Due to her pregnancy, she lost her job and her family became homeless.
Jonica Jamison, her husband and children are homeless after losing their jobs after taking significant time off during a difficult pregnancy in Charlotte.
When Hurricane Ida hit Sonya Ross’ small Louisiana town in August 2021, her family lost everything.
Ross, 42, said she and her two daughters bounced around hotels for several months before finding a house to rent in Lafayette in November of that year. A year later, Ross suffered a heart attack. She was hospitalized for two weeks and underwent open heart surgery.
Since then, Ross has battled complications from type 1 diabetes, including uterine cancer, heart disease and blindness in her right eye. She has worked sporadically as a patient access representative at a local hospital, but her visual impairment has made it difficult for her to stare at a screen all day. She is looking for a new role that suits her.
She has been two months behind on rent since losing her most recent job in October, and her landlord is threatening to evict her and her daughters. She was behind on her utility bills, and her power went out on January 6th.
“I explained to (the landlord) that I literally had nowhere to go with my daughters,” Ross said. “We don’t even have the money to move our furniture and things out of here. For example, we don’t have a place to put them. The situation has gotten really bad, we have nothing, we have nowhere to turn, and we don’t know what to do.”
According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, many Americans in Ross’ situation are one step away from homelessness. USA TODAY recently wrote about another mother, Jonica Jamison, a former school counselor who found herself homeless in 2024 after two difficult births. Following an overwhelming response from readers asking how they can help Jamison and his family in North Carolina, a GoFundMe was created that has raised over $60,000 in less than three weeks.
more: She was a school counselor for 10 years. Currently, five members of her family are homeless.
Similar to Jamison’s story, Ross said he has already used up his retirement savings. She recently set up a GoFundMe seeking help for immediate needs. But ultimately she wants to work.
“Everyone I’ve read about is having financial problems, not because they don’t want to work, but because of health issues, and I empathize with those tough times,” Ross said.
Other readers, like Ross, also contacted USA TODAY about Jamison’s journey, sharing their own struggles with experiencing or nearly becoming homeless. Below are some of their stories.
He cannot find an apartment for his family. However, the hotel bill is higher than the rent he pays.
Joseph McNeil, 49, works at a drug rehab facility in Maryland and makes $25 an hour.
His income is not enough to pay for the hotel room his family of five has been staying in since July. He said he spent more than $14,000 on hotel rooms. This is more than they would have to spend on rent if they could secure an apartment. But for that, you need enough cash to pay the first month’s rent and security deposit. You also need to have an income that is at least twice as much as the rent.
“Unfortunately, we don’t meet that standard,” he said. His wife is looking for a remote job, but childcare costs are prohibitive so she can’t work anywhere directly.
His family has been homeless since February, less than a month after their youngest son was born. He applied for rent assistance, but said the process was long. They were granted assistance the day after their eviction, but it was too late.
During the holidays, his son wrote a letter to Santa. According to McNeil, the boy wrote on his wish list: “I want a house for my mom and dad. I want my mom and dad to not have to work so much.”
“My wife and I were caught off guard,” McNeil said through tears. “It really hit me as a father that he had to deal with that at eight years old. And it felt like I wasn’t doing enough to keep the family together and stable.”
He hopes the tax refund will help pay the deposit on the apartment. During that time, McNeil said she often skips meals so her family can eat.
“It’s been almost a year since we were released from housing,” McNeil said. “Neither of us have ever been in a situation like this. You know, we’re very well-educated people, but we just got into a tough situation.”
Like others, McNeil turned to GoFundMe, hoping the generosity of others might lead her family to a better place.
She reported mold and leaks in the building. Instead of fixing it, her landlord took her to court.
Monica Delancey, 51, works for a nonprofit called We Thrive in Riverside Renters Association in a suburban Atlanta community.
But she is not a renter. Delancey, who lives with her two adult children, has been homeless since August 2024.
In 2018, tenants at a nearby apartment complex where she previously lived approached her through a nonprofit organization to help them deal with maintenance issues such as mold and leaking ceilings. She worked with management to develop a maintenance plan and moved into the complex again in 2020.
However, the building came under new ownership in 2022. When Mr. Delancey consulted the new owners about a maintenance plan, they responded by terminating the offer to renew the lease.
Delancey said she tried to continue paying rent, but police gave her back her rent and took her to court. A long legal battle ensued, and she finally vacated the house in 2024.
“The estate kept sending lawyers to fight me in court for three years,” Delancey said. “But they never spent any money on fixing up the property.”
In early 2025, Delancey suffered a flare-up of his asthma and was hospitalized. Soon after, she lost her job at a local school.
“So we’re stuck in a hotel, scraping together $100 a night,” Delancey said.
Delancey’s eldest daughter has a job, and Delancey remains active with a nonprofit organization. But it’s unpaid. She is seeking funding to be compensated for her role. In the meantime, she and her family have started a GoFundMe to help them get back on their feet and into a safe apartment.
“Shouldn’t we have said, ‘Hey, we need a decent place to live,'” Delancey said. “Finding a new, safe and decent apartment is difficult. You may be able to get another apartment, but it will have the same problems as the one you moved into.”
Madeline Mitchell’s role covering women and the care economy for USA TODAY is supported by partnerships such as: extremely important and Journalism funding partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Contact Madeline at: memitchell@usatoday.com and @maddiemitch_ With X.
