By Stacy Koruba

The COVID-19 Eviction Crisis: An estimated 30-40 million people in America could be at risk of eviction over the next few months because they can not pay their rent or mortgage. It is already happening to many across our nation. We have been abandoned as a nation regarding how we will get by. It is up to us to fend for ourselves and for many people, before COVID-19, living paycheck to paycheck was the norm.

Our government sent some of us a onetime payment of $1200.00. In the Netherlands, the government paid up to 90 percent of worker’s salaries for 3 months. Denmark paid 75 to 90 percent of workers’ salaries on behalf of employers, if workers were not laid off, and did so for 13 weeks. The UK government paid up to 80 percent of workers wages, which was equal to about $3,000.00 a month. In Hong Kong, the government will pay 50 percent of workers salaries for six months. We got an expensive firework show at the RNC convention. Money was spent on approximately 50 dozen American flags for the convention, and the amount of money the taxpayers pay for Trump to golf could probably pay for housing for many people.

Today I wanted to discuss what eviction is. What it means in real life and what it does to a person, specifically a child. The definition of eviction is the action of expelling someone, especially a tenant, from a property: expulsion. Forcefully removing one from their home. You are given no notice as to when the eviction is going to happen. I assume you know it is going to happen, eventually, so you should be prepared for what is coming. As an innocent child, you have no idea what hell lies ahead.

I had just poured myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and plopped down in front of the TV to watch Electric Company. It was a Monday morning, and I had missed school again. I missed every Monday that year, in fact I was held back in the 2nd grade because of it. My parents could not seem to get out of bed before 1PM on Mondays because they had a lot of fun on the weekends! I will remember what happened on this day clearly for the rest of my life, because it scared the hell out of me, and I felt violated and my world was turned upside down. Suddenly thunderous pounding started happening at the front door. I was sitting 4 feet away from it and it seemed as if the door came to life was ferociously taking a breath in a out with each bang. Next, I heard deep voices demanding for the door to be opened. I went to my parents’ room to tell them people were trying to get into our house. By the time we got back to the door the men had already removed the door. There were half a dozen huge muscled villains invading my house. My mind was spinning, and I remember kneeling down in the middle of all the commotion and just sobbing.

I was 7. I wanted to finish my cereal. I wanted to see what was going to happen on the Electric company. I thought these men were going to take my Mom and Dad away. Everything was happening too quickly for me to even register. They were throwing clothes at me and telling me to get dressed. Yelling at my Mom to pack whatever she could carry. They started carrying our belongings out unto the curb. My bed, all my toys, my clothes, our washing machine and dryer. Our refrigerator with all our food in it. How were we going to eat that if it was sitting outside? How was I going to play with my toys? Neighbors that were friends were now acting like strangers, huddling together, whispering secrets about us. People started driving by, going through our belongings and taking them, as if our life were now trash. We did not own a car so we could only take what we could carry. Maybe my parents had family or friends come back to try to get things, but everything was probably riffled through by the time that happened. I remember walking down the alley with my dog Buffy, pretending I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and we were off to find a new life.

This was the first of three evictions as a child. The second one happened while I was at school. I came home after school to a completely empty apartment and had no clue where to even find my family. I felt abandoned and totally alone. I had to try and remember how to get to my Grandma’s house to find out what had happened. Being evicted as a child leaves you feeling unsafe and disconnected as an adult. I have lived in 27 different homes during my life. I NEVER feel a connection to a home. Even the ones that are my own. I find it difficult to feel a connection to anything really. It is hard to feel safe or secure with anything in life when you can not even trust in the fact that you will not be expelled from your home. I do not develop attachments to material things.

How could I? Material things get tossed on the curb by strangers when they feel like it. I have severe food insecurities, mostly for my family and child. My house must be well stocked so that there is never a time that anyone may not have food. My issues are caused because of the way I grew up. The way I grew up had nothing to do with a pandemic. Millions of people are going to be evicted due to a pandemic and our government is doing nothing to help. Our government is helping to set up a future of adults that feel like me.

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