Andrea Hayward is a single mother of three who says she has been struggling with unsafe and unstable living conditions in a shared accommodation. What began as a place to raise her family has, in recent weeks, turned into a situation that she describes as both stressful and unsafe.
Just two mornings ago, Ms. Hayward says she woke to find her bathroom mirror shattered. “Everybody was asleep in the house,” she explained. “My son was up playing a game and heard a bang, then a door slam, but thought it was the upstairs tenant. When I got up, I found the mirror broken all over the floor.”
That same day, she discovered an eviction notice posted on the downstairs door—not even her own apartment. To make matters worse, her electricity was shut off, despite her having paid her light bill in full just the week before. “I had a zero balance,” she said. “But the lights were still turned off.”
The next day, Ms. Hayward came home to find “no trespassing” signs posted on the property and her door wide open. “Anybody could have walked in—it looked like an open house,” she said. She called the police, who came to investigate. Later, when another tenant pointed out more damage, Ms. Hayward says she discovered the upstairs bathroom toilet had been smashed. Again, she had to call the police.
According to Ms. Hayward, part of the problem stems from her landlord, who she says has been absent and unclear about rent payments. “The agreement was that lights and water were included in the rent,” she explained. “But the landlord never gave me the bank account to put the money in. When she was living there, we gave her money directly, but sometimes we’d go weeks without power because she did what she wanted with it.”
Despite paying $550 a month for her shared unit, she says the property has fallen into disrepair. She and her partner even took on maintenance themselves, patching ceilings, fixing leaks, and cutting the overgrown yard. “It’s like walking through a desert or a forest,” she said. “I want my living arrangements to look and feel comfortable for my children.”
With the situation worsening, Ms. Hayward says she is being forced to make difficult choices. “I’ve had to split up my children—putting one with a family member and another with someone else. It’s breaking up my family.”
Now, she is asking for help from the community to find a pet-friendly apartment where she and her children can live together. “I can pay up to $2,000 a month,” she said. “I’m a single mom, doing this on my own without financial assistance. If anyone can help me find a safe, pet-friendly place, I would really appreciate it.”
Through it all, Ms. Hayward insists she is not looking for conflict, just fairness and stability. “All they need to do is come and talk,” she said. “I’m a reasonable person. I just want my children to feel safe and have a proper home where we can live.”
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