LaTasha is a single mother of two beautiful girls, aged 21 and 7. On September 22nd 2023, her landlords Roy and Margaret terminated her month to month lease in retaliation to the City of Lake Worth red tagging her apartment after months of documented complaints and requests for repairs. Her front door was leaking and her living room would flood when it rained, she lives on the second floor. It caused damage to the unit below her as well. The stair railing broke and can not hold if someones falls on it. There is mold and water damage to the unit as well. She has secured a clean and safe home for herself and her daughters, but leaves her needing 8,000 for the deposit, utility turn on and moving expenses. She needs to have 7,500 to the new landlord by October 13th to start her move in on October 15th. She also has to provide proof of power and water turn on and renter’s insurance.

LaTasha is a hairdresser with her own small and thriving salon, Iron Haired Maiden in West Palm beach, FL. She lives in a rental apartment in Lake Worth, FL (both in Palm Beach county). She is a very hard-working, caring and responsible human being. Her property has many safety issues, many of them were critical in terms of putting the lives of the tenants in harm's way, like the front door leaking water when it would rain and the stairs leading to the apartment. In addition, she and her daughter had been dealing with respiratory issues plus ear infections most likely due to the water and mold damage in the apartment. LaTasha has organized with Palm Beach Tenants Union in the past. She had communicated the issues to her landlord. Her landlord did not address any of the issues. LaTasha did the right thing by withholding rent per advice from Legal aid. The city found them illegally and improperly trying to replace the whole door and stopped them until they got the right permits and licensed professionals to do the job.

Her landlord, despite not addressing the safety issues, now refuses to return her deposit despite not fixing the door or stair railing. A new leak has started from the ceiling and they still refuses to fix anything. They started relatialing against LaTasha by filing a termination of her month to month lease in which they have until October 31st to vacate before they officially file for court orders eviction. She is given only a few weeks before they file for a court ordered eviction. How do you expect a working class person living paycheck to paycheck to find another rental right away and come up with enough funds to pay first, last month rent plus security deposit (not to mention application fee)? This requires almost $8000 apart from all the other labor that comes with finding a place and moving. She really needs help in this situation and is looking up to the community for help. I am sure the community won't let her and her daughters down. I cannot even begin to imagine the scenario of someone like her with her two daughters becoming homeless now. I request y'all to offer anything you can to help her in this situation. I understand many of us are also working class folkx battling constant struggle. But our strength is in our numbers. Even if we can contribute a small amount. That adds up. Please consider donating anything you can. Most of us have no one else to turn to except for our community. She would happily provide hair services for donations as well.