{"id":480,"date":"2016-11-29T22:26:13","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T22:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/rebuilding\/?p=480"},"modified":"2016-12-13T20:36:17","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T20:36:17","slug":"single-mom-finds-new-home-but-still-searching-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/rebuilding\/2016\/11\/29\/single-mom-finds-new-home-but-still-searching-for-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Single Mom Finds New Home But Still Searching For Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Single mom Jennifer Anderson thinks she\u2019s endured her fair share of tragedy. Last year\u2019s tornado ripped her Garland apartment to pieces. She lost her husband to suicide just two years before. \u00a0<\/em>She\u2019s resettled in a rental house now, but she can\u2019t shake the feeling\u00a0that a crisis could be on the horizon. It’s\u00a0something she struggles with, even a year later.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The after school scene at the Anderson house is, in a phrase, high-energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoccer outside, not inside,\u201d Jennifer tells\u00a0her two boys. Jayden is 7 and Jordan is 5.<\/p>\n

Impromptu soccer games and tree climbing are the norm.<\/p>\n

Mom makes sure spelling homework is on the daily to-do list, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cYellow. Good job,\u201d she says as she reviews it.<\/p>\n

\"Jennifer

Jennifer Anderson and her sons Jayden, 7, (left) and Jordan, 5, (right) go over homework at their rental home in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Jennifer, Jayden and Jordan are a tight-knit trio. They\u2019ve been through a lot \u2014 losing Dad to suicide in 2013, relocating to Texas to start over and then returning from a holiday trip to a shattered apartment — after a tornado tore through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just ripped the whole wall, along with the roof, off the building,” she\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

Jennifer had renters insurance, although her $10,000 policy didn\u2019t stretch far enough to cover everything she lost. Furniture, mattresses, toys and clothes \u2014 what the storm didn\u2019t ruin, the rain over the next few days did.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the stuff had mold,” she said. “Most of the pictures and things that were on the wall were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘I should have a little bit of peace’<\/h5>\n

For three months, Jennifer, Jayden and Jordan lived in an extended-stay hotel while she looked for a new place to live. The rental market in the storm-hit area was tight. Competition was fierce because so many other people were looking and, Jennifer says, because she\u2019s a single mom.<\/p>\n

\"Jennifer

Jennifer Anderson and her sons come home after school. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cTwo-income households and things like that, of course they\u2019re going to rent to them before they rent to someone with just one income,” she said. “That was like, really, really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, she found a rental house in Garland she liked. It was a little out of her price range, so she has a housemate to help defray the cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019ve finally got a place to live, we\u2019re ecstatic about that,” Jennifer says. “You know it\u2019s great not having to worry about how much longer the insurance is going to pay for you to live in a hotel or not knowing exactly where you\u2019re going to come home to.”<\/p>\n

Now that she’s signed a lease, the house\u00a0question has been answered. But as far as being at peace, she’s not there yet, she says.<\/p>\n

“I feel like I\u2019ve earned it, I should have a little bit of peace,” she says. “I think I\u2019m still a little uneasy. You have that feeling of ‘OK, what\u2019s next?’\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Jayden

Jayden, 7, recovers the ball while playing in the backyard. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

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Dealing with long-term stress and fear<\/h5>\n

That kind of anxiety, feeling unsettled despite\u00a0being moved into a new place, isn\u2019t uncommon, according to social worker Valencia Alexander. She manages the senior services program for the City of Dallas and helped with counseling after the tornadoes on Dec. 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, the adrenaline is rushing, you have all kinds of help. Everyone\u2019s empathetic with you and then they think, \u2018Well no, you should be OK, you\u2019ve got a new house, maybe you\u2019re in a different apartment,\u2019 but you still have the fear of what you\u2019ve experienced,\u201d Alexander says.<\/p>\n

\"Jennifer

Jennifer Anderson and her son Jordan Anderson, 5, go over his homework at their rental home they share with a roommate in Garland. Their apartment was destroyed in a tornado in December 2015.
Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Alexander says even renters like Jennifer have to get used to new realities \u2014 a different address, new furniture, an unfamiliar neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost the things that were important to me,” Alexander\u00a0says. “Can I really trust moving into another environment, where can I find a place that\u2019s safe?\u201d<\/p>\n

And while Anderson isn\u2019t dreading the anniversary of the storm that wrecked her apartment, she\u2019s still struggling to rebuild, even a year later.<\/p>\n

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“I feel like I\u2019ve earned it, I should have a little bit of peace. I think I\u2019m still a little uneasy. You have that feeling of ‘OK, what\u2019s next?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer Anderson, storm survivor<\/div>
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 <\/p>\n

\"Jennifer

Jennifer Anderson watches her sons play soccer in the backyard after school at home in Garland.\u00a0
Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Money is tight. She\u2019s working two jobs with flexible hours so she can be there for her kids after school and make enough money to hold up her end of the rent.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth it, she says, to give her little family a home.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace for them to go out and play instead of running down the halls of a hotel,” she says. “There\u2019s a big tree outside. They love climbing it. They get to be boys again!\u201d<\/p>\n

Most important, she\u2019s determined to shower her boys with all the love and attention they need. That\u2019s not always easy as a single parent, she says. There\u2019s two of them — and just one of her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned is no matter what happens, you can get through it,” Anderson says.<\/p>\n

And while Jennifer would welcome a serene and stable 2017, she says she\u2019s ready for whatever life has to throw at her.<\/p>\n\n

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  • \"\"
    Jennifer Anderson and her sons Jayden, 7, (left) and Jordan, 5, (right) at their rented home they share with a roommate in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Jayden (right) and Jordan (left) come home after school. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Jordan shows off some of his school pictures. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Jennifer Anderson and her son Jordan go over his homework. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Jordan displays his school work in the living room of their shared home. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Jennifer Anderson goes over homework with her son Jayden. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Jordan plays in his room. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Jennifer Anderson watches her sons play in the backyard after school. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n