Buckaroo
11-26-08, 08:35
http://www.local10.com/news/18150019/detail.html
Homeless Woman Takes Shelter In Vacant House
MIAMI -- A homeless woman and her baby are staying in a vacant home after a radical housing advocate broke in, changed the locks and moved her in.
Holiday lights twinkled outside the bright blue ranch-style home on Northwest Fifth Avenue. The lawn is mowed and the mother and baby inside have become part of the neighborhood. Three weeks ago that mother, Marie Pierre, was surviving on the streets. Now she said the home is like her castle, except she has no right to live there.
"I may be squatting in someone else's property. It's no different that what the pilgrims did. It's no different than what the banks are doing, being bailed out. I want to be bailed out," Pierre said.
The mother of four children, three of whom live with her husband in the Bahamas, lost her home to foreclosure in 2003. Pierre, a former Ph.D. student at Florida Internationanl University, said that began the instability that would eventually render her family homeless.
Three weeks ago, Pierre met radical housing advocate Max Rameau of the organization Take Back the Land. He moved her into the home on Northwest Fifth Avenue after breaking into it and changing the locks.
"I think it's immoral to have vacant homes held by Lehman Brothers or anyone else while you have homeless families sleeping out on the street," Rameau told Local 10's Neki Mohan.
Two years ago, Rameau caused a stir when he built a tent city on public land for the homeless. He can't guarantee Pierre that this is a permanent solution, but he feels that it's better for everyone if she lives there and cares for the home.
Local 10 contacted the bank that now owns the house. On county records it is listed as Aurora Loan Services. No one returned our calls by airtime Tuesday night. Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss said they have no eviction orders as of right now for that address.
Last Friday, someone broke into the home and removed Pierre's belongings and changed the locks again. She said what little she did have is now gone.
"Everything that I own, most precious memories, pictures of my children, my journals from the last 10 years -- it's awful. I can't believe they had done that," Pierre said.
Still she is thankful for the roof over her head for now. Rameau feels Pierre has the right to be there, and he is not afraid to go to jail for it.
"I do think there are people who should go to jail because of this housing crisis, and I don't think it's either her or me," Rameau said.
Copyright 2008 by Local10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Homeless Woman Takes Shelter In Vacant House
MIAMI -- A homeless woman and her baby are staying in a vacant home after a radical housing advocate broke in, changed the locks and moved her in.
Holiday lights twinkled outside the bright blue ranch-style home on Northwest Fifth Avenue. The lawn is mowed and the mother and baby inside have become part of the neighborhood. Three weeks ago that mother, Marie Pierre, was surviving on the streets. Now she said the home is like her castle, except she has no right to live there.
"I may be squatting in someone else's property. It's no different that what the pilgrims did. It's no different than what the banks are doing, being bailed out. I want to be bailed out," Pierre said.
The mother of four children, three of whom live with her husband in the Bahamas, lost her home to foreclosure in 2003. Pierre, a former Ph.D. student at Florida Internationanl University, said that began the instability that would eventually render her family homeless.
Three weeks ago, Pierre met radical housing advocate Max Rameau of the organization Take Back the Land. He moved her into the home on Northwest Fifth Avenue after breaking into it and changing the locks.
"I think it's immoral to have vacant homes held by Lehman Brothers or anyone else while you have homeless families sleeping out on the street," Rameau told Local 10's Neki Mohan.
Two years ago, Rameau caused a stir when he built a tent city on public land for the homeless. He can't guarantee Pierre that this is a permanent solution, but he feels that it's better for everyone if she lives there and cares for the home.
Local 10 contacted the bank that now owns the house. On county records it is listed as Aurora Loan Services. No one returned our calls by airtime Tuesday night. Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss said they have no eviction orders as of right now for that address.
Last Friday, someone broke into the home and removed Pierre's belongings and changed the locks again. She said what little she did have is now gone.
"Everything that I own, most precious memories, pictures of my children, my journals from the last 10 years -- it's awful. I can't believe they had done that," Pierre said.
Still she is thankful for the roof over her head for now. Rameau feels Pierre has the right to be there, and he is not afraid to go to jail for it.
"I do think there are people who should go to jail because of this housing crisis, and I don't think it's either her or me," Rameau said.
Copyright 2008 by Local10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.