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Immediate needs: Low-cost housing, medical bed, legal aid

At the beginning of May 2022, my family found out that my grandmother at age 79 was living in an apartment that contained an infestation of bed bugs. My grandmother and uncle took time to look into bed bug removal options, starting first with natural remedies that were cost-effective and would not impact my grandmother’s health. During the beginning of their search, they experienced a leak in the apartment, which left untreated could cause many issues. My grandmother and uncle reached out to Riverbay consistently over 2 months and the response was always: the leak would not be fixed until the bed bugs were exterminated. My family came together to look for bed bug removal companies that would be affordable and after securing one 2 months later my family of four prepared to go assist my grandmother in packing and throwing away her items in an apartment that she had lived in for 20+ years. The infestation had grown for longer than any of us were aware of and we were shocked, disgusted, and saddened by the conditions that my grandmother had been living in. Because the leak had gone untreated for more than 2 months, the water had spread throughout the entire 2 bedroom apartment, resulting in wooden tiles lifting from the floors with some completely gone, which even spread to the nearby apartments. This left a slimy residue on the concrete making it immensely difficult for us to maneuver the apartment, making it impossible for my grandmother to move with her disabilities. Even worse was the stale, hot, mildew-scented, and mold-filled air that could only be released through an open window, as my grandmother had been instructed to not turn on the a/c since it would only make the leak worse. My grandmother was living in a bed bug-infested, moldy, hard to maneuver apartment and it filled our hearts with anger, frustration, despair, and sadness as we threw most of her things into bags for the bed bug company to come in and properly remove. With all of the back and forth with Riverbay and the housing conditions getting worse by the moment we decided to get the city government and my grandmother's renter’s insurance involved in June 2022.

My grandmother had reached out to Riverbay to reserve an elevator for the day of removal at the beginning of July. It took some time for them to respond but their answer was no. My grandmother would not be allowed to use a bed bug company to remove anything from the home, until the bed bug exterminators from RiverBay had sprayed down the apartment. Riverbay had given a list of 7 instructions to prepare the apartment. They instructed her to put all of her belongings in the middle of each of the rooms and then they could come in to be exterminated at the end of the week. This task was nearly impossible for 2 obvious reasons, the infestation of bed bugs in my grandmother’s apartment had reached a peak, nearly everything was infested making moving the furniture very unsafe. To increase the impossibility the flooring was so slippery and unstable that even the bed bug removal company had a hard time finding staff capable of handling the task safely. After the city and renter’s insurance company visited multiple times and inspected the apartment, the insurance company decided to give my grandmother enough to cover her stay in a hotel for up to 3 months . On July 28, 2022, my grandmother, Deaconess Sister Lorraine Bontemps, was left with the only option, leaving her apartment. She and my uncle have been living in a hotel since then, but she still pays rent for her unlivable 2-bedroom apartment in fear of breaking her lease and losing her case with RiverBay and the city. Because of her disabilities, she is unable to go to meet with New York City Housing in person to meet. Her case is still pending/ in review with Riverbay and the city government. Since October 2022, my grandmother has been paying $195 - $200 per night to live in a hotel amounting to $1500 - $1600 a week, the highest being $1700 a week, with taxes included. She has expended all of her finances, resources, and has gone 12,000+ into debt trying to keep herself from drowning in despair and financial burden. Throughout this entire situation my grandmother’s physical and mental health has had many ups and downs, we have had family friends with healthcare backgrounds come in and support my grandmother since medical bills would only further increase her debt.