DeKalb County woman has days to find new place to live after COVID infection
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - With inflation, an unstable housing market, and no means of paying rent, a DeKalb County woman says she's on the brink of homelessness after being infected with COVID-19.
Zenette Steele has lived in her DeKalb County rental home since May 2020.
"I was told if I wanted to go for another year, I'd have to go to $1,800. I extended to December of 2021," she said.
Steele is a certified nursing assistant and worked part-time at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport until COVID got a hold of her in August. She was hospitalized for a month.
"That took me out of work, but you can kind of hear my voice, I’m starting to become myself. They call it the COVID long haul," she said.
Steele says she's still not strong enough to return to work. So she applied to DeKalb County’s rental assistance program for money to keep her in her house.
"They paid from September, October, November, December, and then they did January and February," she said.
That was about $9,000 for owed rent, upcoming rent, and utilities. She’s one of 3,000 people who received some of DeKalb’s $30 million for COVID rental assistance in 2021. Thousands of others received help at the beginning of the pandemic. But that doesn’t necessarily erase problems.
Steele’s landlord won’t let her stay past this month without another check.
DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond says the rental assistance can only do so much.
"We know there are people still unemployed and the cost of rent is increasing exponentially and housing is a challenge," Thurmond said. "I don’t want it to sound as if we are saying 'we helped you so tough luck.'"
He encourages people like Steele to apply for similar state funding and utilize county partnerships with nonprofit counselors. But that takes time - time some people just don’t have.
Steele has to be out of her home by Monday.
She says landlords keep denying her because she is unemployed and can't pay three months' rent upfront.
If you are in a similar situation, you can call 404-687-3500 for help.