For six months, April Chandler and her dog made do in an abandoned trailer outside her mother’s San Jose home. Thirteen feet long. No electricity.
Chandler would charge her phone at her mother’s house during the day so she could use the flashlight at night. When it was cold, she and her Doberman-pit bull mix, Malcolm, would cuddle under a blanket for warmth.
“It was a challenging time, but I kept telling myself it’s just temporary until I can get into a place,” Chandler said.
Their first night in a one-bedroom apartment in San Jose was spent with an air mattress and not much else. But there was space — so much of it. Malcolm couldn’t stop sprinting through the empty rooms.
“It was very overwhelming because I was going from being in a tiny little trailer and then all of a sudden Malcolm has all this room to run around,” Chandler, 50, said.
The apartment came through a housing voucher she obtained with help from Ashes to Beauty, a local nonprofit. But vouchers don’t cover security deposits or furniture. The Season of Sharing Fund provided money for the deposit and furniture, crucial support that allowed Chandler to move.
“When we got in here, it was so good,” Chandler said. “And now my dog finally has his own bed and his own little couch.”
