Mother of three on the brink of being homeless again
Having fallen on hard times, a mother of three has designed a plan to get back on her feet. Latoya Hemmings, 32, a resident of Green Island in Hanover, is seeking the public’s help in becoming a homeowner.
She now occupies the dwelling as a tenant, but the board house is up for sale as the owner now wants it off her land. The problem, however, is that Hemmings has no money.
The two-bedroom board house is being sold for $175,000.
Currently unemployed, Hemmings said she is struggling to care fore her three children, ages 16, two, and nine months old.
“Many times I can’t find food for them, but my priority is having a roof over my head for the children,” Hemmings told THE STAR.
Our news team was told that Hemmings was living on the street when she approached Food For The Poor for a house.
“I did not have my own land so they could not give me a house. I saw a house that was up for rent and went back to Food For The Poor and they paid the first month’s rent of $8,000 for me. After that I began to pay because I was working as a cashier at a gas station at the time,” she said.
Susan Moore, director in charge of social outreach and health care, told our news team that although they are not familiar with Hemmings’ case, she might have got assistance from the parish’s poor relief department.
“Each parish has a poor relief department and they may know someone needy. They would do a field visit and sometimes do a short assistance. That may have been the case”, Moore said.
SEEKING EMPLOYMENT
Meanwhile, Hemmings said she resigned her last job to take better care of her children, but with no steady source of income to support the household, she is currently seeking employment.
“I had to resign from the last work because the children were coming home from the daycare with bites and losing weight. A better job could get better daycare which would treat them better, and I would concentrate on keeping the job to pay the bills,” she told our news team.
Hemmings said the father of her last two children is unable to assist her to buy the house. She currently owes $48,000 for rent, and said she has not idea how she will be able to clear it at this point.
She has until Monday to pay for the house, failing which she could be on the streets. If she is successful in purchasing the house, Hemmings said that she already has authorisation from a relative to have it relocated to a nearby property.