JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 22-year-old mother and her four-year-old daughter spent Wednesday packing up their apartment after being given a final notice of eviction on Tuesday.
Emails obtained by Action News Jax show she was approved to receive assistance to help pay rent and avoid eviction, only for the local organization that runs the program to rescind its approval days later.
“I just don’t want to throw her stuff away,” said Jaela Jackson. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. At least I’ve got my car.”
Jaela argued it should never have come to this.
She provided us with an email sent on March 12th by LJD Jewish Family & Community Services, the local organization that runs Jacksonville’s Eviction Diversion Program.
In it, the organization’s Eviction Coordinator stated, “We have approved Jaela Jackson for rental assistance”.
Jackson told us her apartment complex had applied for her to receive assistance back in February, and at the time, she owed about $2,000 for past due rent.
Around the same time, she got a new job as an electrician’s assistant and began working overtime to help pay other bills, expecting she’d be getting help with the rent.
“I was just doing everything I need to do so I could be okay, cause they told me that they were going to pay it,” said Jackson.
But four days after being told she was approved, another email came through rescinding that approval.
That email explained, “During Final Review before cutting the check, we determined that their income from their new job is more than our income limits”.
But Jackson claimed the organization knew about that job throughout her whole application process.
“I feel like I got punished for getting a job,” said Jackson.
Jackson said she’s been trying to work with LJD Jewish Family & Community Services to get help, but to little avail.
And now, the two grand she initially owed has ballooned to over six-and-a-half, as unpaid rent and legal fees tied to her eviction continued to mount.
Jackson said the organization has offered to cover the legal fees, but only if she covers the remaining $5,500 owed in rent.
It’s money she claimed she doesn’t have, as she lost her job in early March - the same job that caused her to be denied assistance.
When we spoke with Jackson on Wednesday afternoon, she said she’s telling her daughter they’re on their way to their “new home”.
But unless something changes, the young mother will be faced with the reality that she and her daughter don’t know where or when they’ll next sleep with a roof over their heads.
“I haven’t really thought about it, cause I’m just going through a lot right now,” said Jackson. “So, I just don’t know.”
Action News Jax emailed LJD Jewish Family & Community Services and directly texted at least two employees at the organization who have been working with Jackson to try to get their side of the story.
Since first reaching out at 9 o’clock Tuesday night, we have not heard back.
Jackson was given until 6:50 PM on Wednesday to vacate her apartment.
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