A single mother and her children are expected to be out of a home by this morning, after being evicted by her landlord for failing to pay her rent.
She is now seeking any possible assistance from the public.
Sogolong James, 32, was first evicted from her family home when the pandemic began.
Since then, she has been moving around with her three children and her sister’s seven-year-old now under her care. Her sister was murdered in 2017.
Impacted by the increasingly heavy restrictions imposed by the Government to curb the spread of COVID-19, James said she is now unable to work to provide for her family.
“Last year I lose my business. I had a burger cart that was a rent to own situation, so when the first lockdown happened, when food places were to close, I had to close business and therefore I wasn’t able to pay the rent for the cart anymore and the owner seized it. So I lost the cart and my instalments,” she said.
Following this, she said she was employed under the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) but had to leave to see about her four children and their online schooling. She has since tried to make ends meet by selling food on her own and doing domestic work.
“Due to the fact that places are closed once again and no work, food can’t sell...and well obviously, due to the COVID virus, nobody is calling anyone to come into their houses to do jobs at this time so I am home,” she said
With all that has happend, she has since ended up defaulting on her rent and was told by her landlord to pay the $2,700 owed by 5 pm yesterday or vacate the premises by this morning. She was unable to make the payment and is now worried about her children.
“I am all these children have so when I fall, they falling with me and this is hard and sad - it’s a lot. This time, I have no family I could stay with, I don’t have nowhere (sic) to go with my children...I don’t really have much,” she said.
“It’s not like the place open at this time to say jobs are available. As soon as they are available, I’d be the first person in line for something, anything. I never really thought I would end up in this position here to be on the news pleading for help but this is where I am at.”
James said she is open to any sort of assistance that could be lent to her and her children, whether it’s money to pay her rent, a place to stay, or a job.
She can be contacted at 272-7404.