Jory

Jory came to PADS as a place of refuge after a tragic fire in her apartment building left her homeless. Jory has a son in high school named Skylar and explains that he brings her so much joy in life. She currently works at Salvation Army and lives in Waukegan.

“[Last month], there was a fire in our apartment complex and we can’t go back, they said it’s no good. The fire department posted and said that we can’t stay there. This was [on a] Saturday. We had an apartment and everything — a two bedroom apartment and I have a job and everything — I have a car. I had an apartment [on that] Saturday, and we just came home from work and they said there was a fire and they said we may be able to come back Monday. The Red Cross came out, and I said I had nowhere to go. I said I had a car, but I don’t wanna sleep in my car… They gave us a debit card for $530. So, we went and got a hotel for a week… that was like $300 of the money they gave to us. The other 200 was enough for us to eat at fast food restaurants and put gas in the car. I went to work all week. My landlord called me and said, ‘You can’t go back.’ I was trying to prepare myself because I thought they might say that… I can’t end up in the streets. She even told me you shouldn’t have gone to the hotel for a week. I have to make sure I have somewhere to go. I can’t end up in the streets because I don’t have a relative to stay with or nothing. I have nobody that is going to put me up for the night. I have to make sure I have somewhere to go… I asked at work if I could just take my two-week vacation because I’m going to be homeless … At least I know it’s not my fault — there was nothing I could have done about it.”