Nashville, Tennessee (WTVF) — Affordable housing is hard to find in Nashville, and last month’s record temperatures made it even harder for a Middle Tennessee woman going through a difficult time.
“And I lost my mom last year, so it all seems really stressful, but I try not to let the boys see it,” Edna Silva said.
She has custody of her two nephews. “In 2019, when she had COVID, she was in the ICU for a full month.
She then couldn’t afford the more than $2,000 monthly rent she and her daughter were paying, so the family moved. “I’m so sad my kids were in the motel. We had no choice but to sit there and watch TV,” Silva said.
She got a section 8 voucher but spent most of her extra cash on motels. She called dozens of locations to see if there was availability.
Two months later she found a place, but failed. They told her that a pipe had burst at the complex and she would need to apply for another location.
“It’s very emotional and stressful, but I’m trying,” Silva said.
Edna said she went back to the drawing board. “She’s very emotional. I can’t believe how hard it is to find a place and be denied. Every time she has to cry,” Silva said.
I’m temporarily living with my daughter, but I can’t stay long due to the lease contract of the housing complex.
Edna said she never imagined she would be on the brink of homelessness.
She wonders if there’s more she can do to help the Nashvillens in the same boat. “I think someone should step in to help us,” said Silva.
Edna said another obstacle was the payment of the application fee and her storage unit bill. She said she had applied for disability but had not yet been approved.
