NEW ORLEANS — After losing her job and home, a single mother is trying to find shelter and food to feed her family. She says to access services, she has to get her kids on the bus, travel from New Orleans East to the city to try and get help.
Imagine losing everything you own, no longer having a roof over your head, and wondering how you’re going to feed your family.
It happened to Terase Bijou after she lost her job. Now she, her four children and their dog Junior are living in this one-bedroom hotel room.
"I was in a car accident. My car was totaled.. that messed with my transportation getting back and forth to work, and my job was not willing to work around it," Bijou told Eyewitness News. "It's hard, and then with no help, it makes it even worse."
"I don't even have the words to describe it, but it's real hard and there's not many resources we can call on."
Because there are virtually no family services offices in New Orleans East, she travels deeper into the city every day to find Foodbanks and housing help.
"With a three-year-old, she's always complaining it's hot. Going from one place to another, hours on the bus waiting to go to one spot and then you get here and then it's "sorry we can't help you" then it's hours to another stop," Bijou said.
Linda Lewis with Louis Armstrong Family Services is paying for Bijou's shelter, she says Bijou's story is a familiar one.
"More people now than ever has been calling for immediate services," Lewis said.
For families in the East, access to those resources involves miles of travel, Councilman Oliver Thomas is asking why.
"What city would not have critical services to service its population, well this city doesn't," the Councilman said. "Wouldn't it be a whole lot better if the most needy population could walk up the street? To be serviced or to go to a government agency or government building?"
He says access to help could solve a multitude of problems across this city.
"A lot of what we see with crime, a lot of what we see with poverty, a lot of what we see with displacement is because major organizations that receive millions and billions of dollars over decades are not where their service population is Period."
As for Bijou, she's waiting to hear back from a prospective employer, so she and her family can find their own place to call home
"My mum told me, she always told me I am a strong woman and to keep fighting and pushing forward. I don't like to see me hurt," Bijou said.
If you would like to help the family, they have a GoFund Me set up. Click here for the link.
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