Help Secure a Home for Family Unjustly Evicted

We don’t have a home anymore, despite the signed contract agreement that made the house ours. We had an attorney that was supposed to halt the eviction, but suddenly disappeared and left us out for the birds. It’s really the landlord’s son who ended our stay at the house. He had the workers stuff our belongings in black garbage bags and toss them out to the street, breaking some things in the process, despite the officer telling me to my face when I was in panic, “We are professionals and will be careful with your items.”

One of the things that blew me away is that my dad (now battling cancer) volunteered as a first responder during our time here, and yet many in the neighborhood stopped by with comments or made fun of us, and what I think I understand is that because they know that we are artists and were always making the exterior of the house look pretty and well kept, they felt high enough to insult or make fun of our situation.

From overnight to the next day, frantically hustling and carrying/dragging our belongings, even bigger than us such as furniture and whatever was left of our stuff into a couple of moving trucks, the landlord’s son also called the cops on us multiple times since we had our “trash” on the property. He did this anyway even after watching us in the direct sun, going without eating, or taking breaks for several hours, desperate to collect our things and bring them off the property to safety in the midst of his request for the Town Garbage [EDIT: It wasn’t the Town Garbage, but a demolition company: meant for destroying buildings, etc.] to dispose of our belongings. Literal blood, sweat, and tears were shed that day. He destroyed a lot of furniture that I remember taking a few years for my parents to save up for. I will never forget the “distorted notes” sound my grand piano made when I watched it be lifted into the air and drop, shattering inside that larger dump truck. We suffered bruises, scratches/cuts (due to anonymous sharp items we couldn’t see in many bags), bug bites, poison ivy, and sunburns. We are even getting sick (such as testing positive for covid) due to going and sleeping at hotels to motels, inns, etc.

In November, the landlord’s son sent workers to remove/destroy our own plants, rare shrubs, self-built wooden planters, and other of our wood framing to “clean up” the yard. He also had them destroy and take down our fence that we built too, which was supposed to enhance my brother’s safety, as he can’t help himself suffering from Asperger’s/autism. The house was poorly constructed, in which my Dad (battling cancer), has been making improvements and repairs to the house throughout the years. The lease shows that we were on a “pay to own” plan, which we've already invested for around 15 years... We paid out of pocket and were very rarely compensated to fix any issues with the house, but kicked out anyway…

At this point, I am not looking to cover the cost to replace what was ruined or lost, but we are running out of resources, going from motels to hotels, while struggling to pay for storage, as well as any other form of shelter.

Unfortunately, we live in a relatively expensive part of New York, and it would be a lot of gas to inspect houses and meet with real estate agents, including bringing our things from the storage units to the new location even if we found a more affordable, well built house in another state. I would especially like my little sister to continue her education here as well, but the market for homes here aren’t in a very sparing range.

Since middle school, it was always my biggest dream and concern to buy a house for my family; in fear that something like this would happen. I have tried so hard to find ways to make it happen, but around where I live, these corporations are either not hiring, or I am believed to be inadequate for the job, even though I applied to many fields I’ve had experience and felt confident in.

I would like to secure a final place for my family. FULLY paid off. No longer needing to worry about the greed and control from heartless and unconcerned landlords, like the many years ago growing up, and now.

Your help and contribution is abundantly appreciated.

-Rachel ( aka MW )