In about six months, my son and I could very well be homeless, living in my car.
Despite what many may think, I am not—contrary to multiple comments on the Nextdoor app—choosing this lifestyle. I am not ruining Laguna Lake by camping lakeside. I am not living in my car just to piss off neighborhoods, nor am I just a lazy person.
I am not a drug addict or welfare recipient, nor do I have a debilitating mental illness.
In fact, I am quite the opposite. I moved to San Luis Obispo in 1995 to attend Cuesta College. I then transferred to Cal Poly. At 22 years old, I had a daughter and had to take on three jobs to make ends meet. While still working full time as a restaurant server, I pursued and received an master’s degree in English. I’ve been teaching at Cuesta and Cal Poly for 16 years. My son and daughter were both born at French Hospital and are products of local schools. My daughter is a junior at Cal Poly, pursuing a degree in construction management.
I have always contributed positively to this town, which I love dearly and of which I fondly consider myself a local: I have volunteered at soup kitchens, made goodie bags for the homeless, gladly allowed people to live with me rent free until they could get on their feet, and have given my last dollar of the month to someone in need.
The house where I currently live is going on the market this summer. I’ve rented it for three years, and I love my quirky old home. My landlord is wonderful, but due to circumstances out of her control, she has to sell.
I peruse Craigslist and the Cal Poly housing webpage daily, and I make constant contact with friends who might have a place for my son and me to live. I haven’t been successful.
From Atascadero to Grover Beach, I am priced out of even one-bedroom apartments. According to RentCafe, a 785-square-foot one-bedroom here is typically priced at $2,177. Furthermore, according to The Tribune, local rental costs have risen by 50 percent since 2013.
I work full time as a lecturer at Cal Poly and Cuesta. Honestly, if I include the grading and prepping I do at home, I probably work 50 or more hours a week. Sadly, this schedule doesn’t leave me much time to get another job. The fact that Cal Poly has been slow in keeping our salaries in accordance with inflation doesn’t make it easier. And for the first time since I began teaching at Cuesta, I lost a class this semester due to low enrollment.
Some may say, “Lay off the coffee you buy every morning, and don’t eat out so much.” Well, I don’t do these things. My salary goes to rent, groceries, bills, and my son’s bills, which are considerable because he has special needs.
I am not alone. Many of my friends are living paycheck to paycheck, as do 59 percent of adult Americans, according to USA Today.
In addition, I look horrible on paper. I’m a single mom (I’ve learned that many landlords avoid renting to single parents). I have a terrible credit score because I haven’t had a credit card in almost 15 years (sorry, I don’t buy into living on credit—I live on what I earn), and my student loans are in default (even though I’ve signed up for three loan forgiveness programs, all of which have been shut down or stalled under the Trump administration) because they want me to pay $1,500 a month, which I cannot afford in any way. Yet, my former landlords will praise me as an ideal tenant.
I’ve had people tell me to just move to a different state or get a new job. This kind of advice baffles me: If I moved to another state, I would lose custody of my son and leave my daughter behind, and my kids are my everything. I also love my job, and I’m good at it—I’ve been named Lecturer of the Year by the California Faculty Association in 2013 and the Terrance Harris Excellence in Mentorship award in 2018. I’m one of the few Americans who are completely satisfied with their career choice.
I always knew I’d never be able to afford to buy a house in San Luis Obispo County, but I never expected to not be able to pay rent. I’m not alone. Countless comments I’ve encountered during City Council meetings and on Facebook detail how unaffordable the housing situation has become. Promises are being made and ideas thrown about. (I love the idea that in SLO, homeowners can build tiny houses, for example. But how much will they charge for said houses? Probably more than most can afford.)
It’s one thing for college kids to share a house with 10 other people to make rent, but it’s another for a 43-year-old single mother of two children. Even so, for the past 10 years, I’ve had roommates to help pay rent.
So when you look at me—a successful employee, a devoted mother, a contributing member of our community—you are looking at someone on the verge of being homeless. It’s so easy to judge those living on the streets, but all it takes is one financial setback, and families can’t afford to live in the area. It’s even easier to assume that homeless people did something incredibly wrong with their lives and that they somehow deserve to live on the streets.
I am one of the myriad faces of wealth inequality. I am one of the faces of our city’s housing inflation. I am like many of you. If you think differently, look at me. Look me in the eyes and tell me I haven’t done all I can. Δ
Courtney Brogno is looking for an affordable place to rent. Send comments through the editor at clanham@newtimesslo.com or write a response for publication and email it to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Feb 13-23, 2020.
Sorry to hear you are dealing with this, and wish you the best in finding a new home. I have been a landlord in SLO since 2007, and a good landlord. Pet friendly, too. But, I have also listed our unit for sale. Why? In part due to trying to keep our rental as affordable as possible, yet the rising costs and changing rules/laws of being a landlord are making it more difficult and we are wanting to simplify life.
Something many do not consider is that property owners/landlords pay property taxes on their rental properties. Our last property tax assessment valued our property at a much higher rate than what it’s actual value is. So, I took time to file a decline in value form. The assessors office still valued our property higher than it’s actual value. Note that landlords may be paying anything from $400 up per month in property taxes alone. Then there are HOA fees (or maintenance costs for SFDs), we are required to have/pay for a business license for a rental, we must give 60 day notice (while tenant only needs to give 30 days notice), now the new rent control limiting how much, how often landlords can increase rent despite the rise in other costs, there are different laws in regards to evicting a single parent which could potentially be why it’s harder for you, too.
