A View from Nature: Starting Over Again

By Vicki Gies

When my husband and I left the woods by White Rock Lake where we had lived homeless for three years, a friend from our church wanted to help us. This friend lived in Seagoville on a property that had a large house and three mobile homes, one of which was vacant. Our friend had talked to the property owner about our wanting to rent the vacant mobile home. It was an old mobile home that needed some work, but it had three bedrooms, two baths, a huge living room, a fullsize kitchen, breakfast area, washer and dryer, and a master bathroom with a large shower and garden tub!

We rented this mobile home, which we believed would be our forever home, for $1000 a month with utilities included in the rent. During that time, we also were able to buy an old SUV. After almost a full year of living in the mobile home on that property, the owner of the property decided to sell it. They allowed all the renters of the mobile homes to stay for another month.

When we had to move out of the mobile home, we found ourselves in another bind with our housing. Fortunately, another church friend from Irving offered to co-sign on a used camper trailer. It was 28-feet long, which was about a third of the size of our previous mobile home. It would feel like a small space for me, my husband, our four dogs, five cats, and a kitten. But it was a home.

We soon found an RV park in Crandall that would suit us well. Our rent for the camper and our lot at the RV park, which included utilities, was going to be approximately $700. But, since my husband had put his last installment of his SSI check in the amount of $5800 as a down payment on the camper, our rent was lowered to $400 a month for the camper.

After some time, our friend and owner of the camper notified us that she was in debt and needed to increase our rent. The amount she wanted was more than we could afford. So, she informed us in March of this year that she was going to have to sell the camper.

I thought to myself, “Here we go again.” Our friend needed us out by May 1st, but unfortunately, we couldn’t leave until May 3rd when I got paid. We had to pack up that morning, but a lot of our stuff had already been taken out and thrown on the grass. We gave away most of our appliances and a bicycle we had been given. We had just enough money left to camp out and eat while we were camping.

Leading up to this move, we had inquired about a house in Pleasant Grove that we were interested in. It was a beautiful, white brick house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a huge backyard with a wooden fence. The rent was going to be $1000, with all utilities included. We were desperate to find another place to live so that our dogs could have a yard. I got an email response to our inquiry about this house, but come to find out, this all turned out to be a scam. We also found out that we weren’t the only seniors who had been scammed on this very house. (If the house you are wanting to rent sounds too good to be true, believe just that…it’s not!)

We had to turn around and come back to where we were living three years ago: the woods in White Rock Lake. It will take a while for us to get back on our feet at White Rock Lake again. One positive thing is that we had a good relationship with some of the stores near White Rock Lake, and the employees there were kind to us. They seemed to like us because we don’t do drugs or get drunk, and we don’t cause trouble. We are just trying to survive.

So, here we are, starting over again. Right now, we are living in peaceful surroundings. I love the trees, the different kinds of birds, the nature trails, and the lake. I have reclaimed my old woodland nickname, Jungle Jane. In a way, I feel very much at home, which is why I dedicate this story to all of the nature that I love and cherish.

Vicki Gies is a STREETZine vendor and frequent contributor.

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