After being laid off last month, Judsina Nairn, 37, and her four children, including her disabled daughter and autistic son, were delivered an eviction notice on April 15.
“May 15 is supposed to be my eviction,” Nairn told The Nassau Guardian.
She added, “When I got the eviction letter, I didn’t expect it, really, because I’ve been consistent on my rent straight through. The rent only stopped when I stopped working, you know? So, I was a little shocked being a good tenant. I was a little shocked about it.
“I was even trying to accumulate certain funds even though it wasn’t the whole thing, just something to give. I guess that wasn’t good enough either.”
She said she has no idea what her next move is. She has no plan B.
Nairn worked as a sales associate at a carpet store before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her last day at work was March 20.
Nairn, who currently has no source of income, said she is hoping to get some assistance “to try and ease the situation if not, just for a little while, a peace of mind”.
“Providing for my four small children has become a task for me,” Nairn told The Guardian.
“I’ve basically already [diminished] all of my savings. Right now, it’s just a day-to-day, just trying to get donations and stuff from people just to maintain day-to-day.”
She said she and the father of her three youngest children have applied for assistance from the Department of Social Services and the National Insurance Board (NIB).
However, they haven’t heard back from either entity.
Nairn said she also applied for disability assistance for her daughter.
She said her 10-year-old daughter was shot in the head, as a baby, during an incident that killed her daughter’s father.
“I have to lift her in the tub, take her out of the tub,” she said.
“It’s plenty of lifting involved and then, usually, she has seizures and you can’t never tell when her seizures come on and off. You’d be feeding her and sometimes she ends up knocking her head. You have to be able to hold her.”
Nairn added, “It’s been really hard trying to get back on my feet. With this virus and everything, it’s just a real setback. Everything has fallen.”
Shortly after The Bahamas recorded its first case of COVID-19 last month, the government moved quickly to slow the spread of the disease.
A state of emergency was declared, non-essential businesses were ordered closed, a curfew was imposed and social distancing measures were implemented – measures implemented in most other countries around the world.
The last month has been “very difficult”, according to Nairn.
“When I get up in the morning, you can’t just lay down and expect people to come to you and just knock on your door,” she said.
“You have to get up and go out there and see what you could do. I have to bring something home at the end of the day. There’s no way you can explain to the kids that, ‘Hey, it’s not there.’
“It’s just an everyday struggle. It’s an everyday struggle.”
Nairn appealed for assistance from the public.
“Anything small will help,” she said.
“Whether it’s groceries, my daughter wears pampers, anything small will be able to help. It’s better than nothing.”
The post Mother of four, who lost her job because of pandemic, evicted from home appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/23/mother-of-four-who-lost-her-job-because-of-pandemic-evicted-from-home/
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