Not sure what the answers are, but as a good landlord trying to keep our rental affordable, it’s not easy. The tenants we’ve had stay long-term and I don’t increase rent (well, once for a 7 year tenant I raised it $100 once).
BTW, our rental was a 2bed/1.5ba, 2car tandem garage, about 1100 sq feet, in a nice, quiet complex, we respond immediately to calls from renters, pet friendly at no extra charge … $1900/month and we are operating in the red (at a loss).
Thanks for your contributions at tax funded schools. Good thing “lecturer” is a highly sought after, transferable skill (lol, too bad community organizer isn’t on your resume as well). As is, going to college at a less expensive school for your child.
Here is the solution to your conundrum, MOVE to a location that you can afford. We very recently moved to SLO Cty to help the under manned health care community.
NO SINGLE AMERICAN is entitled to live where they want. All of us do have the freedom to do so but life leads to change and change is the only thing that is constant.
Good luck with your move/change. You may even find life is better on the other side of a place that stresses you out.
cc_marauder:
No, you move since you think that is so simple.
You give up your home so the teacher can keep her job and remain close for family and friends.
I really do find too many individuals think they were so clever to have a level of security that lets them disrespect those who struggle. Just plain not nice.
Honestly she really should move to somewhere like Fresno or Sacramento. Her love of SLO should take-a-backseat to the stability and upbringing of her children. Everybody gets priced out eventually. The city council never said anything about helping people live in SLO. Don’t take it personally. God speed lady.
You are not alone and you don’t deserve this potential reality. We must find a solution to the housing crisis now
Perhaps you failed to focus on the portion of her article that states if she moves out of the area, she loses custody of her son. Her sons father lives in SLO, and if Courtney moves, she moves without her son. This alone trumps everything else. But beyond the fact that she would have to move without her school age son, Courtney lived here long before many of you decided to move to this quaint little community…you know, to get away from Los Angeles, the bay area, wherever. Courtney has been an asset to this community long before many of you even knew that San Luis Obispo existed. Does this make her more worthy? Well, frankly, it should. In my opinion anyway. But realistically, maybe not. However, when you have lived in a place that you love, call home, where you have raised your children and established a career, of course this is the place one would not only want to remain, but should be able to. Courtney and many others struggling to remain here, have lived in SLO long before there were Starbucks, Trader Joes, H&M, whole foods, etc. We watched the mom-and-pop businesses get squeezed out while both business and residential markets skyrocketed. We have watched the housing crisis turn our community upside down. OK, Im not saying that people like us deserve special treatment, but what I am saying, is that it is downright shameful and devastating that people like Courtney cannot remain living in the place, the only place, that they know and love as home. Telling Courtney to move, that she is not entitled to remain living here, is not only skirting the issue, but is insensitive. Rather than tell her to move, why dont we figure out what we can do to make housing more affordable and accessible? I am horrified that my friend of almost 25 years will most likely have to cut her ties to and leave the community she has been so actively and lovingly a part of for just as long. And you should be too! You may be next.
Powerful article. Thank you for sharing – very enlightening.
Thank you Courtney for writing this. I am so sorry you are finding yourself in this tough place after so many years in SLO. You speak for many people who are working hard, raising kids, solid and contributing members of their community, and then find that it’s almost impossible to continue to make it. Working full-time should provide people some measure of security. The just move to Fresno sentiment doesn’t address the problem of pricing out our many professionals and skilled workers. Do we want our teachers moving away? This is a big problem and I am glad you are bringing it to our attention.
Courtney’s story is one of thousands. Throw them stones from your glass houses, y’all who think the answer is just “gO mOvE tO nEbRaSka.” Where will you go when you’re too old to get up the stairs, you can’t drive safely, you don’t have the money to fix the roof? Its only a matter of time before the housing shortage comes for you, too.
Go to your next city council meeting. Take as many people as you can possibly gather. Demand that they reduce lot size minimums. Demand that they rezone large portions of your city. Demand that they approve projects appropriate to that zone with the correct heights, etc. Developers will always show up to build where they can…WHERE THEY CAN. More housing = less competition = more affordable home prices = more homeowners with stable monthly payments rather than increasingly unmanageable rent. This kind of growth leads to infill projects which also tends to keep money local vs large planned developments that tend to send it elsewhere. Start making noise.
The answer is home-sharing. It’s not as comfortable as living without a roommate, but it works and it will keep you local.
I’m guessing you have a ton of connections in your line of work. I’d reach out to as many as possible and find another single Mom who’d be up for sharing a 2-Bdrm house. You might get the rent down to $1,600 by doing it.
Wow. People telling her to move!? I’ve lived here for 40 yrs. raised my kids here. Worked the entire time. I still can’t afford a home and have to share rent with my adult daughter to be able to afford rent here. And am barely making it. I look at potential homelessness regularly. At 66 yrs you expect me to uproot and move to some unknown place? Leave my specialists all my other medical healthcare providers? Shame on you. That’s not a solution. Landlords should fight to find ways to be able to provide affordable rents. I’ve yet seen a landlord at a city council meeting advocating for solutions to help renters.