to do.

A month ago I found out I had severe iron deficient anemia and would require iron infusion treatments. I had been exhausted for months and was struggling to breathe completing the simplest tasks. 2 weeks ago I was in the ER with a dangerously high BP, an asthma attack, and COVID symptoms. Thank God It was not COVID but it was pneumonia.

It was the first time 2 of my kids had spent the night a week later. I was still sick but it was great to finally have them here.

The visit went downhill fast when one of my daughters woke up with bites on her arm and later in the day bites that turned to welts on her side. We had no idea what it was. I thought it may have been an allergic reaction from the covid vaccine because in the last few weeks I was getting what I thought were hives and they looked the same as what my daughter had. She had them on her legs too and now they are scars.

A few days later, my daughter told me to check for bedbugs. I did not think it was possible but I checked. I was horrified! I’ve never seen anything like what I saw. A black blob of bugs moving in the corner of my mattress. I was sick instantly. I immediately killed them and got on the internet to find out what to do since it was late and the rental office would be closed. I bought the supplies needed and got to work.

I was up all night killing bugs, vacuuming and shampooing the carpets and furniture. I can barely walk from one room to the next without getting winded and I’m doing all ofthis with pneumonia and severe iron deficient anemia.

I tried to sleep but it was not easy. I was exhausted but afraid there could be more hiding somewhere and would come out while I was asleep. I woke up multiple times looking for bugs. When I woke up the next morning, there were 2 red streaks on the bed where I had killed them in my sleep. I found a live one crawling up the side of the mattress right where my head had been. I called my mom hysterical. I called the rental office’s emergency line since their website states bed bugs are an emergency. It was a Sunday afternoon. Nobody called me or came out to inspect the apartment.

I had just reported this property to their corporate office 2 weeks prior for the problems with roaches, mice, and the trash neighbors were throwing on the floor in the trash chute room directly across from my apartment. Coming from the other property, I never expected this. It feels like hell to me here to be perfectly honest.

The property manager and I finally spoke on Wednesday. The exterminators had been out on Tuesday and confirmed there was a bed bug infestation and the office would follow up with me with more information about treating the problem. When we spoke I asked what they were going to do to get me out of here as I had already requested when I contacted corporate earlier about the other problems. I found reviews online where tenants have reported the problems with roaches, mice , and bedbug infestations and the lack of the property manager to get it under control. The response was they’d have it treated but wouldn’t be able to compensate me in any way or move me out.

While cleaning up, I noticed a tiny red bug that I’d seen before just not very often. I saw a bug like this the first night I moved in and looked like a tick. When I started seeing roaches in the apartment, I also saw the tiny red bugs once in a while and what do I know, I thought they were baby roaches. I now know it was a bed bug. Thinking about bed bugs FEEDING on me in the middle of the night for 4 MONTHS was too much. I get sick to my stomach and cry every time I start to think about it.

I also found out there’s a possible connection to iron deficient anemia and multiple bed bug bites. It’s usually found in elderly people who live alone. Now I’m thinking this could be what caused the problem I have in the first place.

Today I got a notice from the office that they will treat the apartment on Monday Nov1st and again on Nov 15th. I cannot stay here like this. Im staying with my mother while this is taken care of. I asked them to at least provide me with prorated rent for the time I’d need to be out of the apartment. No response.

I don’t have the money to pick up and leave or I would. I also have done so much work for the qualification for my mortgage that if I left and just took my chances in court with this place, I’d damage my credit and lose the opportunity to get this mortgage.

Im here now asking for help because I don’t know where to turn. I can’t stay here. I just can’t. I can’t sleep. I’m depressed and anxious. I keep feeling like something is on me or in my hair. This situation feels so hopeless. They will treat it but if they don’t treat every apartment attached to mine, this will come back and they are not doing that. I just can’t take anymore. I just started to feel better. My physical and mental health were improving. I can’t live in the the poor conditions here. There’s hope knowing I’ll get my energy back in a couple weeks after my second iron infusion treatment, but this, I just can’t get over this and it’s already making me feel like I want to give up.

My goal amount includes buying out the lease, the cost to move, and the remainder of debt I need to pay off to repair my credit fully. I will qualify for the NJ First Time Home Buyers Plan, so they provide down payment assistance. I’m staying with my mother until they complete the treatment on November 15th. If I don’t find a way to raise this money, I will have no other choice but to come back here. 

I try really hard to stay positive but this time I don’t know how. I’m a good person who has done a lot of good things for others and I shouldn’t have to live like this. Nobody should.

if anyone reading this can find it in their hearts to help, no matter how small the amount, I would be truly grateful. It’s very hard for me to ask for help like this and it’s embarrassing to know by sharing this, everyone I know is going to know and it makes me feel so low. I am NOT a dirty person and this makes me feel like I am and that others will think I am too.

I’ve had a pretty rough time in the last 10 years caring for my children alone. Mental Illness has hit my family hard and for a while I thought I’d lose 2 of my girls because of what they were struggling with. That fear never goes away and I’m working on feeling better and building my life back up. There’s a lot of repairing and healing needed physically and I fear how I’m going to deal with this for 6 more months. I just want to keep moving forward and get back to the girl I was before everything was a struggle. Most importantly, I want to be able to be with my children in my home. A clean, bed bug, roach, and mouse free home.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, for giving or sharing, and for keeping me in prayer. Any help really will mean the world to me. I promise, I will pay it forward. Anyone who knows me personally knows I’m a giver and always will be. This is just too big for me to handle on my own.

**UPDATE** The goal has changed because I no longer need to buy out the lease! Please see the updates posted and thank you so much!