Safe Housing for the New Year!
Donativo protegido
My name is Arielle Jennings and I am starting this GoFundMe on behalf of Nafis M. White. Nafis M White is a prolific artist and professor, currently living and working in Providence, RI.
Photo Credit: Spencer Evans
Nafis M. White is asking for urgent financial support to help her move, relocate to a new home, and help with a legal fund to hire an attorney to take her derelict landlord to court.
Nafis' landlord has been icing her out literally and figuratively from her home. She has been without heat to her apartment since October 2023.
Pictures of the various temperature readings on the thermostat in her home:
In Rhode Island, the minimum heat requirement for rental properties is 68 degrees Fahrenheit from October 1st through May 31st.
Nafis' landlord is sabotaging electrical panels to wipe out electricity throughout the home. This is happening intermittently and has made Nafis unable to utilize space heaters in her room for warmth. She even received bodily harm directly from the lights being out; she fell and had to visit the emergency room. Most recently, the landlord has shut off the hot water to the home, making Nafis unable to bathe in comfort.
Nafis' landlord has also done the following:
- Failed to provide working deadbolts to her front and back entries
- Failed to notify her of lead paint removal in the back hallway main entrance to the home, which was subsequently scraped and sanded without protection to herself, her home, or undocumented workers on site
- Failed to notify her of 2 squatters living off the grid in the backyard carriage house, one of whom is a sexual predator and has sexually harassed her since herr arrival in late July, and the other who has been arrested and jailed for domestic disputes including failure to honor a restraining order against his former partner. Both men work as indentured servants to the owner, providing free labor on and in the home in exchange for housing in an inhospitable building home or undocumented workers on site
- Failed to repair non-working electrical sockets (half of those in the house), when asked upon move in, in July
- Failed to provide hot water to her apartment
- Failed to provide plumbing to the back carriage house resulting in all the men, including the owner, using the backyard as a toilet producing vile and unsanitary conditions
- Failed to protect tenant (Nafis) from verbal abuse and intimidation from the 2 squatters
- Produced a fake eviction notice to intimidate and push her out
- Failed to comply with state laws regarding heat, electricity and hot water
- Failed to answer any calls from her since October 2023
All of these actions are incredibly abusive and Nafis' landlord is intentionally inflicting emotional distress upon her. Nafis is unable to celebrate the holidays with family out of state for fear that her landlord will enter her unit and destroy/remove her belongings. She currently has no savings with which to move. She needs emergency housing and support immediately.
We are looking to raise 20K ($20,000 USD) for Nafis. The 20K will be utilized to cover GoFundMe's transaction fee, with the remainder being used for the following:
- Immediate emergency housing ensuring Nafis' physical safety and peace of mind
- Access to a remarkable tenants rights attorney to take the owner to court
- Movers to help pack and move Nafis' belongings to a storage unit and then to her new apartment when she finds one
- The purchase of moving supplies including boxes, tape, bubble wrap and packing paper
- Rent for a storage unit to hold her belongings while she finds permanent housing
- Financial support for food
The pricing breaks down as such:
The cost of moving (deposit/rent, if $1,500 for 1st/last and deposit): $4,500
Storage Unit for 6 months: $900
Movers: Current apartment to storage and then storage to new home: $1,500
Attorney: $3,000
Moving supplies: $300
Total: $10,200
The 20k goal provides a cushion for additional fees that may be incurred to move Nafis into safe housing.
Please help as you are able. Donate, share and advocate for Tenants Rights where you live!
Organizador y beneficiario
Arielle Jennings
Organizador
Providence, RI
Lisa White
Beneficiario