FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Fulton County mother is trying everything to keep a roof over her six kids' heads and shield them from the truth that they may be out on the street at any moment after a rental assistance program's money ran dry months too soon.
Debra Johnson moved to Georgia less than a year ago, fleeing with her children from an abusive relationship. When she arrived, master's degree in hand, Johnson assumed she'd find work.
“I was a professional teacher of third-grade students for six years and then finished my masters in 2011,” Johnson said. "I put in an application for Fulton County, Clayton County, Henry County, Gwinnett County and DeKalb County. No one called me back, maybe because it was the middle of the year.”
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Johnson and her children stayed in a hotel until securing a rental home in Sandy Springs with help from Fulton County’s Housing Assistance Program. The program was set up with COVID-19 relief funds to help people pay rent for up to 18 months.
But three months later, Johnson said the money was gone.
“They were no longer accepting any applications for the rental assistance,” she said. “I went to Salvation Army, Gateway, United Way, Family Promise, every assistance out there for rental was either dried up or no longer helping.”
That's when Johnson doubled down on her full-time job search, finally securing a full-time job at Stone Mountain Middle School. But, in the meantime, her part-time job isn’t enough to pay the rent. Her landlord filed an eviction in March.
“Soon, I'll be able to make enough money to keep the house that I'm in right now,” Johnson said. “But that's for next school year, 2023-24 school year.”
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In mediation, the landlord and judge allowed the Johnsons to stay in the home if she could come up with more than $9,000 in back rent and fees by the end of April. But Johnson said she simply doesn’t have it.
“I can't say any negative thing about my landlord because they've been more than fair with working with me,” Johnson said. “I've already missed one payment so they could rightfully come in and put us on the streets. That's a very scary thing to go to sleep with every night, you know?”
Johnson said most of the shelters she's called couldn't take a family of seven, and their only other option would be to stay in their car.
“I try not to show it in front of the kids because I don't want them to feel like things are unstable, you know?” she said. “I don't let any of them know because I don't want them to feel like at any moment we could be put out in the street.”
Despite neighboring Dekalb County reopening its Tenant-Landlord Assistance Coalition (TLAC) housing assistance application on Monday, April 3, Fulton County is still closed.
Johnson knows they’ll be evicted any day now, and she's the only one who knows.
“I wanted to make sure that what I didn't receive growing up I can give to [my kids].” She said. “This is an awesome neighborhood, so they already have something I never had. But they don't know at night; I'm going to sleep not knowing if someone's going to knock on the door the next day, not knowing if we're going to be here in another week.”
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She still makes the kids’ beds, keeps them fed and keeps praying for a miracle.
“I've never been in this position before in my life; I've never had to reach out for help like this,” Johnson said. “I'm doing everything that I possibly think that I can do to get some help and trying not to break down.”
Raphael Holloway with the Gateway Center said Friday he's working on getting Debra help.
"Gateway Center does not have any funding for rental assistance that can pay for back rent charges," he told 11Alive in an email. "Our team has directed Ms. Johnson to a few agencies that we are aware of that provide this type of assistance. We are not aware if these agencies still have resources available."
Holloway said they would work with Johnson to identify a short-term housing placement with a shelter provider if it comes down to it.
"There are providers that can house a family of her size, but the spaces are limited," Holloway said. "We will work with her prior to her eviction day to ensure she is not living in her car."
Donate to Debra Johnson's family through this online fundraiser. After 11Alive's report, the fundraiser has raised more than $19,000 to help the Johnsons.
