Life After Eviction
Jul 31, 2020109.8K Shares1.5M Views
On Thursday, TWI covered a foreclosure eviction in suburban Virginia. These evictions are continuing during the holiday season, despite a suspensioncalled by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After the eviction, on Monday, the former homeowner, Julio Angulo, just sat outside his house. He told us he had nowhere to go.
I checked in with Angulo over the past few days, and here is what has happened to him since then.
Angulo planned on going to the Prince William County Winter Shelter Monday night – his only option, with most other shelters full. The shelter is open for drop-ins from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Then it closes for an hour. Angulo would have to go back out in the cold and stand in line until 7 p.m., when the shelter reopens for the night. However, the shelter runs on a first-come, first-serve basis, and it was almost full on Monday. Angulo wasn’t guaranteed a place to stay, even if he stood in line.
Still, he said, it was better than nothing.
But later that afternoon, Angulo’s luck finally changed, just a little. A neighbor returned from work and heard about his plight. The neighbor agreed to rent Angulo a room for two weeks. After that, Angulo said, he plans to return to El Salvador, to be with his family. “I need to rest for a while,” he said.
When I called him last night, he was at the public health clinic in Prince William. The arthritis in his knee, the one he said he had injured, was really hurting him, he said. He doesn’t have health insurance.
Despite everything that has happened to him, Angulo says he’s only staying in El Salvador temporarily. He has lived in the United States for 28 years, he said, and he considers it his home. He still wants to come back, with his family, and someday, buy another house.
Does he still believe in the American Dream?
“Yes, yes,” Angulo said. “I’ll try again.”
He promised to call before he leaves for El Salvador. I’ll keep you updated.
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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