In 2024, Charisma Lindsey discovered that a significant black mold infestation in her apartment was causing her three children, including a newborn baby, to have repeated respiratory infections. “The breathing, the wheezing, it was just unbearable,” she recalls. She attempted to advocate for her family with her landlord, but her landlord instead evicted her. Having nowhere else to go, she and her family lived “from hotel room to hotel room” for several months, while she made countless trips to Arkansas Children’s Hospital to get help for children’s health, as well as to her own doctor to deal with the chronic seizures she experiences. ACH referred her to Arkansas Legal Aid to get help with her wrongful eviction, and also to Our House to get help with getting her life back on track.
Charisma connected with our Stability Program, and her case manager Savannah helped her secure new housing within a month. Our resale store was able to furnish her new apartment, delivering beds and couches. And Charisma plugged into a broad array of services at Our House, actively participating in our parenting class, mental health support groups, financial empowerment programming, and much more. Her kids recently got school supplies through our “pack the backpack” event and have started school.
Charisma’s employment was recently temporarily interrupted because of a major surgery she had to have, but she is back in the job market, staying engaged with Our House services, and looking forward to working towards her long-term goals, which she describes as “being seizure-free and living in a house with a yard where my kids can have pets.”