"On this dreary winter afternoon, she turned on the space heaters that provide the only warmth in the unheated house, the latest in a long succession of homes the family has occupied during her short life. An inspirational sign on her dresser read Home, Sweet Home. But it doesn't mean much to her. Asked how many places her family has lived, Na'Kaya guessed: At least 25."
"The Godfrey family has been forced to quickly vacate two houses and were evicted from a third. They've couch-surfed with acquaintances. They've lived in basements and bounced around the gritty extended-stay hotels that line the nearby interstate, living out of trash bags and cooking their meals on a hot plate. They've slept in their car, before it was repossessed, and washed up at the QuikTrip gas station."
"They've had all their worldly possessions dumped on the curb and lost the contents of three different storage units. Mother Jaimie, 35, adds that Na'Kaya, nicknamed KK, probably doesn't remember the homeless shelter where they stayed when she was a toddler. That would make this place in Stone Mountain their 26th home. KK asks me: Why do we move so much? Do they not like us?' Jaimie said later. I tell her: Mommy's just having a hard time.'"
Na'Kaya, 14, and her 12-year-old brother returned to a dark, unheated house warmed only by space heaters, part of at least 25 previous homes. The family has been evicted, forced to vacate multiple houses, couch-surfed, lived in basements and extended-stay hotels, and slept in a car before it was repossessed. All possessions have been dumped on curbs and several storage units lost. Mother Jaimie, 35, struggles to secure steady work and cover rising rent and childcare costs as a single parent, leaving the children to question why stability is unattainable.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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