Mayor Donna Deegan

Photo Credit: Bob Self/Florida Times-Union

David Bauerlein and Hanna Holthaus | Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
After Mayor Donna Deegan and a gaggle of reporters had gone, April Sizemore stood in her cramped apartment that still smelled of mold and suffered all the problems that had caused her to speak out in the first place: the roaches, the rats, the holes in the wall, the water leaks.

Barely able to pay the $800 monthly rent, she grimaced at the water flowing from the bathtub tab that a malfunctioning faucet wouldn’t turn off. To Sizemore, it was the sound of money draining from her household finances because she’ll end up paying for the wasted water on her utility bill.

“We can’t live like this, and no, I can’t afford anywhere else or otherwise I’d be gone,” Sizemore said. “But as a single mother of two children, I just can’t leave like that.”

Read More at Florida Times Union

About Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid is a nonprofit law firm focused on delivering economic, social, and housing justice to low-income and at-risk individuals and families on the First Coast.

If you are an attorney wanting to volunteer with probate and heirs property issues, contact JALA Pro Bono Director Aaron Irving, at (904) 356-8371, Ext. 363, or Aaron.Irving@jaxlegalaid.org.

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