A Box of Cookies
Yesterday, I came across several people in need of a voice. I recently started organizing donations for families in motels in downtown Sparks. I am heartbroken for these families.
They are working full time jobs. They do not have substance abuse problems. They drive cars that are nicer than mine and make their payments on time for them.
They are in great credit standing with the motel. They pay at minimum one thousand dollars a month for their room and they are raising their children there.
I am just a community donor. I network and buy food and items in bulk to provide extra support for these families.
Yesterday I was contacted by a family that had no food. They commute by bus. They work and are raising a child in this motel. I immediately went to the grocery store and purchased one hundred dollars in food. They only can cook with a microwave and a mini fridge.
When I arrived and met the little girl I must say I was blown away. She was so grateful and so hungry and looking at her face when she saw the food is imprinted in my mind.
I bought a 28 count box of chips and she said, "You just gave me 28 days of smiles." She is 8!
Joining the Fight
I need our community to join the fight.
We have honest, hardworking families, living in unfair conditions. These landlords who are saying you must make four times the rent in order to qualify to live here should be held in moral contempt. These folks work, make their car payments, or their bus fair. They never miss the rent at the motel and they have good hygiene and attend church services.
Yet they have to live this way due to rental communities unwilling to ungrinch themselves.
These are Our children, Our neighbors, Our community.
I am only one person but I make a difference everyday in anyway I can. The taxpayers really need to look at them and then look at our city leaders. I am not an anarchist. I pay my taxes.
And in turn I see art being leased. I see housing that starts between $500,000 - $750,000 being built. I see these council members approving irresponsible business ventures like an AXE bar.
We need a change. These children growing up in motels will eventually become the next economy. Are we giving them due diligence? I think not. We need their generation to thrive and laugh and learn.
Washoe County is failing its citizens and a major change must be made NOW! We must do better! Thank you for letting me share my story.