On the brink
There’s the home that Tranisha Wilcox dreams of living in, and the one where she stays at for now.
The home she wants is a red brick house with a yard and three bedrooms, one for her and each of her boys.
Then there is Pavilion Place.
Tranisha Wilcox, 29 stands at the door of her apartment at Pavilion Place, the southwest Atlanta complex where she lived with her two young sons. The complex, which is privately owned, is in such poor condition that the city declared it a nuisance and is prosecuting its owner.
Tranisha Wilcox, 29 stands at the door of her apartment at Pavilion Place, the southwest Atlanta complex where she lived with her two young sons. The complex, which is privately owned, is in such poor condition that the city declared it a nuisance and is prosecuting its owner.
Photos by Alyssa Pointer | Story by Willoughby Mariano
Tranisha Wilcox moved to Pavilion Place in 2019 for the same reasons that anyone does. It was cheap, quick and easy to get in. Her last complex evicted her when she stopped paying rent over a rat infestation and electrical problems, and she needed a new place fast.
At Pavilion, though, there were intruders, gunfire and murders. When a fire broke out in her building in 2020, she had to pass her sons, CJ Wilson and Giovanni Wilcox, out a window to safety. Afterwards, when Pavilion offered her another one bedroom, she accepted. CJ was an infant and Giovanni was 7. They had nowhere else to go.
Then the pandemic struck, followed by sporadic child care and a layoff. She failed to pay a year’s worth of rent, and Pavilion management rejected her federal eviction assistance.
On Sept. 7, Wilcox sat in her living room hunched over her cellphone, streaming her virtual eviction hearing from Fulton County Magistrate Court. As CJ shrieked and smeared buttered grits on the tray of his highchair, she told the judge she would move out by the 30th. Her budget for a new place was $600 per month.
Wilcox opens the doors to her apartment's refrigerator, which broke intermittently and spoiled her family's groceries. She said she did not expect it to be repaired because she was months behind on her $650 rent.
Wilcox opens the doors to her apartment's refrigerator, which broke intermittently and spoiled her family's groceries. She said she did not expect it to be repaired because she was months behind on her $650 rent.
Giovanni Wilcox rushes to help his mother Wilcox get ready for the morning before she drives him to school. She hoped to find a new apartment nearby so he would not have to switch schools, but most of the complexes she contacted were unavailable, too expensive, or would not take tenants with her credit and eviction history.
Giovanni Wilcox rushes to help his mother Wilcox get ready for the morning before she drives him to school. She hoped to find a new apartment nearby so he would not have to switch schools, but most of the complexes she contacted were unavailable, too expensive, or would not take tenants with her credit and eviction history.
Wilcox hands CJ a fast food breakfast as she waits for the start of her eviction hearing, which streamed online from Fulton County Magistrate Court. She stopped paying rent after losing her job cleaning offices during the pandemic.
Wilcox hands CJ a fast food breakfast as she waits for the start of her eviction hearing, which streamed online from Fulton County Magistrate Court. She stopped paying rent after losing her job cleaning offices during the pandemic.
Few alternatives
That afternoon, Wilcox’s mind raced as she sat in her car at a McDonald’s parking lot, her boys asleep in the back seat. She had already made a round of calls to assistance agencies. Two said they could not help her in time. The rest had not called back. Family members had no room for her and her boys because they had taken in other relatives who were homeless.
“Everybody I know, they’re all in the situation I am,” Wilcox said.
She did not want to move Giovanni from his southwest Atlanta elementary school, but an online search found only six rentals for $850 or less within several miles of it. One was a room for rent. The rest did not accept tenants with her rental history or failed to reply. A school social worker sent her a list of 10 complexes with available apartments, but three were for seniors only, and the rest had nothing available. Others that she found online or through family and friends were too expensive, or refused tenants with recent evictions.
“You can’t get yourself a place in just a few weeks. It’s impossible,” Wilcox said.
Six days before her eviction date she went to Grady Memorial Hospital’s emergency room with a high fever, struggling to breathe. The diagnosis was COVID-19.
