Temporarily staying at the East Lake Inn, Tampa, Florida the amount for half a week is $227.00.
This is a private note to the people who have already chosen to support me here.
I do not like making an urgent ask without telling you exactly what it is for. Right now, the goal is half of one week's motel fee so I can secure another week at the East Lake Inn. That buys me seven more nights near my job and enough breathing room to keep working on a real housing plan instead of making every decision under the threat of losing the room.
If you can help today, please use the Support button on this page. If giving is not possible, sharing my work privately with one person who understands housing insecurity would still help.
Where things stand
I am working full time at the call center at NetPark. The East Lake Inn is close enough for me to get to work without adding a daily transportation cost I cannot reliably cover. That convenience is why I am trying to stay here for another week, even though a motel is not a home and paying week to week drains a paycheck faster than most people realize.
My next paycheck comes Friday. The problem is that my paychecks are going almost entirely to motel rooms and the basic costs of surviving between them. There is no margin. Money that would normally go toward a deposit, transportation, or rebuilding instead goes to making sure I still have a door that locks at night.
Food is part of the same squeeze. I currently receive $40 a month in food assistance. I am trying to have that amount increased now that I am homeless, but I am still waiting for the EBT card itself. The move has made delivery take longer. Until the card arrives and the benefit issue is reviewed, the cash I have has to cover both lodging and food.
That is why this ask is specific: half a motel week. It is not a long-term solution. It is a bridge to Friday and a way to keep this week from unraveling before the next one begins.
If enough people give a little, the room stays secured. If one person can cover a larger part of the goal, that changes the whole week. Please use the Support button if you are able.
The search for a new plan
I am not sitting still and waiting for the motel bill to solve itself.
I have been looking for a room or efficiency near work that I can afford, including month-to-month and weekly options. The search is difficult because the places within reach often come with heavy screening, long leases, or move-in costs that do not match the reality of someone rebuilding from homelessness.
At the same time, I am working the assistance side. I have a signed homelessness verification letter from Metropolitan Ministries and a completed verification form for the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative. I am connected with Coordinated Entry and trying to keep every available housing path open. I have also been looking at rental and deposit assistance that can help once an acceptable unit is found.
The immediate problem is the gap between being documented as homeless and receiving actual housing. Every program has its own wait, paperwork, eligibility rules, and timing. A motel week keeps me safe enough to keep answering calls, showing up for work, gathering records, and following up.
Support does not replace the housing search. It gives the housing search somewhere to happen from.
The fight with the City and EPIC
I have also spent this week reopening the record on the termination of my 2023 HOME TBRA voucher, administered by EPIC and Francis House with oversight from the City of Tampa Housing and Community Development Division.
The eviction that was never about rent
The strongest contradiction is simple. The eviction complaint was titled "For Tenant Eviction For Other Than Delinquent Rent." At the time, my calculated tenant share was zero. EPIC was covering 100% of my rent and controlled the payment to the landlord. EPIC withheld that payment before the eviction was served or finalized. The City is now defending the voucher termination by pointing to policy language about eviction for non-payment of a tenant's portion or a lease violation.
But I had no rent portion to withhold. I did not control the payment. EPIC did.
Thirty days became zero
There is another contradiction in the signed voucher. It says:
"When assistance is terminated, EPIC will provide a minimum of 30 days' notice to the Tenant."
The termination letter was dated November 3, 2023, and made the termination effective that same day.
Thirty days became zero.
The rescission I was never shown
The record around the proposed lease rescission is also being rewritten. I did not refuse to sign a rescission. I was not shown the agreement, told its terms, or given an opportunity to sign it when it could have prevented the eviction. I asked in writing on August 18 to see it and understand what it meant for my deposit and remaining voucher assistance. EPIC did not present the blank form until October 6, after legal aid had communicated with both me and my case worker.
The City's account says I "elected not to pursue" the rescission. The documents show that I asked for the agreement and EPIC delayed providing it.
What I have asked for
This week I sent the City the direct questions its conclusion did not answer. I asked which version of EPIC's policy it reviewed, how same-day termination complied with the signed 30-day notice promise, what review or grievance process existed, and which policy provision I could have violated through non-payment when my tenant share was zero.
A detailed rebuttal and public-records request have now gone to City Housing and Community Development, City Council contacts, and the City's public-records offices, with the signed voucher and seven-day notice attached. I am also using Free Legal Answers and preparing the record for legal aid. I am asking for the policy, payment records, notice records, review procedure, and the complete client file.
This is not paperwork for the sake of paperwork. The eviction still follows me into housing applications. The loss of that voucher helped create the instability I am living through now. I am trying to correct the record while also surviving its consequences.
If you cannot contribute, you can still help by reading and sharing my housing writing, pointing me toward a legitimate flexible rental near East Hillsborough Avenue, or connecting me privately with someone who knows Tampa housing advocacy or HOME TBRA oversight.
What your support does today
Your support helps cover the space between systems:
A motel room while I keep working.
Food while I wait for the EBT card and request a benefits increase.
Time to answer housing calls and gather documents without losing the room first.
Stability to continue pressing the City, EPIC, and Francis House for a complete record and a real answer.
The immediate goal is half of one week's motel fee. If we reach it, I can secure another week at the East Lake Inn and get to Friday with less fear attached to every hour.
If you are able, please contribute through the Support button. If you have already helped me, thank you. If money is tight for you too, please do not put yourself in a worse position. A private share, a housing lead, or a message reminding me that this work matters is also support.
I am grateful for every person who has stayed with me through this. You have helped me keep writing, keep working, keep asking questions, and keep believing that the record can still be corrected.
I love you. Thank you for helping me hold on to one more week while I fight for something more permanent.
Traie
🖤 The Kosmic Quill Project