Renee Thronson is 66-year-old woman who has battled cancer for 3 years. She never thought she would be starting a battle for homelessness and affordable housing in the U.S.
It all started when a new property management company purchased her apartment complex. She had resided at the complex for 4 years and intended to live there until she could no longer care for herself. The new owners of the complex are currently remodeling units. When her lease ends her rent will be $300 to $400 more than she currently pays. She simply cannot afford to live at her current residence.
Most residents of the complex are moving because the new rental prices are unaffordable. Tenants who are moving are finding it difficult to find a new place to rent. Thronson has been searching for a new place since October 2021.
She quickly found that most the income restricted properties which had rentals she could afford were hard to reach. Most income restricted properties did not answer their phones and if she left a voice mail, they did not return her calls. If she emailed them, they did not answer her emails. When she went by their rental offices, no one was available to take her application.
After searching, she found that most rental properties in her area have long waiting lists. She did more searching online and discovered alarming statistics regarding the housing crisis, lack of affordable housing and homelessness.
She found that lack of affordable housing was affecting students and that students were on waiting lists for off-campus housing. She read countless articles where people were living in their cars or vans. There was simply no available affordable housing for these people.
At this point she realized she was not the only one dealing with these issues. She started a petition online at Change.org the world’s platform for change. She hopes to present these signatures and the petition to Congress and the Biden administration.
You may sign the petition at Tell Congress We Need Affordable Housing in the US.