MILPITAS, CA. — The situation of my family is critical. The company where my husband worked went out of business due to the pandemic. My mom is too old to work, my sister has cancer, and I have a broken foot. We have not been able to pay rent for four months and we owe the owner over $10,000.
The County has an eviction moratorium, so we are still in our home. But the moratorium expires on August 31, and we have no idea where we will get money to pay the back rent. The landlady comes by every other week to pressure us to give her money. But if we don’t have any, there is nothing we can do about it. My husband has not been able to find work during the pandemic. His unemployment benefit goes for food, clothing, and bills.
We are still lucky compared to many other families in the neighborhood. I have information about our rights and about resources that are available. Many families have no money and do not understand their rights regarding immigration or landlord reprisals. Some have already left the area. I saw one family evicted by a landlord who just threw their furniture in a dumpster.
The situation is so stressful. The children are traumatized. Some live with their whole family in just one room. They don’t know if they will have a roof over their heads. Milpitas is next to San Jose, but many of the San Jose agencies do not help people from Milpitas because they say we are a different city. We are all human beings. We all need housing, food, and jobs.
We are organizing tenants to testify at public hearings about canceling the rent. The most important thing is to explain to people that they have rights. Housing is a human right, not a privilege. A lot of government leaders make a lot of promises, but so far we have not seen the action we need. What will happen to us? We don’t know, but we will continue to fight for our rights.