Help Ruby Sanders' Family Overcome Homelessness

My name is Julie Reiss and I'm raising money for my friend, Ruby Sanders, and her family, who were evicted from their apartment in Springfield, Massachusetts nearly two months ago and have been experiencing homelessness since then. Ruby, her three kids - ages 16, 14, and 9 - and Ruby's 65-year-old mother were locked out of their home in a no-fault eviction on 4/1/24. A no-fault eviction means they did nothing wrong! Her landlord had to vacate the building to fix much-needed code violations and mold infestation, and rather than fight her eviction in housing court, Ruby signed an agreement with the landlord to leave two months after she was served with the notice to quit. After all, she wanted to get out of the building because of the mold, which was sickening her children. She has a subsidy that offers financial support with the first month's rent, last month's rent, and security up to $7k, and she thought that finding another place would not be so hard.

Unfortunately, she could not have been more wrong. With a family of five, a tight budget, and a criminal charge on her record from well over 20 years ago, Ruby was unable to find an apartment before getting evicted. After I consulted with an attorney on her behalf, I learned that housing court is incredibly confusing for most folks, and had Ruby been able to hire an attorney, she could have won her case against the landlord! Tragically, this information came too late, and Ruby and her family have been experiencing homelessness ever since. Without any other safe or affordable options (Ruby works in Springfield and the kids go to school there), the family has been staying in an economy hotel in Springfield, which has been good enough to grant them a discounted rate. Nevertheless, the expenses are enormous. After I learned that Ruby, her mom, and the kids all spent one night sleeping in Ruby's car, I began paying for their hotel room.

Ruby would have gladly gone into a shelter program with her family had there been any availability, but there is an extreme shortage of emergency shelters for families. No shelter beds have opened up for her family so far, even though two of her kids are disabled; her youngest had one eye removed as a toddler due to cancer, and his prosthetic eye needs careful cleaning every day. Ruby's mother is also frail and has several medical problems. Even though Ruby uses up her entire paycheck within days of receiving it due to hotel costs, her steady salary seems to limit her access to shelter.

Ruby continues to explore any options she can find for emergency funds and housing, but despite reaching out to all manner of agencies and organizations tasked with supporting families in such circumstances, none of her efforts have resulted in any residential assistance. To make matters worse, Ruby's car just broke down last week and needs a new motor. She has no money to make this repair. Without a car, she will struggle to get to work, bring the kids to school, and look at potential apartments.

Ruby is a tremendously strong woman who has overcome incredible odds in her life. After one brush with the law many years ago, she reformed herself and reunited with her family. She has worked for nine years as a peer support person for the Recovery with Justice Mental Health Court program in Springfield, where she advocates and assists probationers with mental health problems to keep them out of legal trouble and on track with their treatment. She is active in her church and community and has done so much in her life to help so many. Now, she and her children desperately need others to help them. Won't you please consider donating to them? Funds will be used mostly towards her hotel stay while she searches for an apartment, but also towards the repair of her car and replacement of furniture and other items she lost in the eviction process. Thank you so much for anything you can offer!