Finally! A backyard for the kids
Melissa Harrison is one of more than 200 Cavile Place residents who have an opportunity to start a new chapter in their lives. Using Tenant-Protection Vouchers, the families are moving to new homes in a variety of neighborhoods in Fort Worth and even as far away as San Antonio.
Melissa relocated from Cavile to a duplex in the Crowley area in January and has come to relish the peace and quiet.
“I feel more comfortable and free,” Melissa says. “The main thing is, I can think and focus.” She feels energized to work on her book of poetry and to get moving with her Mary Kay Cosmetics business.
Melissa and her three children lived at Cavile for about two years after evacuating from Houston during Hurricane Harvey. When the house they shared with her mother flooded, she decided to move north. She’d had enough tropical storms and hurricanes for a lifetime.
It did not take long for Melissa to find her duplex in Crowley. The morning after receiving her voucher she was searching for rentals on the website, gosection8.com. She spotted the duplex and knew this was the one. By 12 noon she had already filled out an application and met with the landlord. And within weeks she was unpacking boxes in her new home.
For the first time ever, Melissa’s three-year-old twins can play outdoors in a private, fenced backyard. “The kids just love it!” she says.
Last year FWHS received permission from HUD to demolish Cavile Place, an obsolete public housing property in the Stop Six community, and provide Tenant Protection Vouchers to the residents. The agency has hired relocation counselors to assist the families in identifying new housing that meets their needs.