Finding a home would have to wait.
Wilcox and her eldest son Giovanni visit Pembrooke Rooming and Boarding Houses in the Riverdale area, which offered units with private baths. Weekly rent was $250, which was up from $210 just a few months earlier. A front desk attendant told her that all the rooms were booked.
Wilcox and her eldest son Giovanni visit Pembrooke Rooming and Boarding Houses in the Riverdale area, which offered units with private baths. Weekly rent was $250, which was up from $210 just a few months earlier. A front desk attendant told her that all the rooms were booked.
Wilcox texts with a friend as she looks for a new place to stay. Family members told her that they had no room in their own homes, but sent information on motels, apartments, nonprofits and government agencies that they thought could house her and her boys.
Wilcox texts with a friend as she looks for a new place to stay. Family members told her that they had no room in their own homes, but sent information on motels, apartments, nonprofits and government agencies that they thought could house her and her boys.
On the move
The Economy Hotel off Fulton Industrial Boulevard advertised “Affordable Rates” on its marquee. Signs by the office door were less welcoming:
“Absolutely no visitors allowed in rooms.”
“No valid state or government issued ID, no room.”
“Trespassers will be prosecuted.”
“Only registered guests will be allowed on property.”
Room 135 cost $280 per week, and its TV, microwave and mini-fridge had been stolen, but it would have to do. She was four days past her eviction deadline, and her attempts at finding help had come to nothing.
“I’ve stopped myself from crying three times today,” she said.
Wilcox and Giovanni packed the car with whatever they could fit. Her eldest boy was excited to move into a hotel.
“Awesome!” he exclaimed after they walked through the door.
It seemed nicer than their apartment at Pavilion Place.
Wilcox has since found a new overnight job cleaning offices and drives for Lyft when she can. In recent months, she has moved among several hotels and a relative’s home. Giovanni has been able to stay at his elementary school.
Her current hotel costs $290 a week, which totals $1,160 a month.
CJ jumps on a mattress while Giovanni helps Wilcox pack up their one-bedroom apartment. None of her family was available to help them move that evening, so she and Giovanni did the work themselves.
CJ jumps on a mattress while Giovanni helps Wilcox pack up their one-bedroom apartment. None of her family was available to help them move that evening, so she and Giovanni did the work themselves.
Wilcox, Giovanni and CJ eat dinner in their car as they wait out a rainstorm on the evening of their move from Pavilion Place. As the boys played in the back seat, Wilcox made last-minute calls to family and friends, trying to find a place to live.
Wilcox, Giovanni and CJ eat dinner in their car as they wait out a rainstorm on the evening of their move from Pavilion Place. As the boys played in the back seat, Wilcox made last-minute calls to family and friends, trying to find a place to live.
Wilcox looks to see if she has any space left in her trunk on the evening of her move. Even though she had decided to leave behind most of her furniture and pawned her TV, she was forced to abandon some of the belongings that she hoped to keep.
Wilcox looks to see if she has any space left in her trunk on the evening of her move. Even though she had decided to leave behind most of her furniture and pawned her TV, she was forced to abandon some of the belongings that she hoped to keep.
Wilcox pulls a suitcase into her room at the Economy Hotel. Weekly room rates there would add up to $1,120 a month.
Wilcox pulls a suitcase into her room at the Economy Hotel. Weekly room rates there would add up to $1,120 a month.
Wilcox, Giovanni and CJ take a break after moving in to their temporary home at the Economy Hotel. Giovanni said he preferred the room to their apartment at Pavilion Place. The bathroom was nicer.
Wilcox, Giovanni and CJ take a break after moving in to their temporary home at the Economy Hotel. Giovanni said he preferred the room to their apartment at Pavilion Place. The bathroom was nicer.
An open Bible sits on a table inside Tranisha Wilcox's room at the Economy Hotel. She placed it there on the night of her move because a friend said that keeping one open in her home would help during hard times.
An open Bible sits on a table inside Tranisha Wilcox's room at the Economy Hotel. She placed it there on the night of her move because a friend said that keeping one open in her home would help during hard times.
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