Toxic Mold Made Us Homeless

As we began to fully understand what the toxic mold was doing to our family, we could not allow our children to be exposed any longer. We were frantic, trapped in a lease and unable to get our landlady or her homeowner's insurance company to investigate the issue and/or pay for temporary housing until we found a safe place to live.

Our first thought was to stay in a motel. The only affordable motel/hotel available on such a short notice was a Ramada Inn about a mile from our house. It was $120 a night. We checked the family into the motel. The first thing I noticed in our room was high humidy and a musty smell. This worried me, but we were in a desperate situation so I ignored my worries.

I took off my shoes. I had forgotten to pack socks so I walked througout the room barefoot. The entire carpet was damp! It was hunter green so you could not tell if it was wet or dirty (I am sure this is why they picked such a dark color for carpeting). After being there for a couple of hours, I was finally able to get my baby asleep in his portable play yard. I sat down and happened to notice that the bottom of my feet were black. I thought that it was because I had walked outside without shoes and went to wash them off in the bathtub.

Then I noticed that the bottom of my husbands feet were black also. He had only had his shoes off for about 15 minutes at that time. An hour passed and I looked at my CLEAN feet again. They were black again. We suspected that the motel room was so damp and humid and that the carpet was breeding MOLD. We left immediately. Even though we were there for less than three hours and we complained aout the moldy carpet, the manager refused to give us back our money.

Watch this VIDEO to learn more about Hotel/Motel mold and how it can affect your health.

We went back home and set up a tent in the backyard, which is where we lived for a week until we were able to find another place to live. At this time our children were 8 years old and 22 months old. It was uncomfortable, but healthier than being inside the house. The whole neighborhood knew we were living in a tent. The neighborhood kids began to be afraid for our kids even living in the backyard of that house that made us so sick. It was emotionally devastating for everyone involved.