Community in Action – Helping a Family in Need
When Lana* came into the Rapid Rehousing program at Associated Ministries, she was struggling; pregnant and had two little girls sleeping in the car with her. She began working very hard to find housing and applied at a few different places and was denied the same amount of times. The reasons varied; her credit, her criminal record, her income, but she did not stop. The Rapid Rehousing team worked alongside her and we finally found a landlord willing to give a young mom another chance at success.
Through Rapid Rehousing, Lana received help with move in costs and from that moment on Lana was making great progress including paying 100 percent of her rent, her electric bill, getting her oldest child into school, and even working during her last month of pregnancy. She was working very hard and was making it, but she had one big concern; her home had begun to show the signs of a roach infestation. She bug-bombed the place a couple of times on her own, but was unsuccessful.
As time passed and her tries to end the infestation failed, and as her pregnancy advanced, she grew more concerned. Lana had gotten used to cleaning incessantly and watching her children around the clock to make sure that no bugs got close to them, but once she realized that her newborn baby would be exposed and in danger, the thought of staying there was becoming less a safe option. At that point Associated Ministries put out the word to the community for assistance. We needed help in preventing Lana’s housing from becoming insecure.
RAMBO Pest Control answered the call. RAMBO offered a completely pro-bono fumigation service for the entire four-plex! They got out there right away and took care of the problem, then offered a discounted monthly service that Lana was able to present to her landlord and neighbors, in hopes of keeping the homes free of bugs.
“We appreciate how RAMBO stepped up so quickly to lend a hand to a family in need”, stated AM staff member Alexis Agee-Cooper. “Their willingness to go above and beyond to ensure the entire four-plex was fumigated, was a wonderful gift to the all of the tenants and the community.”
Since then, Lana’s baby was born and the efforts of RAMBO have helped her keep her home and feel safe and secure. We are so grateful for the efforts of RAMBO who took care of a vulnerable person in need, and proved that there are many ways in which we can help end the problem of housing insecurity. They showed how we can all be a part of the solution in different ways.
*For confidentiality, the name of the client has been changed.
