When Linda Taylor, 70, received an ultimatum from the owner of the house where she lived, she imagined that the nearly two decades she had lived in the same home in Minneapolis, in the United States, were about to come to an end.
She had two months to buy the property that had once been hers or she would have to leave. “It was as if the world had been pulled under my feet,” the woman told The Washington Post. “I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. I felt really defeated.”
Unemployed after being laid off during the most acute phase of the coronavirus pandemic, Taylor had pooled all her savings, plus the little money she received from her family and Minnesota government subsidy programs, to continue paying her rent — about US$. $1,400 (almost R$7,200) per month.
Taylor says she bought the house in 2004. At the time, however, she was unable to keep up with the payments and, in a negotiation in which she claims to have been deceived, she lost the property to an investor, who allowed her to continue living in the house as a tenant. .
The new owner ended up getting caught up in a mortgage fraud scheme, and the house passed into other hands. Although she continued to pay the rent, which was readjusted twice during the pandemic, Taylor was forced to quickly think of an alternative when she received the ultimatum from the new owner.
The first step was to vent to Andrew Fahlstrom. In addition to Taylor’s neighbor, he is a housing rights activist and quickly organized the local community to send a letter to the property’s owner.
With more than 400 signatures, the document convinced the homeowner to extend the deadline given to Taylor and lower the price of the property. Still, she didn’t have the $250,000 she needed to finally have her own home.
Then began a fundraising movement to help Taylor. Known for the volunteer work she does in the community and the small free library she regularly sets up on her lawn, she says she was surprised by the neighbors’ mobilization.
Organizers created a page on a crowdfunding website with the aim of raising the amount in about four months. A generous $200,000 donation from a local church fueled the campaign, which a month before the deadline raised $275,000 — enough to buy the house and cover minor repairs.
“I knew my neighbors loved me, but I didn’t know how much. When that happened, my faith was bigger than a mountain,” Taylor said.
Now the neighbors are already planning the next meeting, this time with a different reason. On the 25th, a week before Taylor could be evicted from her home, Powderhorn Park residents plan to celebrate the result of the mobilization with a block party.
