from homelessness to affordable housing advocate: Kawana’s story

Month after month, the leaks in Kawana’s apartment ceiling went unfixed by the landlord. When it rained, water came directly into the unit she shared with her two sons, both of whom have asthma. She kept paying rent, but the landlord didn’t fix the leaks, exterminate the bugs, or tend to the black mold that was now covering the ceiling throughout their apartment, making her sons sick. After reporting the need for repairs for many months, the landlord said the repairs would require her to leave the apartment - she’d have to move. The average rent she could find for another apartment was $3,000 a month, which would require 80-90% of her monthly income. That, along with a car payment, food, paying off debt, and other expenses, meant that Kawana had to live out of her car for nearly two years. 

Finding an apartment she could afford on a single mother’s income, with no money for deposits and debt to pay off, forced Kawana to send her sons to live with relatives temporarily while working as many hours as possible.  

“Being homeless was one of the most expensive times in my life. I had to purchase a gym membership so I had a place to shower and get ready for work. Once in a while, I’d rent a hotel room just so we could be together for a night, and I could sleep in a comfortable bed,” Kawana explained. Still, she says she was one of the fortunate ones because she could safely sleep in her vehicle in the parking lot of her work where she wouldn’t be ticketed or harmed. It was well-lit and away from major traffic.  

Living apart from some of her sons for over a year and a half was hard on everyone. Up until that time, Kawana and her sons had never been apart. Her youngest went to live with his grandmother, while her oldest attended college classes and worked in his free time to make his way and help the family when he could. Kawana often worked around the clock, taking any overtime offered to get the money she needed for a deposit, to pay down debt, and to reunite her family under one roof as soon as possible. She shared that in one of her paychecks, she had 80 hours of regular time and 100 hours of overtime in two weeks. She was often exhausted from working so much, but she was also grateful to be employed. She knew that being employed was a gift that many facing homelessness didn’t have. 

Even while living in her car and working overtime, Kawana always prioritized her relationships with her sons and strived to maintain a sense of normalcy with home-cooked meals. They would gather at a local park two to three times a week, and Kawana would prepare traditional dishes on a portable grill or hot plate. She’s never liked her children eating fast food, so figuring out ways to prepare meals for them even though they were homeless was important to her, and the goal of eventually enjoying these family meals at their dining room table fueled her perseverance.

Kawana knew about the services Mary’s Place provides through her past employment at Vine Maple Place, where she worked in intake. She reached out to our outreach team, which put her in touch with the Housing Connector program, which helps families facing barriers like low credit scores and past rental debt find apartments. Alongside other organizations in the community, Mary’s Place helped Kawana pay down past rental debt. She was also connected to the Rapid Rehousing program. When she finally got a new apartment, Kawana and her family received furniture through the Mary’s Place Make a Home program to make their new apartment feel like home. Because of Mary’s Place, Kawana and her children were reunited under one roof, and Kawana could return to a more regular work schedule. 

What Kawana loves about Mary’s Place is that we provide so many different types of assistance to families. She loves how Mary’s Place makes it possible for families to celebrate the holidays with gifts for their kids so they have a sense of normalcy.  

Kawana is an advocate for affordable housing and rent stabilization. Here is a poem she wrote about experiencing homelessness and the cascade of issues that affect families who are struggling to pay higher and higher rent: