"Looking back at 9/2004"

Authors note

I am renting a room in donna's house.  Not even knowing that her daughter was the landlord, one day someone bashed on my bedroom door.  It was donna's daughter(whom I didn't know existed at all) who began screaming and yelling at me to get out by the end of the day.  I quietly told her that I didn't even know who she is or what's going on, and that I'm certain she can't throw me out the same day. (I was behind in the rent, so what else is new, and it turned out this woman expected me to also hang out with donna who I wasn't even remotely compatible with)  She took me to court, (hoping to sue me)

 Not thinking that I could even attend, I prepared the following letter for the courts.

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Your Honor,

I'm not present today in court to contest the claim but I do indeed owe 300 dollars and then some.  I'm here to present a statement regarding my situation and to ask for a 3 - 4 week extension due to my impossible trap.

Your honor I have been living in abject poverty for 11 years.  My annual earnings between 1993 and the present have been as low as $46.00 a year but average $4,000 a year.

I am in very poor health and have not always been well enough to work.  Although I collect Social Security Disability, they reduced my benefit for September down to $423.00 a month. My car alone costs me $400 to $500 a month due to frequent breakdowns.  I have to do everything in my power to keep the car, because it is my only hope or getting out of poverty.

I have been waiting 10.5 years for affordable housing as I was living in Baltimore prior to living in Indiana.  My name is supposed to come up on the Section 8 wait. list in December.

In the meantime, I applied at every single subsidized housing complex in Lafayette and have been turned down largely because I can't pass a credit check.  There is no housing in any state that a person earning $423.00 a month can afford.  Therefore I have had numerous, numerous, episodes of homelessness.

Due to my Lyme disease as well as the current employment situation in Lafayette I've been out of work for 19 months.  I am a client of vocational rehabilitation and have a job coach who says she will help me secure work.

Your Honor, I've done everything humanly possible to improve my situation.  Can you please give me until October 4th to exit the house?  It is my understanding that over and above the issue of money, it is Ms. B's hope to secure a live in companion for her mother.    There is an extra bedroom to which she could consider renting out while I try to find different accommodation.

Sincerely,

Elana R. Snyder