Help!
This is very hard for me to write. I do not expect anyone to help me financially because I should be able to do that myself from hard work and dedication. I’ve come across something I cannot do alone, and I genuinely need help.
Eight years ago, I got my second teaching job at a Montessori school in Thurston. I instantly fell in love with the philosophy of how a child is to be built up as an individual with unique needs that emerge as they develop (only emerge when they are developmentally there). It is all about the education of the whole individual child. I needed to know as much as I could about this philosophy of teaching.
When Legend was old enough, I enrolled her at the sister school. If you’ve ever met Legend, you know right away she is kind, respectful, assertive, and isn’t afraid of speaking her mind. As much as I would like to take sole credit for how amazing she is, I can’t. Her fire was created by me when I brought her into this world, but it was tended to by our chosen family, and her Montessori teachers. They saw her fire and knew it needed to be nurtured and grown. These teachers help guide me on my path as a Montessorian.
In the back of my mind I always wanted to open my own Montessori school with a foundation in Anti-Bias / Anti-Racist education. In September 2017 I was able to open the doors to my school Zora Montessori. I saved every penny I had and was able to open this school without loans or borrowing money. I built something from nothing.
In the beginning, my school was minimal. We had one classroom for children ages three to six. In January 2018, we were able to open a toddler classroom and hire a teacher. In April 2018, we became the first Montessori school in Eugene to serve infants ages six weeks and older. The summer of 2018, I was accepted to the Assistants to Infancy program: education for teachers of children ages birth to three. I spent two summers away from my family, friends, and school, in order to advance my education and career around the education of young children. I graduated with my Montessori credential in August 2019.
For me to continue here, I must follow all written portions of my lease. This means I need a new place to live as soon as possible. I made a frantic Facebook post asking if anyone would allow Legend and I to live with them. I got an overwhelming amount of responses of concern, support, calls to action, and places to stay. There are three choices which have pros and cons.
The first is outside of town and like a camping situation with medically compromised child in the main house. The second is in town with a shared downstairs space for the residence of the house. There are children in the house. The third is a two-bedroom house for just Legend and I which is available next month but the security deposit of $1500 is due now.
I have no savings and I must ask those around me for financial support. I’ve put everything I have into this school. I will continue to put everything I have into this school. There are countless people who count on myself and my school. I am not ready to bow out of this fight. With new restrictions to childcare we are not able to move our school. But once these restrictions are lifted, we are getting the hell out of here. We are secure under our current lease if I can move out of here.
The hard ask is: can you help me come up with the security deposit, first month’s rent, and moving expenses?
If you can't for any reason, I understand. Let me ask instead if Legend or I have touched your life in anyway? Please write a letter about us and email it to [email redacted] or mail it to PO 10006 Eugene, OR 97440. I need these affirmations to help remember why I have so much love in my heart. Why I chose to open this school in the first place.
If you do not feel comfortable with gofundme I have a account and a Venmo @April-Kay-Williams
If you can give monetarily right now, any amount is thoroughly appreciated and welcomed.
My landlord thinks bullying and name calling will force me to throw my hands up in the air, give up, and walk away. She doesn’t know I am a fighter when it comes to the care of children. I will do everything in my power to stand up for them.
For the background of my current situation please continue reading:
Each day at the school is a joy, yet parts of my personal life started to become not so joyful. Many of my close relationships were strained because my mornings, noons, and nights, were spent making sure the school’s records were up to date, parenting classes had curriculum and PowerPoints, payroll was covered and accurate, enrollment was being advertised, and our social media was filled with cute pictures. I suffered a miscarriage and went in for surgery (D&C). In May 2019, my business partner (sister) left the school. All operational responsibilities and the day-to-day in my classroom were all in my hands. It didn’t bring me down, I kept rolling with the punches and focusing my energy on creating a safe loving place for children from all walks of life. Parts of my sparkle dimmed, but overall, I know that I have put my heart and soul into this school. To follow a dream that I could create a space for children that was centered on children’s best interests instead of the bottom line or to get rich (ha!).
