Leah Reeves

A woman with brown glasses sits inside of her home.

My name is Leah Reeves, and I have lived in Independence Woods in Clarkston, Michigan for 25 years. I’m disabled and have a lot of trouble getting around. Our community has lots of widows and widowers and regular working class people.

We’re always at the mercy of the management here. They have a ridiculous number of rules – you can’t wash your car for God’s sake! The constant threat of being evicted on a whim instills so much fear. 

The rent just keeps going up, and we get nothing for it. They barely even clean up. They went past anything I could possibly afford three rent increases ago. If it wasn’t for help from my daughter, I don’t know where I would be. But not everyone is lucky enough to have kids who can help. Where are they going to go?