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Homeless family pleads for help
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Posted on Feb 27 2006
Editor’s Note: This article, which originally came out on Feb. 27, is being re-printed today to ensure that appropriate agencies will take note and act.
The family of Carmen Cepeda is appealing to the government to help them find a roof over their heads after being thrown out of their Koblerville home in early February.
Cepeda, a 40-year-old mother of two, is right now at the Commonwealth Health Center where her 62-year-old mother, Dolores, is being treated.
Cepeda said she and her family returned from Guam in 2004 and were evicted from their bungalow home in Koblerville early this month when the landlord accused her children of doing mischief around his building. She said the landlord locked them out and until now their belongings are still inside the room.
Consequently, her two sons—Dexter, 9, and Dextro, 12—could no longer go to school because they don’t have clothes to wear and no homes to take their regular baths. Dexter used to go to school at Koblerville Elementary School, while Dextro used to attend Hopwood Junior High School.
She said they already approached some local social service groups like Karidat but she said the group has not been able to extend help to them. She also tried to seek help from relatives but most of them are either away or could not extend help.
Cepeda said she also went to the housing agency but was told they would only be included in the waiting list to avail of the housing benefits for the needy.
For a family that only relies on food stamps, Cepeda said, she has nowhere to go and no one to turn to. She is pleading to the government and community for help in either finding a shelter for her family or some means for them to go back to Guam where they have relatives.
Cepeda said her family is currently being tended to by a social worker who wants to remain anonymous.
