CINCINNATI — Erica Brown and her son Lennox have been jumping from hotel to hotel ever since they lost their home back in July.
“This is hotel four in six months,” Brown said as she showed us around her hotel room.
But this isn’t the first time that they have been without a permanent home.
“I'm a single mother, my son is 10 now, and when he was a newborn, an infant, we ended up in a homeless shelter,” Brown said.
Brown told me during this time she was in school and had a full-time job, but with a single income she just needed a little help to make it by.
“I remember reaching out through you know churches, charities and even through like the county, just looking for some assistance and just being denied, turned away, because I was considered to be ineligible due to my income,” Brown said.
Brown said she was ineligible because her income was above the national poverty line.
Without any assistance, Brown and her son moved into the shelter. It was only then that she could get the help she needed.
“I was able to get every assistance that the county had to offer,” Brown said.
We asked Brown how it felt to not have any help until it was too late, already losing her home and job.
“It made me feel defeated because I'm actually trying my best to make sure that I could provide for me and my child,” she said.
When she was in the shelter, Brown met several mothers who were in the same situation as her. So she began helping them little by little.
By 2019, her work helping other single moms became the nonprofit Mommy and Me, which has helped over 1,000 women combat homelessness and prevent evictions.
But now, Brown is once again in the same situation as those she helps — still unable to get any financial assistance.
“It’s like a domino effect, which caused me to lose my vehicle. Not having a vehicle, not being able to get back and forth from work, and now I lost my housing,” Brown said.
She said the criteria to even get into a shelter is “ridiculous” and “inhumane.”
“They have to see that you are just absolutely without no resorts before they can step in and they’re willing to help you with even just emergency shelter,” Brown said.
So what needs to change? Brown said there needs to be more resources for those above the poverty line who are struggling.
“I think that there could possibly be a re-evaluation to see how the city and the county can collaborate with those organizations who are wholeheartedly dedicated to helping,” said Brown.
If you want to receive help from Mommy and Me, you can visit their website for contact information.
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