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Help Elizabeth Stay In Her Home

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Greetings Friends,

I'm writing on behalf of a good friend of mine, Elizabeth, who has multiple severe disabilities and is in immediate danger of becoming homeless.  She urgently needs financial help for an attorney to help keep her from getting unlawfully evicted from her apartment in southern California.

15 years ago, Elizabeth was in a horrendous hit-and-run car accident.  She suffered a Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury which caused her to lose her sight and much use of her hands.  She also suffers complex neurological impairments that affect speech, cognition and coordination.  She has to use a power wheel-chair to get around.  

Elizabeth has no family and it's only through her own tenaciousness that she has managed to heal as much as she has in the last decade and a half.  Despite her enormous disabilities, she has focused hard in her recovery and has been able to live on her own.

Elizabeth is a low income tenant in a large apartment complex.  As a disabled person, it's a safe environment for her and if she moves out it'll be impossible for her to find another decent place to live, given the lack of affordable housing that exists.  Every day we see the growing number of homeless people on our streets.  I need your help to keep Elizabeth from being one of them. 

Elizabeth has always paid her rent on time and has been a respectful and quiet tenant and neighbor.  However, for the last few years, her landlord and management company have been discriminating and harassing her in attempt to get her to move out. It's evident that they do not want a disabled person as a resident. They will charge a much higher rent for a new tenant.

After trying to force her to leave through insidious and nefarious ways, they finally filed an unlawful eviction against Elizabeth.  The COVID eviction moratorium that we've all heard about only applies to people who can't pay their rent. Elizabeth always has paid her rent, so the moratorium does not protect her from eviction.

Elizabeth cannot possibly defend herself in Eviction Court.  She can’t see the documents or file forms online.  Stress exasperates the effects of her brain injury and having to speak before a judge against the high powered opposing attorney would render her literally speechless.  Elizabeth desperately needs an attorney to defend her case.  The court case is underway and will be heard within 2-3 weeks.  

We have talked to every low income and disability rights defense organization in California. Shockingly, none of them handles evictions.  It is clear that the only chance for Elizabeth to avoid becoming homeless, is to find a private attorney to protect her against the discrimination by her landlord.  We have recently found one attorney who specializes in and has an excellent record  defending unlawful evictions of disabled tenants. This attorney is interested in Elizabeth's case, but can’t begin to work on it until she is paid a retainer of nearly $5000.  Then it will take several thousand dollars more for her to continue with Elizabeth's defense.  As you can imagine, Elizabeth, who lives meagrely on SSI, does not have the money to pay her.    While murder cases are on hold in the courts, eviction cases are still being churned out as quickly as ever. Those without legal representation are sure to lose their cases.  A lawyer needs to step in immediately to help Elizabeth.

I met Elizabeth in an adaptive kayaking class 7 years ago and we’ve been friends ever since. Instantly, I knew that she was a special person.  She's fun, outgoing, athletic (she mastered the art of doing a kayak self rescue in a matter of minutes) and one of the smartest people I know.   She has great compassion for all in need and is dedicated to animal rescue, domestic and wild.  She rescues abandoned, abused, and feral cats in her neighborhood and despite the great challenges in her own life, she cares for and successfully adopts them out once they are healthy and socialized.   Elizabeth has energy, a savage wit, intense curiosity and has plans for her future.  She explains herself to people as "I'm you, if you were in this accident."  And if she gets evicted, she'll be homeless...with her power chair, blind cane and her rescue kitties.  We can’t let this happen to her. 

I know that it's a tough time to ask for donations. If you’re a person who wants to fight against social injustice and discrimination towards the disabled or anyone in a vulnerable position, please consider contributing to protect this very kind person.  If you can give something towards the lawyer's expense, that would be greatly appreciated by me and Elizabeth.  If you cannot give monetarily, we understand.  It would also be super helpful if you can forward this via email, or cross post on social media-anything to get the word out.  

Let’s make a united effort to stand up to these bullies and help Elizabeth keep her home!  

Thank you all.

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    Organizer

    Eileen Finkelstein
    Organizer
    Los Angeles, CA

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