Coronavirus California

Vallejo mother homeless with 6-month-old twins goes all the way to Sacramento to find shelter

The video explains why she was forced to leave her 13-year-old son behind in Oakland with his father.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

CA mother with infant twins homeless after being evicted

A Vallejo single mother was evicted mid-pandemic - and just six months after giving birth to twins. Unable to find shelter in the Bay Area, they were forced to go to Sacramento.

VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- A Vallejo single mother was evicted mid-pandemic - and just six months after giving birth to twins.

In fact she was living out of her car with the kids until someone in the Bay Area reached out to offer temporary help in the form of money and information on an out-of-town shelter.

An eviction moratorium is in place blocking evictions, but advocates and lawyers we talked with say there are many exceptions and people are still being evicted.

Elijah and Elias are 6-month-old twins who, along with their mom Rosana Sastrami, were living out of a car shortly after they were evicted from their Vallejo home in mid-July, during the midst of the pandemic.

"I couldn't find a job, I couldn't secure child care, I couldn't secure nothing," says Rosana Sastrami.

Sastrami says she was the property manager at the Vallejo Mobile Home Community and RV Park. Because of her job she lived there for free. Her eviction papers state she was fired for substandard performance and denied her claims of harassment and discrimination.

That was in mid-December of last year at a time when she was pregnant with the two boys, living with her 13-year-old son, and on bed rest. Fast forward to July 16 when she was evicted.

"So often the management agreement that the employee signs have clauses that say you're not a tenant you're an employee and the law allows them to be evicted," says Steve Collier who is the managing lawyer for the Tenderloin Housing Clinic.

Sastrami has been on unemployment but has been unable to secure housing without a job, denied at Bay Area shelters, and at one time running through money staying at hotels.

She posted a picture of her two boys when they were living out of their car.

"I was so mad! I was mad at their dad, I was mad at my family, I was mad at myself," says Sastrami.

Someone saw the picture and offered help at a shelter in Sacramento. She's been there for less than a week while her 13-year-old is with his father in Oakland. She admits she's still homeless, but is with her babies and optimistic.

"Sometimes I pray and I'm just like 'please don't let this be my breaking day please don't let me.' These type of situations people go crazy in but thank God I got my mind still."

Sastrami did start a GoFundMe page. Money raised will go towards a place to live.

ABC7 News reached out to the mobile home park and they didn't return our calls. Lawyers and advocates say other eviction protections may end here in California within a week. If that happens some fear we could see an onslaught of evictions and increase in homeless numbers going forward.

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