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Vanessa moves to Oakland, California in 1986 along with her young son to start a new chapter in life. She meets her husband Richard while attending church, and the two marry in 1988.

After the birth of her second child, Vanessa's sister-in-law gifts the couple money for a home down-payment. Vanessa and Richard buy and move into their first home in the summer of 1992, where they define their own 'American Dream'.

Vanessa loves the stability their new home offers, inspiring her to go back to school and earn a Bachelor's degree in Child Development. She begins a successful child-care business run in her own home, while pregnant with her last child.

Now as a second source of income and personal livelihood, Vanessa's home is a haven for both her family and her surrounding community for the next 20 years.

However, things soon take a turn. In 2008, Vanessa's husband suffers a massive stroke. That same year, the housing market crashes.

Between recovery and rehabilitation, Vanessa's husband loses his job and the family's second stream of income. Vanessa is now the family's sole financial provider.

Vanessa and Richard attempt to secure a loan modification to ease their financial strain to no avail. Life soon begins to feel like a maze of run-arounds and roadblocks created by the banks themselves.

While trying to navigate a series of dead ends, Vanessa and Richard had their home of 20 years taken by the banks in December of 2012.

Even worse, it's not just Vanessa and her husband going through foreclosure. In fact, nearly 35 homes in the neighborhood have already been foreclosed on...all within a 6 block radius.

Leaving behind many memories and mementos, they pack up Vanessa's childcare business, and with that, lose many of her clientele. It's feels like starting from scratch all over again.

Vanessa and Richard find a new home to rent via the property management company Waypoint Homes. Not only can this new home accomodate Vanessa's child-care business, but it also has a rent-to-own program. There's hope they can one day own again.

The following year, Vanessa applies for "City Slickers", a program dedicated to teaching kids how to garden. As part of their routine process, they test her soil and find extremely high levels of lead. It's unsafe for kids to play in the backyard...or for Vanessa to even run her business.

Vanessa reaches out to Waypoint Homes to sterilize the soil, but there is a turnover in the property management. Vanessa can't get through to anyone, and keeps running into dead ends.

Because Starwood Waypoint Homes did not grant Vanessa a lead remediation, she loses her income -- eventually, falling behind on rent and going to eviction court. However, with help from her church, Vanessa's able to hire an eviction attorney and wins her case.

One day, an organizer from ACCE knocks on her door, inspiring Vanessa to attend a meeting with dozens of neighbors having issues with unethical landlords. She joins in leading a direct call to action, which gets results in less than 2 days. Vanessa feels empowered -- how can she help other homeowners find justice?

Vanessa's life is transformed by her organizing with ACCE, which steps up during COVID-19. She dedicates her life to helping people find and stay in decent homes. After 30 years of marrriage, she and Richard are still going strong.

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STEAL ESTATE