She lived in a storage unit until she sent a message for help. Now she has a home in Saginaw
During the past four years, Carol Rogers and her family lived as “nomads” after her husband died, and they could no longer live in the home they rented because it didn’t meet city safety codes.
Rogers, who cares for her son and her daughter-in-law who are disabled, described staying in a friend’s garage, living in low-cost hotels and even storage units when options for places to stay ran out.
She has worked as a cashier at Taco Casa in Saginaw for 10 years where her employer helps when he can, paying for nights at a hotel so that Rogers and her family won’t be out on the street.
But on Tuesday, right before Thanksgiving, Rogers and her family got the keys to an apartment within walking distance of her job, thanks to help from Saginaw nonprofit Community Link. They hope their four-year nightmare is over.
Community Link operates one of the largest food pantries in Tarrant County and also provides assistance with housing, credit repair, employment searches, avoiding eviction and mental health counseling.
“Quite frankly, we can’t wait to be settled where we don’t have to worry about check out times, or you’re not supposed to be here. We will have a bathtub. My family is going to be there, and we won’t get chased off the property,” she said.
The family doesn’t have furniture yet, but Rogers said she is perfectly content with her teddy bear collection that she’s had since the 1960s and a pile of blankets for her bed as she planned to “sleep in” and enjoy Thanksgiving before returning to work.
On Oct. 23, Rogers and her family were living in a storage when Rogers sent a Facebook message to Community Link asking for help.
Later, a Saginaw police officer arrived and told them that they needed to leave. She told Rogers to get into her SUV, and then took her to the food pantry.
Rogers described how someone “waved” her inside although the food pantry already closed for the day.
A case worker helped Rogers find the apartment and complete other paperwork to help get her life back on track.
Rogers is an example of the growing number of people who come to the Community Link, said Trey Harper, director of fund development.
They have jobs but don’t earn enough to feed their families and don’t always qualify for government assistance. They often work in manufacturing, fast food or clean houses, he said.
“We are seeing an increased number of people who fall in the cracks of needing assistance but who do not qualify for traditional government assistance programs,” he said.
Community Link provides food to anyone in Tarrant County because of its partnership with the Tarrant Area Food Bank. There are no “geographic boundaries.”
During the pandemic, Harper said there were increases in the numbers of people needing help, but food was more plentiful then as farmers had surplus food.
Now, things are more difficult, as food pantries pay wholesale prices, he said.
Community Link is seeing 200 new families a month, he said. The number of people needing help have increased sharply, from 13,507 in 2020 to 26,028 in 2023.
Other factors driving the increase include less funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and smaller food pantries that have closed.
Community Link will begin to roll out changes in December to better help people get the food that they need.
For instance, there will be an online shopping option so people have assigned times to pick up their groceries. Haper said Community Link also wants to open its doors for people to come in and choose food for themselves.
As Rogers prepares for a more stable life in an apartment, she talked about the hardships of getting by without a permanent place to live. After her husband died, she and her family had to leave the house they rented because it didn’t meet health and safety codes. She lived in a friend’s garage for a while, moved briefly to Kennedale and even asked if she could pitch a tent in someone’s backyard.
She also got sick and had to cut back on the number of hours for work.
Rogers said the turning point came when the officer took her to Community Link after she sent the message asking for help.
“It’s amazing. We are going to be fine. We will be sitting on the floor as the stuff we have left is still in storage.”
The important thing is that her family will be together, Rogers said, and they are back in Saginaw and grateful for the assistance from Community Link.
“We get to have a home and not live like nomads,” she said while holding back tears.
When she thought about spending the first night in her apartment, Rogers was relieved to leave the motels and hotels behind.
“I will wave at them, (hotels) but I don’t want to be a guest.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2023 at 2:59 PM.