Mrs. Katarzyna and her husband rent a house in a village near Bolesławiec. They are raising five children, including an autistic son and a daughter with Asperger syndrome. The owner of the house, whose upper floor they occupy, has not signed a rental agreement with them. He also does not treat Mrs. Kasia’s family well.
“We have repeatedly spoken with the owner about signing an agreement, which we need in order to register our residence,” Katarzyna explains. “Every time he refuses, saying: ‘If it doesn’t suit you, you can move out. No one is forcing you to stay here.’ But where and how?” the desperate mother asks.
Unfortunately, although the family is making every effort to find a home in Bolesławiec, they have not yet found anything.
“Rental prices are astronomical, but the biggest problem seems to be that we have a large number of children. Unfortunately, not everyone wants to rent a home to a family with one child, let alone five,” Katarzyna explains. “I will not hide the number of children. There are as many as there are, and I cannot do anything about that. Another difficulty is that two of my children have disabilities. When I say that the children have disabilities—which I never hide—the conversation ends with: ‘We’ll get back to you,’ or ‘Someone else was supposed to come; we’ll let you know about the viewing.’ Of course, no one ever gets back to us. I have had more than a dozen situations like this, and it simply hurts. I do not understand why people behave this way. My children’s disabilities are not contagious, and having many children is not contagious either,” Kasia says sadly.
Mrs. Katarzyna repeatedly tried to resolve the situation. In 2008, she submitted an application for a municipal home. She was offered a home requiring a major renovation and carrying more than PLN 38,000 in debt. She could move in in exchange for repaying the debt and renovating the property at her own expense, with no possibility of reimbursement for the costs incurred. The woman could not afford such high costs. In 2009, she received another offer from MZGM. The home had more than PLN 35,000 in debt. In 2010, Katarzyna was completely removed from the waiting list for a home in Bolesławiec because she had not lived in Bolesławiec for years—she is only registered there, together with her children, at her mother’s address. She cannot count on a home in the municipality where she lives either, because she is not registered at the rented property.
“We have no savings and live modestly,” Kasia explains. “Most of our funds go toward treating our son. Our daughter is also under the care of specialists, attends therapy and takes medication. Our situation is very difficult. More than anything, I want my children to be happy and feel safe, to have easy access to doctors and to be able to spend time playing in a playground. I would simply like not to be afraid—not to worry that, at the least expected moment, the owner will order us to leave or start a drunken argument because he can. We do not need much. I am not asking for money or begging. I would only like to find a home where we can all be happy.
Information for Mrs. Katarzyna can be sent to the editorial office’s email address: redakcja@istotne.pl. You can also call the family at 572438254.