Hi, my name is Anotida “Melekiym” Mabeza. This is one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to share publicly, but I really don't know what to do. My mom and I are being forced out of the apartment we've lived in for over a decade because the building management wants to bring in new tenants and raise the rent by an unsustainable amount of money.

My mom first got this apartment back in 2012, and I moved in when I was 5 years old in 2013 after returning from Zimbabwe, we have lived here since. We don’t have close family here in the states or here in the north east we’re mostly on our own. We were made aware of us being thrown out only 2 weeks ago.

We’re doing everything we can to find an apartment or even a temporary Airbnb, but we also need to pay off what we owe here, cover moving costs, possibly get storage, and afford the deposit and first month’s rent at a new place. In New York City, all of that adds up to around $5,000.

My mom is planning to go to housing court on June 2nd to try and fight this, but we would have to leave by around June 13th. This is a very scary position to be in, we were (are) planning on finding a shelter if we end up going homeless which either way is pretty likely.

I wouldn’t be making this post if we had any other option. If you’re able to help with anything at all whether it's sharing this or donating or helping in any way it would mean the world to us.

With love and hope,

Anotida “Melekiym” Mabeza