Grover Kanine

My name is Grover Kanine. I’ve been living with my dog, Sadie, in my pick-up truck since September of 2021.

Grover holds up his dog by her paws. He is wearing a baseball hat, red shirt and jeans.

In 2019, Impact Communities, a corporate owner, sold me a dilapidated, 1985 manufactured home at Meadows Mobile Home Park in Alma, MI. Impact started aggressively raising my rent and adding fees during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was paying over 70% of my monthly income before consumer obligations. To help pay the rent, I’d mow my neighbors’ lawns for $10 – Impact Communities charged five times as much.

There was a hole in the floor that let in carpenter ants and cockroaches, and there was black mold running through the whole unit, leaving my health at risk. My lawyer advised me to leave my home due to health risks, and I sold everything of value to pay a bankruptcy fee.

It’s now a new year, 2022. I’ll be 76 years old soon. I cracked my head open and got seven staples put in while using a public shower. I moved in with my goddaughter to heal, but a neighbor told the manager I wasn’t on her lease and got me kicked out. While getting an oil change at an auto repair company, the mechanics cracked the housing and refused to take blame for an almost $1,000 repair that they had caused. A media outlet paid for me to stay three days in a hotel, and a church paid for another five days.

As of today, a non-profit called EightCAP was able to secure a hotel for me for two weeks, and is working to help me secure a housing voucher. Living in my truck is not a viable option, especially since I can't run the heat due to the oil leak. It's getting cold outside -- I'm afraid me and Sadie will die out here.