If you’ve followed along, here is my current difficult situation which I cannot face on my own. The school's building was listed on craigslist with no photos from a private owner. I wasn’t sure about the location because of how far it was from my house. Once my sister and I turned down the driveway, we both knew this was our school.
The property is about an acre. There are two buildings: one is a house, and the other is a classroom. The house is where our infants and toddlers spend their day, and the classroom is for our primary aged children. We have ample parking and seven garden beds. There is an upstairs two-bedroom apartment on top of the primary classroom. This was a hidden gem in West Eugene. The capacity of the center is thirty-nine but the way we structured it, there are eight in the infant classroom, eight in toddlers, and fifteen in primary.
The landlord is eighty-six years old, and this was her home and school back in the eighties. In the nineties, she converted her home over to be a certified center. In 2008, she turned the school over to another childcare director. This director was in the space for nine years and wanted out of her lease. This is where we came in. We wanted this space because of the endless possibilities and the lack of access to Montessori education found on this part of town. The building had issues, but it was old. The landlord mentioned some areas needed repairs, such as: the outdoor water spigot, concrete patio on the primary playground, the kitchen needing a new hood, holes in the walls, a knob for a heater, paint touch ups and leaky sinks. We said those issues wouldn’t stop us from renting from her. She said she would get them repaired. We agreed, and I signed all the papers.
In January 2018, I mentioned how difficult it was to shut the front door, which is the main entry point for all students and families. Our landlord said it was the doorknob, so I replaced it with a keypad. This allowed families to enter the door code to unlock the door, close it, and release the handle to latch it. This lesson was given to all current and new families. At our parent meeting in October 2018, this lesson was given again to every family in our care. Concerns were raised about the safety of children, and I mentioned how the landlord is aware of this issue but has not resolved it. Some parents offered to pitch in to purchase a new door for us. I took this information to the landlord and was told I could not change the door myself, but she would have someone look at it. Each visit for rent, I asked when someone was coming to look at the door and that the issue was getting worse. She would attempt to shut the door, pop her head in, and say, "it’s your door handle," then leave.
In September 2019, we held our second school-wide parent meeting. We gave the lesson again of how to properly unlock, latch, and close the front door. This time parents offered to repair the door themselves. I told them I had been in contact with the landlord and she would not repair this door. I asked if they would be willing to write letters about their concerns (how they felt) about their child’s safety and to ask that (“demand”) she repairs the door. At the end of the meeting, one parent approached me and asked to look at my lease, stating that they were a real estate lawyer. I got my copy and they reviewed it. There was a portion stipulating that the repair of the door was the landlord's responsibility and this parent said they would write the landlord a letter.
In October, the landlord let me know the tenant for the upstairs unit would be moving November 30th and asked if the school would be interested in renting it. I said yes! We could turn that into a staff lounge, office, and host parenting classes upstairs. At the same time, the lawyer mailed his letter stating the repairs we needed done right away. A heater in one our classrooms stopped working and a light bulb burst, which broke the fixture. I contacted her for the two repairs but could not wait for the repair of the heater. Due to license compliance, we had to have a working heater right away. She gave me permission to hire a company to replace the heater if they could come out sooner. I contacted Jco and they were able to come the following week to replace the heater. The landlord said she would cover the cost of the repair. In response to the light fixture she told me to simply put another light bulb in.
That was until she received the letter from the lawyer. She presented me with her own letter stating I had ten days to prove the work on the heater was done by a licensed company, or my lease would be in default, and she would no longer cover the costs associated with it. She also stated my use of the wrong light bulbs caused the fixture to burst, and that I was responsible for all the repairs that her electrician would accrue. I received the needed documents from Jco and sent them to the landlord. I received a check for the cost of the heater minus the cost of the repair of the light fixture.
