A landlord called to schedule an appointment for a tenant of his, Alice, who was nearing eviction. She is an elderly lady with health issue. The landlord dropped her off at our  Emergency Assistance Center (EAC) for her appointment and said to call him when it was over.

I introduced myself to Alice and let her know I would be her case manager. We discussed other possible housing options for her going forward. Alice was very upset because she had been at her current apartment over 5 years. We identified a low income apartment in the county and left a message for Alice to get on the waiting list. We called Alice’s landlord at the end of the meeting. He did not answer. We called again. Some time passed and the landlord finally called me back. He told me to tell Alice that she has officially been evicted from her home and cannot come back onto the property.

Alice was overwhelmed and completely caught off guard. She was unaware the landlord was going to evict her and all of her personal documents and belongings were at her home. I offered shelter resources to Alice, but she was very distraught and walked out of the office saying she was going to “walk home”. The next week, I was able to reconnect with Alice who had been receiving assistance from a compassionate person in the community who was paying for her hotel. Alice called this woman “my guardian angel”. With Alice’s permission, I was able to connect with Alice’s guardian angel. Together we were able to work with Alice to move her into a low-income apartment. We were able to assist with Alice’s deposit. We also provided Alice with basic household items and clothing since she lost all of her belongings during her eviction.