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Massachusetts Housing Forces Family Of 7 With 2 Special Needs Children To Live In Squalor And Over 100 Miles Away From Their Specialist After Their Father Lost His Job Due To Illness And Needed Temporary Housing.
How insane that a working man who fell on hard times due to an illness he could not prevent has to suffer in a run down mice infested building that looks abandoned in Holyoke? The living conditions were so awful, he chose to take his family and live in a borrowed 300 sq ft. trailer. THREE HUNDRED SQUARE FEET for a family of SEVEN. That is how bad and dirty the shelter was, he decided a tiny space would be a better option.
Click here to watch their short interview…
HAVERHILL, Mass. – The 27-foot long camper is far from their idea of a dream home.
Inside, seven people are squeezed into the 300-square foot area.
“It’s tight, but we make it work the best we can,” said father Nathan Johnson.
Nathan and his wife Anne said the small space is far better than the shelter assigned to them by a state agency.
“When we finally broke down and said we needed the help, and asked, we got treated, like, worthless,” said Nathan.
Nathan and Anne lived in Haverhill with their five children. Last year, Nathan had health issues, which forced him to go on disability from his job as a garbage man.
The bills piled up, and soon they were evicted with their apartment. They lived in local hotels for a few months, trying to maintain normalcy for their children. Then the money ran out.
“They need support and shelter and I feel like that’s the main thing that I’m supposed to give them, and I’ve failed,” said Anne.
A feeling of failure is tough for any parent, but was made it even tougher was their two youngest sons. One has developmental disabilities, the other cerebral palsy. Anne said they needed to stay in Haverhill for continuity with their therapy and school.
“It’s all here, and without that, they have nothing,” she said.
Anne applied for temporary emergency shelter at the Department of Housing and Community Development in Boston, with a letter from her son’s developmental specialist, saying, “it is in his best interests to have a safe home.”
Instead, the state assigned them to an apartment in Holyoke, 111 miles away.
“They said there was no room for us anywhere else,” said Nathan.
When they arrived at the shelter in Holyoke, it wasn’t what the family was expecting.
“We got down there, cars up on blocks, really rough neighborhood,” said Nathan.
The kind of place, Nathan said, where he worried if what he heard was fireworks or gunshots. It was not where he wanted to raise his children.
“I didn’t feel safe with my kids there at all,” he said.
Inside, Anne said she found feces, signs of mice infestation and doors that didn’t lock. They were there for nine days until Nathan said someone broke into his daughter’s bedroom.
“It was not healthy, it wasn’t safe,” said Nathan.
That brought them to the cramped trailer in Haverhill, borrowed from a friend. They don’t know what they’ll do next. But for now, they’re together, and Nathan said that’s all that matters.
“We need to stay up here, I need to keep my family together,” said Nathan.
The state decides moving this family 111 miles away from their children’s schools and their two special needs children’s physical therapist was a great idea. Yet, in the hood, a ratchet mother can get first dibs in the projects if her family lives there!
Look at how great the shelter was:
Hmmm… I would love to live in a home that has a piece of wood from Lowe’s covering the window. What a safe way to live. This isn’t too bad compared to the inside of the place:
What in the world…………..? This is definitely from a movie or something. One of those films where people are tortured until they die a slow death. The, “I’m going to sew your eyelids open and feed you sleeping pills” kind of torture.
This family struggling to make ends meet because of an illness he could not prevent are forced to live in a 300 sqft borrowed trailer, but we give EBT to every open hand that takes a trip down to the good old free money office. Why is that okay?
Because………Massachusetts! The state where people who never worked a day in their life could get foodstamps, WIC, cash assistance, and section 8 without ever having to leave their house, well, besides living the zombie life in pajamas and waiting on the welfare line with the rest of the people who are allergic to work boots and a morning alarm clock. If you get there early enough, you could sit outside before the doors open and smoke Newports while you listen to stories about the hard life… (rolls eyes). You can play “I-Spy” and reward yourself with a treat (crack rock, brand new meth pipe, ect) if you can spot what’s on this list:
- Flat brimmed bulls hat
- A guy wearing Jorts with a Bandanna hanging from the back pocket
- A huge bonus if that bandanna is red or blue, because gangs, yo
- A heavyset woman wearing a baby tank tap
- Anyone with more than 4 missing teeth
- A woman who is dressed fresh to death but her children look dirty
- Someone wearing a Rolex
- A woman wearing an expensive Coach purse
- A person who smells like urine and broken dreams
- Pants that expose worn out boxers or ass crack (Just don’t pull a Dianne Williamson)
The list can go on and on!! Those are the types of people who get free or low cost housing. They sit around and wait with their hands out, begging. I don’t give people anything, want to know why? Because when you give someone a hand, they take your arm. I have no respect for beggars or free loaders.
Disclaimer: We are not responsible for any prizes you have earned during this game of “I-Spy” Freeloaders. I don’t normally carry crack or meth on me, at least not on days ending in Y.
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27 Comment(s)
Section 8 housing usually has a waiting list. It’s usually up to more than a year wait. Until then, people are forced to live in shelters or couch surf wherever they can.
That is — unless you are not an american citizen.
He should claim to be an illegal alien and the every democrat hack in this state would bend over backwards t give them anything they wantHe should claim to be an illegal alien and the every democrat hack in this state would bend over backwards t give them anything they wantHe should claim to be an illegal alien and the every democrat hack in this state would bend over backwards t give them anything they want
If he were a known drug dealer, they would have put him into some nice senior housing, where he would have been terrorizing the seniors, but he’s not a drug dealer. Just a working guy who had health issues and fell onto some bad times. While I don’t agree with their choices in life, I’d rather help them than some gangbanger dealing drugs.
