10 Moms and 20 Kids Face Eviction
Misty Jones is a single mom who thought she was on her way to better things after a life of foster homes and homelessness. Now, she's threatened with being homeless again. Says Jones, "I don't know what to do. I never had a mom to show me what to do or where to go." And, now, she and ten moms where about their kids. Twenty kids from babies to 10-years-old.
The Landlord of their South LA building said she was told by the Family Solutions Center that she was to evict these women at the end of this month. They've been on the streets before. Transitional housing was supposed to be a chance for another start for single parents who have been homeless before. "We were sleeping in my car. I don't get help. My son never met his father."
FOX 11 News began investigating why these the women were being evicted. We learned that homeless funding ran from the LA Homeless Services Authority to Weingart Center Association to the Family Solutions Center it runs. They pay vendors and vendors pay landlords. The women said they thought they were okay. They had an agreement. Hilda Guevara says she was "...to go back to work and once work was established they would talk about permanent housing."
They were stipulations about finding work, saving money and paying what they could. But, along the way multiple sources tell us that the Family Solutions Center had staffing issues and slow payments. There were questions about the tenants leases for which they say they never got copies.
The landlord says she was told by Family Solutions to evict the tenants at the end of September.
"What about the kids?" asked Cecilia Vargas, "cause at the end of the day they are going to suffer more than all of us."
By, the end of the day, based on our inquiries, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authorities made the following statement to FOX11:
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority is actively investigating the management of a housing program for homeless families in South Los Angeles. LAHSA has directed our contracted agency, Weingart Center Association, to ensure families remain in their current residence or secure alternate housing options.
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Family Solutions then sent us a statement that they "… will continue to work with all clients to re-house them."
The landlord here told us: "I'm happy to hear about this because they need to take care of these families.
Meanwhile, to the tenants, it's good news if they don't have to take their kids and sleep in the cars and on the streets.
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