Secure a new Apartment

**Update**

My undying gratitude to every one who generously supported us in securing a new home! (background story told below)*

We transitioned into a new apartment within Evanston at the end of July with enough time to unpack before the children returned to school. I could not have made this happen without the support I found through so many friends and beyond.

With funds contributed thus far, I was able to pay the first, last, and move in fee for an apartment with enough space for us all. However, our cost of housing has increased by $547/mo. in the current rental market! I am not alone in being pushed into the current prices without an increase to income.

Any funds donated going forward will be gratefully used to supplement our rent costs.

Thank you so much. The financial support we received gave us a home. Small generosities really do have an impact and can be the difference between having a home or homelessness. I am so lucky to have a home for myself and my children.

Also, I have been given the opportunity to share my housing experience within the Evanston community in discussions around the new proposals of the Evanston RLTO (Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance). There are already agreements to amendments which will offer more protections to tenants to ensure fair housing practices and security. Check out Open Communities--they have been a huge support for me.

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After 7 years at our current apartment, I cannot renew my lease. We have been living in our 2 bedroom home since 2016. The unit we have called home has been put on the rental market at the price I have been paying, but the property management will not offer renewal nor negotiate any terms with me. I have put forth my best effort to negotiate with them in order to renew my lease for another year.

I am searching for a different home in Evanston now, as a single mother with 4 children. The market is not friendly to my position and my protections are limited.

In 2016, I was left to figure out housing on my own after my children's father, and husband at the time, was arrested on charges of domestic battery, yet was judged as not guilty. An order of protection was awarded for myself and the children, and I was left to find housing of my own. By chance and the incredible kindness of a number of people, including one very kind leasing agent and an employer willing to lend me the cost of security deposit, I was able to find a new home for myself and my children. The odds were not in my favor, and the experience still feels awesome and serendipitous.

The years between then and now have been endlessly challenging. The past 2 years have been long, terrifying, and painful. I have screamed and cried and felt completely helpless and hopeless to the depths of my being.

In December of 2021, my children’s father was charged in Cook county for criminal offenses again. He fled the state and currently has a standing arrest warrant in Cook County. This put me as the sole caregiver to our 4 boys. I was already carrying most of the financial burden for them since their father did not pay child support nor contribute, and then I was left to take them in my care completely.

Shortly after he left, my place of employment drastically reduced hours for all employees. This meant I needed to find something else immediately. I was quickly hired at the McGaw Children's Center, a job I was very excited to have, but it was not financially sustainable. After a few months played out, I found myself falling behind and exhausting my savings. The legal matters which had been ongoing since 2020 continued.

I maintained that employment until I could find a job to better meet my financial needs. However, with all of the challenges and transitions, I found myself quickly falling behind on everything as well as piling on more debt to an attorney in order to sort out the legal matters around custody and child support. In July of 2022 I was hired at Stacked and Folded, which has since consistently provided a safe and stable place to work.

My situation has now stabilized, and I have a dependable place of employment. However, I did not plan to be thrust into the rental market at this moment.

We have just celebrated my oldest graduating from 8th grade at Chute middle school and will be entering ETHS in the fall as a Freshman. His oldest brother will be entering 7th grade, and the other brothers are planning to return to King Arts in the fall. They have friends everywhere we go in Evanston--the parks, libraries, school, sports, and camps. Evanston is our home.

After all of my experiences, I want to tell my story. I am not alone in these experiences. Others face these problems everyday and I am sure many do not have the privileges I experience which have kept my head just above water. The protections for women like me are not what you may think.

I am a domestic abuse survivor. My children have been abandoned by their father after witnessing years of child neglect and endangerment in his home. I have incurred over $20k in debt within our civil court system and I have paid almost all of it off. In the end, I have a court order for a trivial amount of child support and past debts which have gone unpaid. I have filed with the states to reclaim the support, but there is no promise of when that may ever happen and I cannot express the level of heartache and frustration these processes have caused.

My motivation through this all has been to hold a place my children and I can consistently call home together. Through years of uncertainty, stress, waiting, fear, frustration, and deep anger and grief, I have been doing my best to care for my family and work to support us. I have been carried through by so many wonderful friends I have found all along the way. I want to keep our home in Evanston.

We have known love, support, and community here. I have felt joy, belonging, and friendship.

I want to share my story with anyone who might need to know they are not alone in struggles as we have been through. From my experience, I also plan to advocate for housing protections and rights for children and families in Evanston, particularly single parent homes. Currently, there are NOT protections or ready resources for parents in my situation–single parent, one income and 4 children. I have been knocking on all the doors for legal advice.

Please consider learning more about your local RLTO, especially for those here in Evanston. Even though in Cook County, Evanston offers LESS protections to tenants than a stone’s throw into Chicago. I intend to share my experiences within the City of Evanston to raise more awareness of the painful inequality and real harm children and families experience from the serious deficit in tenants' rights.

As I push forward with telling my story and speaking out for more tenant rights, I do need to find another place to live. I have reached out with this story to first of all tell it, secondly to urge your consideration of housing protections for those in our community, and also to ask for your help–in any way–to support the process of renting in my circumstances. Please feel free to share any referrals, experiences, or thoughts you may have after reading what I have shared.

I do ask that anyone reading this respect the privacy of the matters considerately for my children, including how this may be shared with others.

Thank you, Jessica