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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After emigrating from South Africa 20 years ago, Jocelyne, 50, moved to Staten Island where she rented an apartment and started a new life.
However, that life was upended in 2022, when Jocelyne’s sister fell ill, and she had to move to Florida to care for her. After her sister’s passing, Jocelyne was eager to resume her life on Staten Island. But when she returned, she needed to find a new job.
“My sister passed away more quickly than I was expecting,” she said, noting she had left a job and needed to find work. “And I no longer had a place to live.”
While her son was able to stay with his godmother during this time, Jocelyne found herself “living in the streets,” or crashing on friends’ couches to get a good night’s sleep.
“I couldn’t stay where my son was staying because there was just too many people living there,” she said, noting her son is now 17 years old.
“Eventually, there wasn’t room at the godmother’s home for her son either, so she applied to live in the city’s homeless shelter system. She was placed in The Audre Lorde Family Residence in Tompkinsville, run by Win (formerly Women In Need), which touts itself as the nation’s largest provider of family shelter and supportive housing. The Advance/SILive.com previously reported the residence, which opened in November 2023, serves about 165 families.
Jocelyne obtained a job working for EZpass, but getting back on her feet would take some time. High rents and skyrocketing costs of everything from food to electricity have prevented her from obtaining permanent housing. And despite having a CityFHEPS (Family Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement) Housing Voucher, she still can’t find an affordable place for her and her son to live. Read the full story here.
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