The month so many are dreading is finally here.

Thousands in our community are out of work, have no income, and can’t pay their rent, and the eviction moratorium ends at the end of May. Will the city extend it? Will there be some kind of debt forgiveness or a payment plan?

“Hello my name is Maria. I’m a City Heights Resident and I’m here today as a client and to talk about the problems with the high costs of rent.”

We’ve talked a lot about helping keep families in their homes, but what about people living alone?

Some days around the office are quiet, but some feel incredibly emotional. This was one of those days.

“I feel like I’m in hell. I can’t sleep. I only worry…”

This is Mariam, and she asked us to share her story with you.

“I was in special education as a kid. People honestly didn’t think I would graduate high school because I had some learning disabilities, but my school counselor really believed in me…”

“Thankfully, City Heights bounced back and started to improve, and the reason it did was because of local activists—that’s how I first became aware of the CHCDC.”

"People may take off. They're confusing. Life is hard sometimes, easy others. But cars just always made sense. Fixing things makes sense, ya know?"

Someone chose to care for Ms. Ringo when she needed it most, and now she does the same.

“When I meet mothers, first-time immigrants, I think of my mother… how hard it was for her, and I realized I could be a resource for immigrants and refugee families.”

We're celebrating an anniversary around here: Haadi's mural over on 50th and University is a year old!

“My dad died when I was young, and I remember how important that social security check really was. It kept our family afloat…I understand the importance of social services.”

“Our first home was almost overrun by cockroaches and rats. We battled them constantly, and we finally needed to leave. It was just so exhausting…”

“A lot of banks just focus on product-pushing, and that’s what’s wrong with the industry right now. Growth is relationship-driven. When we do a good job with that, the business follows. But people have to come first.”

After decades away from the food industry, Ellie is back, she's connecting to her family's culinary and cultural roots, and she's serving up delicious Mexican street food.

“I get texts from random people in the middle of the night from people saying they’re craving one, and feels good knowing I’m making something people love.”

“In my family, it didn’t matter if you were a man, woman, or child—if you wanted to eat, you were in the kitchen helping with the food.”