- [Interviewer] Tory, we're here in Phoenix.
You're homeless in a hotel.
Tell me about it.
- I don't want to be here.
We're only supposed to be here two weeks.
There's actually six of us crammed up
in this room right now.
The situation that got us here was...
it wasn't even the fact of money,
it was more or less,
it was partially.
My husband got sick.
He had a heart attack.
And the landlord wouldn't help us.
He started charging us 30 dollars a day for rent.
Trying to get out of this situation,
is we're putting everything into being here,
so it's harder to get out.
Resources out there really aren't helping us.
I've called several.
They say either they have no funds
or you're on a waiting list for months.
And then by the time you get in there,
either they say you don't qualify,
or they try to place you somewhere that's too far.
- The reason you picked this hotel was to stay
in the school district.
- Yes, right.
Because this area that we are
is cuz my children are going to a wonderful school.
I don't want to move them around.
I mean we're already in a situation it is.
We don't make it any worse having them go somewhere else.
- Right.
Try to keep a little bit of stability as much as you can.
My husband, his job
is still far, but at least he's more,
has more resources to get to it from here
than it would be anywhere else further.
I mean--
- You're saying he walks four miles a day.
- Yes.
- Each way or?
- Well, sometimes he does have to do it each way.
Last week he didn't have enough bus fare to get to work
and get home or cab fare to do it.
So yes.
Sometimes he does have to walk a lot.
- You said you lost your house, foreclosure in 2009.
- Yes.
We were actually were going to be put
on the mortgage.
We're approved for it to get the re-certification
or something.
- Yeah.
- And someone came and knocked on the door and told us
we had eight days to leave.
Our home that we lived in for nine years.
And then we ended up moving into a rental home.
At the time, the economy, my husband lost his job
of 19 years.
- Wow.
We stayed there for,
until a little bit after Christmas.
My husband finally got his job back after being laid off
for a year.
And then the house caught on fire.
And then we were homeless again.
We stayed in a hotel for just a couple of weeks,
for about six weeks, I'd say.
And then we ended up finding placement at that time
cuz we did get help from a resource at the time.
But it was, the rent was very expensive
and we couldn't do that.
So we were there for three months.
Found something else.
And that was the home that we just recently moved from now.
And then now we're back in this situation.
Here.
But this actually is the first time being like homeless
to the point that we can't get out of it.
- People don't understand.
It's like a circle because you can't save up
for first and last month's rent.
- Exactly, you can't.
I mean when you're paying 400 dollars a week for your kids
to have a place to stay and not be out on the streets,
and trying to even just get the little necessities
that they need.
And then you can't...
There's no way.
- Right.
And people think the, I mean, you should be able
to rent an apartment like that but you have to have
first and last month's rent,
credit and everything else.
- Exactly.
And if you have anything on your credit,
even a small, little splotch, you cannot get,
you cannot afford.
I mean first and last month's rent right now is six or $700.
So it's 1400 dollars just to move into a place.
Plus if you have to pay for your water or your electric
that's an additional $300 to get that turned on.
You have to have at least $1500 to two thousand dollars
just to move into something.
- You were talking about how your son has health problems.
- Yes.
My son, he's 11.
He's been diagnosed.
He has a very rare form of cancer.
He has two brain tumors.
He's battling it for five years.
So I can't be moving him around.
I do have to stay in a specific area because of his doctors.
- And the schools.
- Yes.
- You were telling me that
food banks,
only the one food bank,
that's close, only allows six boxes.
- Yes, six boxes a year. - In a year.
- Yes.
- The other ones are too far and you don't have a car.
- Exactly.
I mean it'd be four, five, six miles
because we have to walk at least eight blocks
to the closest bus stop and then you have
to take two or three buses to get there.
Even some times, if they only do it a certain amount
of times during the day, like two or three hours
in the morning, either your too late
or there's no supplies left or there's only a certain amount
of people that they can do a day.
And we've gone to the Church of the Nations on a couple
of Saturdays, which is within about eight blocks
of walking distance and they do provide my kids with lunch.
But that's only on Saturdays.
- Otherwise you have the rest of the week.
- Exactly.
I mean you can't really just let your kids,
okay, we're only going to eat once a week.
I mean it's kinda hard to tell your kids that.
- You're a very strong woman.
- You have to be.
- I mean you met us with a smile.
- You have to be.
I mean if you don't keep going,
staying strong for yourself,
your kids and your family,
there's nothing else to keep going for.
You're just going to be stuck down in a bad rut and it's...
We're going to get out of this some how.
And I know we are.
My kids aren't going to be here stuck
in this position forever.
You just have to keep fighting.
That's what I'm doing.
I'm doing that for my kids.
I'm doing it for my husband who gets up everyday
at 3 o'clock in the morning to walk to work.
And I'm doing this...
Hopefully, if there's families or anybody out there
and they need help, don't give up.
Because if you give up,
your kids aren't going to be strong.
My kid got,
I'm so proud of my son.
He got Student of the Month for September.
Being in this situation and your child actually gets
Student of the Month and goes to school
and get his homework done and read.
His teachers love him and he doesn't act out.
That tells me, I'm doing something right.
- Awesome and congratulations on Student of the Month.
- Thank you.
(laughter)
- If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- I don't know.
(child whispers)
- [Interviewer] Well, I can't hear ya.
What are they?
- To help my family.
- To help your family.
- And to help Gus not be how he is.
- Okay, that's to help your brother then, right?
Wow
And one more.
- I don't know
- Do you guys have any wishes?
No? You're smiling.
- What's your wish Leah.
You have three wishes?
Barbies and Barbies and more Barbies?
(laughter)
- Well thank you all very much for talking to me.
- Thank you.
Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity
to speak out.