Natalia was struggling to raise her 16-year-old son in an unsafe neighborhood. She was concerned about the gang activity in her community and worried constantly about her son being able to get to school and home safely. Natalia was determined to improve the quality of life for her family and decided it was time to find a new place to live.
She began looking for apartments in different communities, hoping she could find something affordable. However, what she found were high-priced apartments that were out of her budget, due in part to rising rents across Chicago. According to a report by Trulia, a marketplace real estate site, “rent prices in Chicago went up by 5%, higher than the national average of 3% while an increase in jobs for Chicago during the same period was a meager 1.5%.”
Despite this obstacle, her apartment search continued and brought her to the vibrant Pilsen community. She heard about TRP’s apartments at Casa Morelos and decided to apply. After a few weeks, TRP called her back to let her know she qualified for an apartment. When she moved into there, she discovered a clean and friendly building with maintenance staff available during the week. “Pilsen is a great community to live in,” says Natalia. “We’re grateful to live in this community.”
Today, Natalia feels good about where she lives because she no longer worries about coming home from work late at night or having her son travel back and forth to school. “Living at Casa Morelos,” she says, “has impacted us because I feel safe and my child is safe.”
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Return to Nueva Vida September 2014 here.