Help us Defend our Rights.

To whom it may concern,

I write to you with the hope that you will take a few minutes to read about what my son and I have endured during the past year. Unfortunately this is only a very small sampling of what has occurred. I am writing to you specifically because all other avenues I have taken to obtain support or even acknowledgment of our situation have been ignored. I will attempt to be brief and succinct. First a little bit about who we are. I am a 53 year old single mother. I am an artist and was employed as a public school teacher for 17 years. My son is currently 17 and works full-time as a seasonal gardener at NE Botanical Gardens. My son and I are both dedicated, socially responsible members of our community. We are intelligent, diligent and generous, which makes our plea even more astounding. I always attempt to do what is best for everyone involved in any given situation.

My reason for writing to you today revolves around our battle for housing rights. In 2017 my landlord ( the second at this address) raised my rent from $1500 to $1600. We had been living at this location for over 8 years. Due to the overwhelming expense we began a search for housing. At this point I was still employed making over $60,000 a year and had plenty of money for first, last and security. The results were absolutely ridiculous. I spent hours and hours looking for a home and was rejected at every turn. My salary was not enough for the required three times the rent and my credit score was too low due to my ex husband's Student loan debt due to it being a spousal consolidated loan. The loan could not be discharged with divorce and remains with me now even after his death. I was only able to find housing by asking our neighbor who was selling their place, that if they did not sell it, could we rent. So we did, only to be NO FAULT evicted less than a year later. The whole fiasco, I believe, was the beginning of our current situation. I was unable to afford a lawyer and was rejected legal help at every attempt. I requested a jury of my peers which was denied. There was no just cause for eviction until the landlord ( again the second at this location too) decided that they wanted the rental for their daughter.

My first attempt to fight this eviction was frustrating to say the least. I went to court with all legal evidence on my side including uninhabitable conditions, the COVID moratorium as well as the evidence that we would be homeless. The court did NOTHING. The judge did not rule either way and the case was thrown out. This was my first indication that there was more going on than what appeared. The judge blatantly looked the other way and chose to avoid ruling in anyone's favor. Before the Covid moratorium even expired we were served again. This time, due to my mental and emotional health I had a migraine the night before, I knew I would be unable to defend myself in court the following day. In a panic, I notified the court by calling and emailing the landlord, the clerk, the opposing lawyer and anyone else I could think of as I knew as I was in no shape to defend myself. They held court without me and refused to allow me to defend myself . We were again NO FAULT evicted. In desperation, without permanent employment and no savings, I applied for every apartment, housing association, Section 8, CMHA, Worcester Housing coalition, asked friends, searched Craigslist, Zillow, Remax and even temporary housing. We could not find a single place for my now teen and I to rest our heads. We were evicted on July 8, 2022. My son and I were forced to live in a one bedroom hotel room with our three cats for two and half months. At a cost of almost $900 a week, it was only by the grace of my former students and my son's full time employment that we were able to maintain. Our belongings were discarded like trash. (again another story for those interested). I was finally referred (or rather pigeonholed) to the HomeBase program by a lawyer's advocate. I had a friend and former teacher from The Worcester Center for Crafts that had a house with an apartment available. They would accept us and help with partial rent payments.

We thought we were finally going to find some peace. I unfortunately have to say this was

actually the beginning of our horror story and why we financially require support from you currently. On August 28, 2022, we were told we could come stay at the apartment but that it was still occupied by the owner. We spent three days helping her to remove her belongings. Because she was my friend, I overlooked some of the issues with the apartment and anything was better than that one room hotel.

What has occurred since then, during the last year is astonishing, unethical and frankly unbelievable. We have been robbed, threatened, and abused. Our mail is consistently stolen. Our communications are consistently intercepted. We were left living in slum conditions. There is no heat in three rooms of the apartment, the windows are so warped from structural degradation that my son has to help me open and close some of them. We were left with

expired food and medications, broken furniture, no working fire alarms, a decaying and very dangerous fire escape among many other issues. We were a part of a housing program whose mission is to prevent homelessness and I have

known the owner for over 25 years, so I thought it was all resolvable. Not so much. I have been pleading for assistance for the entire tenancy to both my Homebase advocate, her boss, my landlord, the police as well as anyone that would listen. It has all fallen on deaf ears. We have now been issued a 14 day notice to quit which is totally illegal. We withheld one month’s rent due to the costs of heating the rooms without baseboards with electric heaters as

recommended by our landlord. This is their only reason the eviction can proceed at all and we have extensive proof that damages were requested to be repaired months ago. I pay my rent

and I actually have improved the apartment due to necessity. Yet currently, my son and I once again are facing eviction. My son is still working full time and I have continued to be self employed as an artist. I have absolutely no concern that we are on the right side of the law when it comes to this situation. My concern lies with both the housing court, our housing advocate and our landlord. All have been completely unethical, irresponsible and down right abusive. I cannot continue to fight a system in which, because I cannot afford a good lawyer, we will lose as we have previously. And unlike my previous efforts, I cannot count on anyone to assist us. I cannot find any place to live without money to put down for a security deposit, first, and last month’s rent. I am at a loss. My son's intention to go to school in the Fall and coming Spring, has taken a back seat to the fact that we may be homeless again. I cannot with a good conscience ask my students or others to support us staying at a hotel again. We will use these funds to fight this battle and come out on the other side with our rights defended, and to acquire a safe stable home. This is why I have written to you with this request for help. I cannot be the only one in a situation like ours. We are strong intelligent productive members of society and someone needs to help us. Whether it be by helping us find a good lawyer, a place to rent or by exposure and funds through this gofundme. I cannot fight this alone any longer. Not only have they stolen my son's teenage years they have cost us an immeasurable amount of mental, physical and emotional harm. The issue is not about being self sufficient, it is about a system that withholds housing and support. This explanation is only a brief snapshot of what has occurred. I have attached some pertinent information to support my assertions and have plenty more for anyone that is interested.

In conclusion, I ask that you look at my supporting documentation and if you can help in any way, we would be eternally grateful as no one should have to endure what we have just to feel safe. I am an extremely honest and forthcoming individual. I am not perfect, but I have absolutely nothing to hide and I have always done what is requested of me on all accounts. If you can not help please feel free to forward this to someone that could. I will speak with anyone willing to listen as I am a competent individual and I can only imagine there are others out there with far less physical and mental faculties than I in a similar position. I would like to heal and then help others, but I cannot do so by being continually persecuted. We cannot remain in this current situation.

Sincerely,

Ann E. Rainey

Our Dropbox link is

bit.ly/OURStory

It contains evidence regarding our situation.