Meet Our Client: Willie Wade
Retired City of Cleveland building inspector Willie Wade lived in a beautiful home in Lakewood for 16 years, and he thought this would be his forever home.
Instead, when the Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland in 2016, his landlord saw the potential to make a lot more money renting the home, so even though Mr. Wade’s lease was not up, he was forced to move.
“He made it very clear from the beginning that he wasn’t a landlord per se, but an investor, so he never deceived me. He was motivated by money,” says Mr. Wade.
By chance, he ran into a former landlord and friend who had a townhouse property in Parma Heights that would become available within a couple of weeks. Shortly after Mr. Wade moved into the townhouse, the complex was sold to a California couple with whom he had no relationship.
“The timing of everything was atrocious for me. I’d had to move money around to pay movers. I sent my rent money late a few times, so the new owners were threatening me,” says Mr. Wade. Realizing that he needed help, Mr. Wade called 2-1-1, the free service offered by United Way of Greater Cleveland to provide information on government, health and community services. From there, he learned about some of the programs of Benjamin Rose.
“The first thing I needed help with was paying my rent on time,” says Mr. Wade. “The folks at Benjamin Rose told me about the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA-2) of the U.S. Treasury that was introduced after COVID to assist adults 55 years of age or older living in Cuyahoga County. I told them what had happened to me leading up to needing the help. They then processed the application, and I was able to get financial assistance to pay my rent.”
Mr. Wade has also completed Connecting Our Seniors to Technology (COST) and the Homebuyers Education program. The next step is for him to participate in pre-purchase counseling at Benjamin Rose as he would like to own his own property. “I knew I had to find a way to help resolve my financial problems, so I found a source – Benjamin Rose – that has yielded me great information and assistance,” says Mr. Wade. “I’ve always told my children that information in conjunction with education is imperative. That’s especially true in this day and age. If you don’t keep learning and being informed, the world will leave you behind.”
Learn More About Housing Assistance
Benjamin Rose offers a range of programs and services that are open to all ages to encourage housing stability at every life stage, from homebuyer education to rental assistance. Discover how we can help you work towards more secure housing situation today!
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