Sarah: An Unemployed Mom Struggling to Keep Her Home

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on Sarah’s* family. 

Last year, Sarah’s 11-year-old son became extremely sick and was eventually diagnosed with an immune disorder. 

“He’s been sick since he was a baby,” Sarah explained. 

Sarah spent most of her time in and out of the hospital and various doctor’s offices with her son, trying to figure out what was making him ill. Eventually, the factory where she worked as a machine operator laid her off because of her absences. 

Sarah and her family--including her husband and three kids--moved into her mother’s camper and lived with friends until April 2020.

“We were finally able to save up enough money to move in April of this year which put us in a home,” Sarah said. 

Then her husband contracted COVID-19 and lost his job, and they fell behind on rent and other bills. Because Sarah had been laid off from her last job, she was ineligible for unemployment benefits. 

As soon as he recovered, her husband started a new job at an Amazon distribution center. Her husband has to commute an hour and a half for work, which means they’re spending $120 a week in gas, but at least they had money coming in.

Sarah used a grant from SaverLife to help pay for rent and electricity. They continued working hard to pay the back rent they owed, but as soon as the eviction moratorium expired, their landlord sold the house. Now they have until October 9 to move. 

Without her working and with their backlog of bills, Sarah doesn’t know how they will be able to afford a move. But with all three kids doing remote schooling it doesn’t make sense for Sarah to find a job. 

“I would have to pay somebody to watch my kids,” Sarah said. “I would be working to pay for daycare and spending the money on gas and not make a dime.” 

The stress of remote schooling has made an already difficult situation feel impossible. The internet service Sarah can afford isn’t strong enough to power all three kids technology devices all day. 

This has caused her children’s education to suffer. As Sarah said, “The teachers are constantly telling me the kids are tardy or absent because they can’t get online.” 

Her child with an immune deficiency has broken out in hives from the stress. 

“I try to help,” Sarah said. “But I’m only one person. I’m not a teacher.” 

Sarah and her husband are hoping they can save enough money to get an apartment closer to his job, or to purchase a used RV. But with all the financial difficulties they are facing, Sarah isn’t sure how they will find a new home. 

“We’re still barely making it now and then they tell us we have to get out and we have to start all over again,” Sarah said.  

*Name changed for privacy reasons