Bonnie Ota

With the very high cost of rent, I feel it is extremely important that tenants experiencing a disruption in their social security get a 90 day grace period to catch up on rent. If evicted, they are faced with coming up with first and last months rent plus security deposit to get another apartment. This is a monumental sum of money for a lot of people to raise, and some people will end up homeless for a period of time. This includes children. I know this to be a fact as I belong to South Congregational Church and was a regular volunteer for the Cold Weather Shelter we held in our basement for 10 years!! I am now involved with Family Promise, and our church along with Temple Beth Jacob host homeless families with children (mostly mothers and children) 4 times a year for a week at a time. It is very sad to see children being shuffled from church to church because they have nowhere to call home!! This should not be happening in our country!!!