Foreclosure Compels a Great-Grandmother to Survive in Strange Shelters

Foreclosure is not just about cold statistics and figures. The dreaded word is laced with tears and pain. Each tale of woe provides sufficient material for a true life novel depicting the time and age America is passing through.

Sheri West is the mother of three grown children, grand-mother to 6 and great-grand-mother to one. For a year she has been trudging along passing the days and nights either in the front seat of her car or in the couches of friends and neighbours. Finally when all options ran out she knocked on the doors of a shelter. At one time she had owned and operated one such shelter for the homeless.

Initially renters from the low income group were seeking shelter but recently many landlords evicted from their homes are enlisting themselves. Larry Haynes of Mercy House in Santa Ana, California said, “These families never needed help before. They haven’t a clue about where to go, and they have all sorts of humiliation issues. They don’t even know what to say, what to ask for.”

Rick Cole of Ventura of California said, “We’ve seen a rise in people sleeping in their cars. Some are foreclosed former homeowners, and some couldn’t afford their rent. People will give up their house before they give up their car.”

Those who have some savings try to become tenants but their stained credit makes things difficult. An increasing number are staying in motels that are rented on a weekly basis. Entire families are packed into one room making use of hot plates to improvise for kitchens. But with rising unemployment even this protection will soon vanish. Friends and families often offer hospitality in extra rooms, basements and attics. But in the normal course this cannot last for a long time. Relationships snap.

West and her husband and two children came to Cleveland in the 1990s. They started off as tenants but one day she fell in love with a locality by the Cuyahoga River that drew like a magnet many Black families like hers. She purchased it for $45,000 using as down payment ($9,000) money left to her by her mother. The couple took over the mortgage of the previous owner. The payment was affordable – monthly $400.

At that time both husband and wife had satisfactory jobs. With the passage of years they made alterations and additions to the house as more children appeared. She then bought another house with her mother’s inheritance and converted into a shelter for five homeless persons. She ran the show by doing their washing, cooking and reminding them about their medicines. She accepted $750 per month from each person.

The problem started when the couple began to spend more than what they earned. Finally when he left her and the financial crisis started West found herself in an inescapable trap!

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