Raleigh mother, sons must leave homeless shelter by Tuesday

Jenn, who asked that her and her sons' last names not be used, said she has failed to meet the Raleigh Rescue Mission's criteria for staying there and doesn't know where she and her boys, ages 10 and 4, will go next. Shelter rules require residents to save a certain amount of money they earn to build a nest egg for future independent living.

Jenn said she appreciates what the rescue mission has done for her family and says she has no hard feelings against the organization.

"We're still seeking housing," Jenn said in an interview Friday morning. "(The shelter is) trying to help me get a place, but I do have a deadline."

Although she works at Subway, the 34-year-old single mother says she doesn't have enough money for a first month's rent and security payment for an apartment. If she can't get an apartment, Jenn says she may use what money she has to rent a U-Haul and try another city.

Adding to her struggle, Jenn said she just received the official diagnosis that her youngest son, Nalo, has autism.

"I'm all they got, and they're all I got," Jenn said of her sons, Nalo and "C."

She left her family and friends in a small Mississippi town last summer and moved her sons to North Carolina’s capital, a place she once visited when she was younger, hoping to find more opportunity in a bigger city.

Without the help of her sons’ fathers, who are “where they’ve always been – somewhere else,” according to Jenn, she rented an apartment in Raleigh. She lost it when the rent went up, so she moved her family to the Raleigh Rescue Mission, where they have lived for the past few months.

"It is kind of tough not knowing (where we'll live next), but you also have to have a plan B to where you're going," Jenn said. "My plan B is to keep moving forward." 

The Raleigh Rescue Mission accepts donations over the phone at 919-828-9014 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Donations can also be made online.