Help Margaret Kidd Keep Her Home

"Long Post ... But For a GREAT CAUSE!!

In the spirit of Christmas and the Holiday season I am reaching out to my network of friends and family to ask for help. I don’t do this often but based on the circumstances I thought this was a good time to do so… I am blessed to have such a great network of people in my life and I’m optimistic we can really help change someone’s life. I’ll try to keep this short but I want to tell the whole story! First of all, the person’s name that I am trying to help is Margaret Kidd and she is a tenant in one of the properties I manage. We have become close since we first met and gained a mutual respect for each other as I helped her get out of a messy situation and gave her a fresh start. She has held up every end of the bargain on her side along the way.

So I first met Margaret after taking over management on a duplex in Columbia, MO. Margaret had fallen about 6 months behind on rent and I was tasked with evicting her or somehow getting her out of the apartment. These situations are always tricky but as a property manager it is something we deal with regularly. I always try to meet these people in person or at least talk to them on the phone to get to the bottom of the situation. When I met with Margaret she explained to me how she had to get a Kidney removed and because of that she was out of work for quite some time from her factory job but had recently gone back to work at Wendy’s and was trying to get caught up. Unfortunately she was so far behind on rent that she felt hopeless and the owner really wanted her out so he could get a fresh tenant int there who could pay rent. Margaret was having a hard time finding a new place though and we were just days away from having to file an eviction on her... which was the last thing I wanted to do. I could tell she was a good person who had just fallen on hard times so I really didn’t want to have to evict her which would just make it that much harder for her to find housing in the future. It was clear that Margaret had no one to help her and SHE was actually the one helping her family. She was the sole caretaker for her sister who was on dialysis and also took care of her mother who has had multiple strokes and other health issues. Even with all of this on her plate, Margaret wasn’t giving up!!

As I was dealing with this situation and trying to find a solution it dawned on me one day that maybe I could relocate her to another building we manage that was right down the street but had a different owner. We had a fresh vacancy and now that Margaret was back to work it seemed like with a fresh start she would be able to make things work. I first had to convince this other owner that even though there was some risk in this situation, I felt very confident it would work out. I didn't charge a leasing fee to the other owner and I even offered to pay for legal fees IF the situation went south and we did have to end up evicting her. But we made it work and got Margaret into a new apartment, absolving her of the past due balance on the old place (thanks to that owner being generous and just being happy to have possession of his unit back) and giving her a fresh start! Ever since Margaret moved into the new place she has been an incredible tenant, always paying her rent on time and even going the extra step to take on a leadership role at this new complex. She would clean up trash and debris in tthe parking lot and common area do a number of other things to help make the place better for everyone. She was grateful for me and I was grateful for her .. it was a true “win-win” situation!

Well, recently her sister was diagnosed with lung cancer in addition to her failing kidney and she has been in the hospital for the last 30 days. With Margaret being her sole caretaker this has caused her to be out of work again and she has fallen behind on rent again. Her sisters health is not looking good and of course we are hoping and praying she will make it. Margaret is adamant about not giving up and getting caught up on rent but with no one to help her, it is easy to get discouraged. I met with Margaret today and told her I was going to try and help her through my network of friends and family. Margaret is EXTREMELY deserving of some help right now and I hope if you have read this far you can make a donation to her. I can assure you every penny we collect will go directly to her rent balance. My goal is to get her December rent paid and pre-pay another 2-3 months for her so she can get through this difficult time.

Margaret is a true fighter and a very hard worker and I know she won’t give up. But I think a little help will give her the boost she needs to get through this time and be able to focus on helping her family.

I’m extremely thankful and grateful for anyone who took the time to read this post and also to anyone who is willing to donate!!