After losing her home to the terrible Eaton fires earlier this year, a single mother of two has stepped out to talk about her struggles with homelessness.
Kahnai Jackson, 27, was renting a room in an Altadena house when the Eaton Fire ravaged the area, destroying everything. She is not eligible for any government help because she did not have a lease or utility bills in her name.
RELATED STORIES
This single mother of two is one of an increasing number of tenants who are overlooked during disasters, not because they were untouched, but rather because they lack the documentation proving they were a resident of the affected area.
Jackson told Fox LA, “Being a renter, you don’t get anything like the owners do. I just didn’t have the documents to get the help they were giving.”
Jackson has been sleeping in her car and staying at different motels with her kids, Jeremiah, age 5, and Jenia, age 8, because they have no support and nowhere to go. She works part-time jobs whenever she can and attends school during the day as a full-time nursing student.
“I’m working, doing side jobs, or whatever I can to get money,” she revealed. “But I can’t work as much as I want to because I’m in school most of the day. Then I have to pick up my kids by 6 — it’s a lot.”
Regardless, Jackson is determined to provide a better future for her children. In an effort to raise enough cash for stable accommodation, she recently started a GoFundMe campaign.
READ ALSO: Woman finds snake in her margarita at a Mexican restaurant
“I’m just trying to be strong and give them a stable foundation,” she said emotionally. “So they won’t think this is normal.”
Her GoFundMe page has raised roughly half of her goal.
She wrote on the fundraiser page, “We were already struggling before the fire, and now to loose everything, including our housing, has really hurt us. This will help us stay off the streets and get into a new home.”
“I just want to provide a better life for my kids, so if you could find it in your heart to help, I would really appreciate it.”
