Herod Herod

My name is Herod Telusnord. My goal here is to create an advocacy program for people who are suffering from discrimination and retaliation. Because I have faced discrimination and retaliation repeatedly in the past, I know how difficult it can be to overcome these challenges and move on. At this point, you're probably wondering whether or not your hard-earned dollars should be given away to a new program such as this Voice Together Advocacy. I know you probably want to know why your donation matters and how it will be used in this program. Before I can tell you how and why, I must tell you a true story about me. About 2 years ago, I was discriminated against and retaliated by one of my former landlords because I reported unfair housing practices. I reported unfair practices because my landlord failed to make necessary repairs in my home, failed to accommodate me despite my disabilities, attempted to unlawfully evict me, and caused intentional hardship to me. Due to some unusual circumstances, I was a few days late with my rent payment. The landlord then served me a 14-day-to-vacate notice. Upon receiving the notice, I contacted her office and made arrangements to pay the past-due balance immediately. However, when I gave the money, the landlord refused to take it from me. Instead, she told me to immediately vacate the premises. On that day, she called the police on me to evict me without a lawful court order. A few weeks later, we ended up in court and settled the case. The court documents had specific agreements that neither party should violate or abuse. One particular agreement was that I pay my past-due balance on a payment plan. Another specific agreement was for the landlord to not charge me any more fees beyond what were included in the court documents. We also had an agreed date to move out. So, on February 4, 2024, I officially vacated the premises. Soon after, I agreed to a payment plan for the remaining balance. I was in compliance with the payment until I received a surprise notice to pay a large sum of money that was not even part of the agreed plan. The letter they sent didn't even have my name on it. I immediately contacted my attorney on the case and informed him. My lawyer then realized what I was saying earlier about unfair practices in my residence came to light. Even though he tried to get an explanation for the surprise letter they sent me, my lawyer never received one from the landlord. He then believed this case was beyond what he could handle. He then advised that I look for a specialized law firm that handles those issues. My landlord charged me $15,000, which included fees for normal wear and tear, damage fees with no evidence of existing damages when I was there. She charged for concession fees and other surprise fees too. I believe the reason for the inflated charges was because I reported the landlord's unfair practices to lawful authorities for failing to accommodate a disabled person, failing to make necessary repairs, unlawful eviction, and intentional hardship. The report on her became a piece of court document later on. According to the strange letter, I was given 6 days to pay the $15,000 in full or else my name would immediately be reported to collections. Since I couldn't pay such a large sum of money, I ended up in collections as threatened. For a long time, I was unable to secure housing. I was living in hotel rooms, and the hotels exhausted my savings very quickly due to high prices. I have been in constant fights with the credit bureaus and the collection agency to remove the wrongful debt from my records. I can tell you I am still feeling emotional about this situation today even though it's in my past now. I know there are millions of people or more, like me, who have constantly faced these similar situations in the US and around the world. Discrimination of any kind can happen to anyone but shouldn't, regardless of race, age, sex, national origin, religion, to name a few. It can happen in the workplace or anywhere in public places. Anyone suffering from discrimination may face many challenges such as lack of money for legal and emotional support, and lack of resources. In my case, I wanted to fight but lacked resources and was not able to hire a paid attorney. I couldn't even afford to talk to anyone about it because I was suffering from emotional distress. Please help me with this advocacy program. The plan is to make this service accessible online, so anyone can access it. Together we fight, and together we win. Please share this post with your friends, families, and your networks. Thank you! May God bless you in your journeys!