In December 2019, the landlord called me and said she had the lease for the upstairs apartment. I needed to meet her to do a walk through. When I arrived, she said she would not give me the lease unless someone agreed to live upstairs. At the time, I was separating from my longtime partner and needed a place to live temporarily. I agreed to live upstairs. She showed me the unit and said the lease would be ready in a couple of days with the keys. When I met with her again, I discovered the lease she was presenting was a commercial lease with a portion that read nonresidential. I asked her if this meant I didn’t need to live on site, and she said we have a verbal agreement that I can live upstairs, because she does not want the properly left alone after the school closed. She was worried about the neighbors and the possibility of a fire. Against my better judgement, in need of a place to live, and wanting to be sure the upstairs would remain with the school, I signed the new lease.
In January 2020, a contractor finally came to the school to repair and replace the doors. He was also there to remove the water damage from the previous tenant’s washer and dryer. He led me to the front door after he was done and said he did the best he could do, but the whole door needed to be ripped out and replaced. He tightened parts of the door to allow it to shut better, but it still wouldn’t shut and latch on each attempt. He started for the garage to deal with the water damage and stopped because there was a water leak. He said a plumber would need to fix the issue before he could proceed. He called the landlord. Later that week I received text messages from the landlord's nephew stating the water damage and repairs were my responsibility because I signed a lease for the upstairs apartment and hooked up a washing machine was the point of responsibility. I explained that there was no way in two weeks I would have been able to cause that extent of damage, and I reminded them that I had noted this area needed repair in our walk through in November.
In February, the landlord and her nephew came for an inspection. They saw the damage and said if I was going to continue to cause problems for them, I could end my lease. I denied causing problems, but only stated what was unsafe and in need of repairs that they were refusing to fix. The conversation around in circles. I got upset and told them I had put thousands of dollars into this place, and given my blood, sweat, and tears. I was not asking them to come change a light bulb for me, I was stating issues which cause the potential for unsafe situations for the children in my care. I said, "if something happens to a child under my care it is on me because this is my business. It is on you to make the repairs according to the lease."
The next day, the landlord's nephew came to deal with the plumbing issue and remove the drywall to be replaced. Once he finished, he told me the damage was so extensive it couldn’t have been done by me in that short period of time. He said he would be back at the end of the week to replace the drywall. As I sit here typing this, in April, the drywall has not been replaced and no effort on their part has been made to schedule a time to come and replace it.
Towards the end of February, I received an email from the landlord's insurance company. It stated the landlord was applying for new insurance and there are new requirements for me. Out of pocket costs of about one thousand dollars. I contacted the lawyer and asked if I had to apply for new insurance if my current insurance is based off my current lease. He said no. I did not apply for the new insurance. In an email My landlord's insurance company stated the premiums for the landlord would be double and it would help her if I applied for the school separately. My landlord has ten properties and as of today my school has paid her over $89,000 in rent. If my landlord wants new insurance, she can afford and is more than welcome to pay for the coverage. I am under no legal or moral obligation to acquire, apply for, or pay for new insurance, according to the valid lease I have which ends August 2021.
Covid-19 has disrupted many areas of life for many people. On March 13th we had twenty-four students enrolled. On March 20th there were six children who attended school. In the middle of all of this, the landlord's nephew emailed me a lease amendment that he said I had eleven days to sign, which stated I would apply for and acquire the new insurance coverage. At the time, I didn’t know if we would remain a school and I felt it unwise to acquire more expenses, especially unnecessary ones. He sent a text asking if there was anything he could do to help. I asked him to remove the stipulation for this insurance coverage, as that would be a huge help considering we could not afford it at this difficult time.
On April 3rd we received a letter from the landlord’s daughter stating my behavior is unprofessional and a harm to their family. Considering this they will no longer be honoring the verbal agreement allowing me to live in the upstairs apartment. I was told I could sign an amended lease, which includes the expensive insurance coverage, and they will add a portion to allow me to continue living upstairs. This is a bully tactic and I clearly am in a situation I need to escape.
On Friday, the school was approved for emergency childcare, which thankfully means we can keep our doors open. We can keep providing care in an unsure world. Families can count on us. The staff that work here still have a full-time job and the staff that were laid off or forced to leave because of the medical exclusions have hope of a position to return to.
Thank you
If you want to learn more about my school please visit our website orFacebook page.