The New Tenant

It’s been 8 months since we started our social experiment. In that time, we have spent a ton of money rehabbing a couple of buildings, got frustrated with banks and city bureaucracy, spent time in eviction court and dealt with problem tenants. During that time, we seemed to have lost our way, at least I did. I lost my perspective on our goal of enabling others to help themselves. That is until last week when I met Devon. She is a single mom with 3 boys. She called me looking for a 3 bedroom apartment that would take Section 8.

Our process may be naive, but when someone is interested in renting from us I ask them to fill out a standard application and then we chat. The application is normal stuff, address & employment history, references, contacts & permission to do a background check. While this is interesting, the conversation is what I find insightful and my chat with Devon reminded me of the big picture I lost.

Devon has 3 boys, 18, 16 and 10. She is a single mom, lives in a shelter and is working very hard to keep her family together and raise her kids right. It’s always easy for a parent to talk about their kids and Devon was no exception. In a short while I learned that her boys were in marching band, good students, worked weekends at the nearby skiing facility and summers for the City Parks system. She talked about her challenges keeping the focused on what was important and how proud she was of their accomplishments.

What I saw in Devon, was a parent who was trying to find redemption in her life by providing a better one for her kids. She lived vicariously through them and had reached a point where she was willing to make any sacrifice to provide a better world. After listening to the joy in her voice and seeing the pride in her heart, I knew I wanted to help her continue being a success and find a way out of the shelter.

We are working with Section 8 to get her out of the shelter and into a home. I hope to have her move in next week and we'll see what happens next. It's my hope we are providing a good home and a fresh start for someone who wants to make their life better. I’ll let you know how it turns out…