In 2017, we were approved for another unit in public housing, and I signed the lease. I went in and remembered thinking, ‘What should I have done with this (small place)? I can really touch each of the walls spreading my arms. ‘Then I wandered and saw my oldest daughter. He had the biggest smile on his face and said, “Mother, we have a stove!” This makes me emotional. This gave me a new view on life, to see through the eyes of gratitude.
Everything was good for a year. I stayed with me. We were not great, but we were escaping. I was happy then, because I did not need to worry. One thing on which I could count was that I had a fare. I did not have stress every month.
The complex then found a new manager. Immediately after starting, I found a lease violation for cigarette butles on the pavement. They were not mine. I appealed, it went away. Then I start violating 10, 15, sometimes 20 in the week. And it was not just me, it was everyone. They will accuse me that the people who are unauthorized with me live with me, when my brother will actually help me leave my children from school and leave me. I filed a complaint every time.
The management then started taking photos outside my unit; It felt as if I was in jail. Eventually, they tried to evict me for non -rentless non -fate, but I pay my rent every month. The judge evicted me, but I filed an appeal on time, so we remained in the unit. We won, and we are still there.
In this way I became a lawyer. I was invited to my neighborhood meeting with the historic Westside Residents Association and started sharing my story. The association’s co-chairman, Leticia Sanchez, then brought me to San Antonio’s Housing Commission. After a nine -minute speech, there was a thunder of applause throughout the room. This was all news. I think it was my first action.
Every day we fight for fair, affordable housing. During Kovid, the San Antonio Housing Authority Commission voted to demolish my housing complex, Alazan-Paanti Court to build mixed-or-be accommodation. Therefore a group of advocates campaigned to nominate the property as one 11 most endangered historical places In an attempt to stop the demolition and make us into the national headlines.
From there, someone from the neighborhood became the CEO of San Antonio Housing Authority. In her first meeting, the first thing he did, she declared housing as a human right and stopped the demolition plan. The other thing she did was with me. I was then appointed by Councilvuman Terry Castibleo to the Building Standards Board and the 2022 Housing Bond Committee, where I fought and won for the first housing bonds of the city. Bond dedicated funds to public housing so that we could update and add new units.
But in 2022, the Mayor replaced the entire commission. They were, and are ready on the demolition. He gave back all the housing bond funds to the city. He then started targeting tenants for overdue payment. I knocked on each of those 601 doors to help people present their payments; Some of which were just $ 1 to copy a key; He did not pay just because he felt the fare was $ 0 and did not check his bill.
