Six days before Christmas, Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins & Cortland County sent the sheriff to evict Kathy and her family without notice, putting three disabled community members in the shelter system. Kathy was at Wegmans when the Sheriffs changed the locks. When she returned home, not knowing what happened, Habitat for Humanity’s director had her arrested for trespassing. After being dragged to court, the charges were dropped.
Habitat may have followed the letter of the law over the past two years of prying this house from underneath Kathy and her family, but these laws are designed so that the City and their partners can steal property from working class people and hand-pick “deserving” poor people to be the lucky few who get housing security.
Send an email (USSupportCenter@habitat.org) to Habitat for Humanity international, explaining that Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins County is stealing housing, not providing it. Click this link to send a pre-filled email (only works on some devices).
Habitat has waited us out for months, and worked with the Sheriff’s department to delay the eviction date, in order to avoid public scrutiny. But they can’t sweep this under the rug. We’re still calling on Habitat for Humanity to give Kathy’s house back.
Kathy’s GoFundMe is still open to provide financial support to Kathy and her family as they try to find longterm housing. As many of us know, it can be extremely challenging to find housing in Ithaca — especially if you’ve been evicted.