70, Evicted and Running Out of Options

As someone who has been trying to help Joanne navigate her way, connect her to resources and has failed, I am compelled to launch this gofundme campaign on her behalf.

Since Joanne Erickson lost her apartment, volunteers, housing groups and government representative have tried - and failed to find her a home. Her story shows how seniors are being failed by the City of Los Angeles and the very policies intended to prevent seniors from falling into homelessness. Persons over 55 are the fastest growing group of unhoused people in the state.

When Erickson lost her eviction case from her apartment of 23 years in early January, she was entirely alone, unrepresented by a lawyer and without family to aid her. That changed. A small coterie of volunteers, acquaintances, as well as government and nonprofit workers came to her assistance to no avail.

“We’re scared’, Joanne stated including her cat, Muriel and then, “I’m scared”. Joanne is physically frail and surviving off her monthly $1,799 Social Security check. By Friday, her money will run out. She has been using her money to pay for a motel room. “I’ve got to make some really big decisions,” Erickson said.

Erickson’s journey from eviction court to a temporary perch in a motel reveals the holes in the social safety net. Despite the City’s stated goal of stopping the influx of persons falling into homelessness, our seniors, a most vulnerable demographic, they lack a program to meet the need. There are no funds to subsidize what a senior already pays for a motel room, when all else fails, until they can secure more permanent housing.

Over the past month, Erickson has considered a menu of alternatives to living in her 20-year-old Volkswagen Beetle: tiny homes, a rental subsidy, a shelter bed, a nearby senior housing project, a room in a private home and a shared living arrangement organized through a nonprofit. But for different reasons, none of these options has panned out.

This has been stressful and traumatic life experience for Joanne as she’s tried to navigate her way. Please help her stretch her funds until there’s success in finding her a new safe and affordable apartment.