Housing vouchers???? Do you know how many people get them??? And, the people who NEED them the most don’t. Drives me crazy!!
This makes me angry! I currently work in the mental health field and i have a client currently living in a shelter. Its a single family house shared between 2 fathers and their children. Not as many kids as this one family but the home is very well kept…but also in a crapoy neighborhood. They have case workers in the home 24hrs a day keeping watch. Tons of tax payer money being used.. the crazy part is the family im working with is here on green cards. Yup..not even citizens!!!!!! Theyre getting housing, health care, case workers, food..etc… they must cost tax payers over 50k a year or more.
People on green cards (and illegals) can get welfare and citizens can’t? That’s not right.
Some of you need to correct yourselves.
Look up trash collectors in Springfield on the open checkbook. $45-50k a year.
Add on the SSI for 2 special needs children, they very well could’ve made it work. It isn’t a grand way of life, but that’s not the point.
Pull your head from betwixt your unwashed asscheeks and realize this is a working man, with a family, who finally got down on his luck and was left behind.
How many ghetto leeches spend decades of their life on welfare while “turning their life around” as they peddle poison, shoot up low income neighborhoods, drive brand new cars, and smoke endless blunts? They sure aren’t being left behind by the state. They are living life free of obligations.
Thank you. A voice of reason coupled with intelligence.
Fail. I don’t care if the job paid double that 5 kids is too many. And there’s no history here of societal ills by these 2 right? Again the best thing to have done was to give this story a good leaving alone.
This story, if anything, is but an example of the system not providing support to those who are actually in need.
So we can disagree. That’s perfectly fine. My Long Arm still beats your 9 iron any day, Kevi.
Hey Kevi split my skull in two and beat the rap. I’d watch out for that dude.
I don’t know whether to insult your pathetic attempt at a threat, or pity the fact that you felt the need to do so when I roasted you.
… still debating.
Hey douchebag if you followed this blog for any length of time you’d know I’m not Kevi. Roasted me sure. Go fuck yourself.
Plus if hes making that much and having that many dependents he doesn’t have to pay income taxes. If i got sick i would be fucked with no kids id be on the street begging. Then come april id get a bill for not having insurance. #stopgivingbreederstaxbreaks.
Just finished watching a video of him riding a lawmower with his kids attached in tow a few weeks back. Not trying to be rude but, thats gas money. It appears as though him and his children all have the kinds of illnesses that they are still able to walk, run, play, talk and see. What is up with his use of the word “ni&&a” and what’s up with that chest tattoo posted a few weeks back. Fake or not. It costs money.
I really miss Turtleboy! I can’t read it on my cell anymore because every damn time a pop up says I either have a virus or I won an IPhone ⚡️⚡️⚡️
Yeah sorry you got sick. But having 3 kids before you own a home is pretty stupid. Husband out of work wife should work.
But I will say the state put a african family of 10 up in a hotel for a while so why not these guys. We can use the money left (after we pay the pay increase for house reps) from the tax increase on people who make over a million dollars a year.
I think there’s more to this story than meets the eye here.
They’re not THAT expensive! Considering the alternative.
Is this a JOKE? The guys a fucking garbage man, on what planet is 5 kids 2 disabled something that can happen on 35k a year? Another Fiesty miss…
Love you too <3
5 children 2 with special needs? Are you fucking kidding? Oh yeah he was working as a garbage man. Who knew he couldn’t support those modest needs on that huge salary. Got it, it was the illness that caused their troubles. Am I on fucking barstool?
Dude…. Cut the guy some fucking slack! He was out working! Shit hit the fan! Loves his kids!
He’s obviously not some piece of shit getting in line for the freebies!
I am more concerned with the 2 special needs kids receiving the help they deserve. They are innnocent and did not make the choice to be born into the family. Thus, they should not be held responsible for the choices made by two adults.
He was a hard-working man who was paying rent in a non section 8 home. Can he get some credit? I am sure receiving SSI for their 2 disabled children (deserving) have offset the costs of some of their bills. Why make fun of a man earning 35k? Our issue is not with the working-class it’s with the people who never picked up a pair of working boots in their life and receiving benefits.
Do I agree with their way of life, meaning having 5 kids and not being financially stable enough to support them in a situation like this? No I wouldn’t live my life that way. But people do and he’s a good person who’s never broken the law, who has paid his dues with taxes, and can’t get the proper help for his two disabled children.
The fact of the matter is the man deserves a space close to where his children can remain in a stable environment, let’s put aside the choices, whether we believe them to be bad or not aside and understand that there are children here who need the services that they aren’t receiving.
You shamed the family not me. By going after the State you exposed an innocent family. Isn’t that what TB says he doesn’t do? When Gene Fucking Cupcake Lavanche “broke” this story this morning I went apoplectic.
Look I don’t wish this family any ill will. But come on. Do you have kids? I have 3 and used welfare for only a few weeks in my life. I know I’m lucky. But I’m more than that. I’m smart enough to only have 3 and have the means to support them. By having 5, number one you decrease your ability to support them without my help by a fair amount. But way worse, you increase the chance of 2 of them being special needs. Do you know what special needs children cost? So don’t go all sanctimonious on me because I and maybe you support them. Did you ever think the reason the state fucks up is because budgets are getting tighter and more Johnsons are making bad choices?
Tell me TB didn’t sign off on this piece. It’ll shatter my faith. The right thing to have done was to leave it to Gene.
Right lol.. whoever “feisty turtle lady” is.. ive noticed its always her blogs that suck. How did she even get hired by turtleboy???
Garbage men make good money, at least where I’m from. They’re union and it’s a city job so don’t judge too quickly, at least he was working.