The anxiety over how she’d pay rent would hit Luz Guerra Reynoso so hard she’d pick at her nails until her fingertips were raw.
Reynoso, 44, a single mom, had always paid rent on time for the Morgan Hill apartment where she lives with her adult son and 14-year-old twins. She cleaned houses as the family’s sole breadwinner and had built up a reliable clientele over the years.
But the pandemic wrecked that fragile stability. Reynoso lost all her clients in spring 2020 after California implemented shelter-in-place orders and clients cut ties with her over coronavirus fears.
This fall, after a year of getting by, the Reynoso family had fallen behind three months on rent.
That’s when The Chronicle’s Season of Sharing Fund helped bring financial respite for Reynoso by providing a grant to pay for the three months of back rent. The Season of Sharing fund works throughout the year to prevent homelessness and hunger in the Bay Area’s nine counties. All donations directly help people in need, with administrative costs covered by The Chronicle and the Walter and Evelyn Haas Jr. Fund.
“I felt very happy when I got the news, and am thankful for the help,” Reynoso said of the Season of Sharing grant.
Since the pandemic started, the need (for rent assistance) was and still is very heavy.
The pandemic only heightens the need for programs such as the Season of Sharing Fund to help single working parents, said Veronica Martinez, Reynoso’s caseworker.
“Since the pandemic started, the need (for rent assistance) was and still is very heavy,” Martinez said in late November as she worked to assist another single mother.
Unable to afford childcare, Reynoso stayed home with her 14-year-old twins, Victor and Diana, while they did Zoom school. Her son, Jose, now 22, immediately stepped in by dropping out of school. He found a job as a roofer, putting aside an adult education program and, for the moment, dreams of going to college.
Reynoso said she felt bad that her son stopped going to school to help support the family, but the hardships have drawn them closer together.
“I can always count on him,” Reynoso said. “I’m extremely proud of the young man he’s becoming.”
It was Reynoso’s story that spurred her landlord to seek out Martinez for assistance. She’d always paid rent on time and was a model tenant, Martinez said, and her landlord didn’t want to lose her.
Though the Season of Sharing grant helped immensely, “we’re still struggling,” Reynoso said. The family was barely able to pay rent in November.
For Jose to do that and help his mom and help his siblings, being so young and trying to live his own life, it was a very touching story,” Martinez said. “Jose is a very good kid.
Jose re-enrolled in night classes this semester and is on track to obtain his high school diploma, Martinez said. He is still working as a roofer, though work has slowed down and his hours have taken a hit. Jose worked two half days on a recent week.
It was Jose’s “really noble” act that has helped keep the Reynosos financially afloat, Martinez said.
“For Jose to do that and help his mom and help his siblings, being so young and trying to live his own life, it was a very touching story,” Martinez said. “Jose is a very good kid.”
Ricardo Cano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Read the full article here: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Season-of-Sharing-gives-a-Morgan-Hill-mother-and-16726607.php#photo-21858502