Securing Housing for Others and a New Career for Herself through Heading Home Corps
When life throws you a curveball, it can be hard to keep up. And when that curveball is a medical emergency that prevents you from working, making rent can be nearly impossible. Dearest is a Housing Resource Navigator who helps her neighbors in New Hope, Minnesota as they work to get back on track after unexpected challenges. Dearest's year of service is almost complete, but she's not ready to stop making a difference. Next year she will return to the organization she supported, but now as a full-time employee!
Born in Liberia, Dearest moved to the United States when she was ten. She spent over 20 years in the U.S., before returning to Liberia in 2021 for a yearlong volunteering opportunity. During that time, she built schools, put on youth church services, and mediated community problems. This opportunity inspired her to pursue community service when she got back to the U.S.
“I'd given back to the motherland,” she explains. “America's kind of my fatherland. What could I do for America too?”
Today, at Community Mediation and Restorative Services (CMRS), she’s practicing many of the same skills she learned volunteering in Liberia. "It's such an interesting coincidence that I now work with CMRS, which is all about restorative services and mediation,” she says. “Little did I know I would be doing something similar.”
As a Housing Resource Navigator, Dearest works one-on-one with people facing housing insecurity and helps them reach their housing goals. At CMRS, she locates financial support, finds mediators to work with landlords on behalf of her clients, identifies job opportunities, and more.
She also attends Hennepin County Housing Court twice a month to offer her services. This is where she met a client she’ll never forget, Mr. O. His story was so impactful to her, she chose to write about it herself. Here’s part of what she had to say.
“As I sat outside the courtroom, a lawyer approached and asked if I could please talk with his client. A despondent gentleman slung forward, mustering a watery smile in my direction and trudged behind me to an available room.
”As we did the intake, I asked him what was going on and, on the verge of tears, he began to unload. He had been a tenant of the apartment complex since 2012 that was now seeking to evict him. During that entire time, he’d paid all his bills on time, had no problems with management nor issues with anyone else. All was going smoothly until he got into a serious car accident, which landed him in the hospital for a few months. He’d lost his car which, as an Uber driver, was his primary source of income and had to rent a vehicle to continue. With high car rental costs, he barely broke even. He fell behind and could not pay his rent for two months. He reached out and explained his situation to the property manager, but they would not hear it and granted him no grace.
”At the housing court, the landlord and their lawyers refused to give him time beyond the court required seven days to come up with the funds he owed, even after I’d assured the lawyers that he qualifies for a program that would cover not only the two months that Mr. O owed, but an additional three months. I could see that he was feeling defeated, but we did not lose hope and filed an application anyway. I told him to not lose heart, he should watch the application and see if anything else might be required of him and I’d do my best to apply pressure where I could.
”I can joyfully report now that Mr. O was approved, as expected, for the past due and future payments that he requested, is still housed and trying to build his life back up. The whole experience just reinforced the fact that the work we do matters. How would things have been different for Mr. O if I hadn’t been there with access to this amazing program?”
Mr. O’s story is just one story from Dearest’s neighbors in New Hope. She supports people like him in many ways, but meeting in person with people at housing court is especially impactful to her.
“Speaking to people over the phone and hearing their stories is one thing,” she says. “But actually being there in person, it was really difficult seeing Mr. O on the verge of tears. That really touched me.”
As Dearest brings her year with Heading Home Corps to a close, we’re excited she’ll continue to help Minnesotans facing housing insecurity as a full-time employee of CMRS! Service with AmeriCorps is a great way to invest in your community and your future career path. If you or someone you know is interested in giving more Minnesotans a safe place to call home, join Heading Home Corps! Visit ampact.us/heading-home to learn more and apply.