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Rental assistance from our community and beyond

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Rental assistance from our community and beyond

From Amina Strohl

Hoping to stop the eviction process and get ahead again. Still in negotiations with social security, this process is painstaking. My pride has had to take a back seat to keeping a roof over our heads.

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Continued .. to. Save you the fluff I’m going to do a synopsis/timeline of events 

2019:

August 

Became a single parent. Court date set for early in 2020. At this point I have been in pain for a long time from what I thought was the physical nature of my job as a hairdresser, having the baby and life with scoliosis. Doctors continued to tell me nothing was wrong. 

November :

After two emergency room visits I had given up. I went in to the ER i had decided this was my last attempt at getting answers. I forced a mri and after many hours in the emergency department, the doctor told me of the tumors. I thought it was an appendicitis. I guess it’s not the answer I thought it was but I now had an answer.

2020:

Jan : 

Went out of disability leave. Surgery to remove the tumors was set for the earliest available, may.

Feb: 

The pandemic hit California. Lock downs. Masks. Isolation. The doubled up unemployment checks started rolling out. I wasn’t able to claim unemployment, for I was on disability and that would have negated my being on disability. 

May: 

Surgery. The hospital was also quarantined. This was horrible for me no visitors couldn’t see my baby. This was the longest I had been away from her. 

August:

Disability ran out. All the funds I had built up started to diminish.

2021/2022:

My spirit started to waver. I had slowly given up hope of anything changing. As I had dug myself out of debt created a nest egg was in school for my ba. In my heart I was going to be a teacher. I knew I could do it. That dream slowly faded. 

At the end of this time period, the Cambras came to my rescue again. I became Lisa’s in home support. The joy of this was income and the ability to work as I could. Even stopping to take naps or relax at her home. Had this been anyone else I wouldn’t have made it very long at this job. 

The only home my daughter had known was taken over by a new owner  the owner of black tie limo, although I felt the realtor wasn’t very helpful . She was just doing her job. But the owner had a distaste for me from the beginning. Was it because I had gotten the full amount of rent paid for with rental assistance ?! Was it because he knew I didn’t work but didn’t know why?!  I tried so hard to sustain, the crazy thing is that the rent in that single family home was less than my current rent in a one bedroom apartment. He had male workers on the property every other day put huge moving pods on the property to which he expected us to use to move our things with no knowledge of anything to do with them, where they came from or the contract with them. I feared I would lose all of our stuff too. 

Late this year I gave up. I was getting sicker and sicker with the mounting stress. The tensions between him and I mounted everyday. I was afraid to leave the house. So I left that apartment, to not only share the bad he did give us a small sum that wouldn’t even cover a deposit or and firsts months rent.

I had to leave and give away many significant items. 

Luckily Lisa opened her home to us. 

2023:

Lisa moved with family in Castro valley. I was so happy for her to move forward in this new chapter of her life. 

Initially I had a roommate but his mental health teetered and I had to ask him to leave. I was able to extend the room to another close friend. That soon came to and end as well as it was a short term agreement from the start. 

At this point I had been Denied ssdi multiple times and was in the appeal process. 

2024: 

I fell behind in rent. tried to take out loans apply for grants and aid. Nothing sustained the rent. But I had no way of saving for a deposit. I was sharing a room with paisley. 

Jan. I was to be awarded back pay. 

September I was finally awarded back pay. I paid for nearly 9 months rent and a few small debts. And made sure I was able to make paisleys bday and Christmas were not going to be baron. I know that in times like these splurging isn’t the answer. But one thing I have tried to do was hide the financial/housing struggles from p

2025: 

Rent was paid in full in advanced until about April still having a bit of a spill over to may. 

My dad and step mom stepped in a helped again. Both my mom and dad up to this point had helped in numerous ways. Monetarily. Emotionally. With paisley and more. Even my longest friend my best friend and paisleys god mother steps in an helps anytime she can. I owe her so much more than I can ever put a value on. 

Unfortunately for ability for my parents to help out monetarily was gone. 

May:

I allocated all of my aid to rent about 800

This has been my main income since the other funds ran out. To think after 20 years of being a stylist. My funds that I paid into ran out. It’s so confusing. I worked at about 30-40% commission most of my career meaning no hourly wage. Where as most commissioned employees make both. But that is a battle I’m unable to fight right now.

June:

This brings us up to date. I have been on the phone going to all the places Instructed. To no avail. Still I’m not cleared to go back to work. I have continued the appeal process with ssdi. 

Again all of the funds were allocated to my rent. But I was served a three day notice. This week Monday 6/9. All of my rent payments have been accepted. Still the notice. I asked about a payment plan for the back rent as my new lawyer for the SSDI case said this should be taken care of in a few months. My hopes are low but my perseverance has always been high. 

I have applied for every finding source possible ..

The amount I am asking for covers the back rent 

A smog check to get valid tags on my car .. they expired October 2024..

And finally, Julys rent 

This is to offer me a bit of a cushion to work on August rent. 

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