Evicted: Annotated Bibliography

The rent eats first. This specific quote captures the overall struggle of the eight families who Matthew Desmond follows in the book, Evicted. Throughout the book, Desmond reports the correlation between poverty and housing. Their stories shed light on the housing crisis in Milwaukee, where landlords are trying to support themselves while renting out to people living in poverty. These eight families, who all differ in age, sex, and, race, sacrifice their livelihood to put a roof over their heads, despite the inhuman conditions and areas they lived in.

The impact of drug use affects people differently. In Evicted, Scott was a successful nurse, who found a relationship with Fentanyl, while working in hospitals. This addiction eventually influenced

him to experiment with harder drugs like Heroin. His dependence tremendously destroys his life, which results in the revoke of his nurse licensure leaving him evicted and living in dumps. Lamar, a disabled father of two, was another tenant who used drugs as well. Although it was unclear if Lamar had an addiction to substance abuse, he often smoked with his sons and their friends in social settings. This social gather often consisted of laughter and advice about sex, drugs, and life. One of the many risk factors for people who experience both poverty and drugs is the limited access to appropriate addiction care because insurance and proper health care are not available to them. For many of these characters in this book, utilizing and finding adequate help for drug treatment was not affordable or they simply were unaware. Of the resources available. Scott, for instances, hit rock bottom and willingly went to a clinical care. Unfortunately, he was turned down on numerous occasions twice because the first come first service regulation took into account the patients’ severity to the case.
Throughout the book, there was also a pattern of mental illness and disability. Lamar, a disabled veteran with a double amputee is one of the families struggling to make ends meet. Often times, Lamar worked odd jobs for his landlord, Sherrena, to make up portions of his rent. Although it was unclear if Lamar received consistent Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Sherrena did admit that she only waived his security deposit thinking he was going to be approved for it; however, he was not receiving any other assistance for his disability. Crystal was another tenant of Sherrena. Crystal, like many of the other people in the book, had a tough upbringing in the foster care system. Crystal was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Personality Disorder, and Post-traumatic stress disorder, just to name a few. Although it was unclear if the other tenants suffered from any other mental illness or physical disabilities, it is safe to say that people with the lowest socioeconomic status are prone to be affected by mental disorders. Both Crystal and Lamar did not receive any support or treatment for their disabilities.
Very often, mental illness affects not only the person’s ability to function on a day to day, but also the people who they surround themselves with. In Crystal’s case, her relationship with Arleen and Vanetta’s were greatly affected because of her diagnoses. Although she managed to make friends quickly, she often would get into physical altercation. Mental illness presents additional challenges to a person living in poverty. The harsh living conditions and the low economic status could have increased Crystal’s inability to access social services. This was visible in Crystal’s story toward the end of the movie, because after becoming ineligible for SSI, she results in prostitution to avoid becoming homeless.
Poverty is one of the central themes in this book that forces the characters from moving into good neighborhoods. While some lived in crowded houses, others managed to find trailer parks to call their own. Throughout the book, Desmond points out the importance of not being able to fix poverty without taking an in-depth look at housing. Once eviction notices were given out and a court date was assigned, most tenants could not afford a lawyer to fight for their rights. Moreover, poverty also forces individuals to go into survival mode. This was evident in Vanetta’s story. Desperate of losing her home and children, after her hours were cut working at Old Country Buffet, she decided to rob two women with the help of her friends. Although poverty was the main factor in her impulsively act, she faced the consequences by getting sentenced to eighty-one months in prison towards the end of the book. The cycle of poverty and disability also go hand in hand especially in Evicted. Specifically, in Lamar’s case, he applied for SSI numerous times. In one denial letter, they claimed that he could still work in his condition and should not receive services. Once Lamar finally got accepted, he received welfare benefits of $682 because he did not work. He paid $550 in rent to Sherrena, which meant he had less than $78 in return to take care of this teenage boys. Although he did receive food stamps, Lamar would often sell them so he could provide for his kids. The lack of affordable housing was a contribution to Lamar living in poverty, and unfortunately, the other tenants’ stories followed the same pattern.
Main problem:
For the purpose of this assignment, I will focus on children in poverty as the main problem in Evicted. Specifically, I want to shed light on landlords regularly turning away families with children as a form of discrimination. Throughout most of the book, many children were affected by poverty. Arleen, a single mother of two was evicted twice from various apartment complexes with her children. After being evicted, Arleen called nearly 90 apartments lying about the number of kids she had, her income, receiving child support, and her occupation just to find a suitable place for her kids. Once she said she had kids, most of the tenants would turn her down or simply hang up. Pam is another struggling mother, who has 4 kids and was pregnant with her 5th child throughout the book. Unlike Arleen, Pam did have a husband who lived with her and her children. Unfortunately, Ned was fired from his job because he missed a couple days helping his family during eviction from his trailer park. Just like Arleen, when Pam was evicted, she called numerous apartments who could take her family in. Pam, too, faced discrimination from landlords who did not want children in their properties.
When focusing on the issue of children living in poverty, it is also important to shed light on how poverty affects children’s education. Jori, Arleen’s 13-year old son, mentioned that within one year, he and his bother attended five different schools. Although it was not clear why the schools did not provide transportation or other assistance to avoid them from transferring so often, I can predict his academics suffered greatly. It was not evident if Pam’s children attended school but because they were constantly moving due to evictions, it is safe to interpret they followed the same pattern as Jori and his brother.
Section 1
The Frame Problem:
The idea of having children while living in poverty has always been a controversial issue. Many blame the mothers for having unprotected sex or not making the decision to be put on birth control. Some might also argue that mothers are having children with men who will not be in the children’s life or have any interest in having children. Some politicians would reason the idea of having more dependents could lead to a better social life for the mothers, for example, receiving many government assistance or higher tax rate return. Landlords could also view children as am nuisance. Depending on the age of the child, some landlords view the problem as children damaging their properties. In addition, some might be fearful of DCFS involvement and finding evidence that can affect the landlord’s business.
Reframing:
Discrimination against tenants is ultimately punishing the tenants for having children. Once they have been discriminated against, families will result in living in any kind of condition for the fear they will be living in the streets. In Arleen’s story, she was so desperate to find something for her children that she would sign to maggot-infested apartments out of desperation.
Families in poverty not knowing their rights is a huge contribution to how this problem is framed. In Evicted, none of the tenants were aware of the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), which prohibits discrimination against families with children under the age of 18. Under this law, if a landlord is refusing to rent out the apartment to someone with children and discrimination against them, then the landlord is violating the law. If these women were aware of the law, they could have made a complaint against these landlords and received adequate living space for their families.
Community Guides:
I would first reach out to the Arleen and Pam as members in the community to get an in-depth understanding of their experiences trying to find an affordable and safe housing for their children.

I believe this is where micro and macro work intertwine. Sherrena would also be a great community leader. Although she did not discriminate against families with children, she is considered a private landlord and could provide information on how licensure and discrimination work. In addition, Sherrena can also recommend other landlords through agencies to see how they view children on their property. Although not mentioned in the book, it would also be important to speak to an FHA specialist about the landlord-tenant relationship.

I would also speak to the social workers, coordinators, and/or liaisons within the school districts where Jori, his brother, and Pam’s children have attended. Congress established the McKinney Act’s Education of Homeless Children and Youth, which ensures that homeless children have the same opportunities as other children. Specifically, this gives children the right to remain in the same school district, get immediate enrollment in school, get transportation, and receive all of the school services that he or she would receive. It would be important to see how they implement this law into their

schools.