TRANI – Monday 6 May: almost an ultimatum for Mrs Isabella, a fictional name that we associate with a desperate mother who, even today, cannot find a rented home in which to live with dignity with her family, who consequently risks a traumatic division.
An authentic race against time to solve a problem which – it is best to clarify immediately, clearing away any misunderstanding – was born not due to arrears or disturbances created by this family unit. In fact, at the origin of everything, there is only the need of the owner of the house, in which Isabella and her parents had lived until now, to put it up for sale.
So, after a back and forth, they found themselves outside that house and the Municipality of Trani, through its social services area, is for the moment ensuring these four people (parents and two children aged 12 and 2 respectively) accommodation in a bed and breakfast which went on for extensions of 15 days in 15 days.
But the last one, in fact, will expire on May 6th and, after that date, the accommodation facility is no longer available nor are there any others. The appeal, at this point, is for someone to come forward by making a vacant and immediately available housing unit available to this family.
As mentioned, there are no issues of arrears at the root of the problem. However, the head of the family has a very low paycheck and, to make ends meet, he is forced to take on precarious jobs to make ends meet, while Isabella works as a carer. So the family has always moved forward and has never missed the payment of a single month’s rent towards the ownership of the old house. But that wasn’t enough and they had to leave her.
With such a low paycheck, however, there is no fundamental guarantee to rent somewhere else. And this is precisely the problem, although we learn from the Social Services Office that the institution is available to take on a deposit of up to 1,000 euros to facilitate entry into a new rental property.
At this point, what are the solutions that emerge after the May 6th deadline? The first is that the mother and her children go to a family home, which however could not also be the prerogative of her husband who at that point would be sent to a dormitory. The second is the hospitality ensured by a great-aunt, who however is willing to keep only his wife and children at home with him. Accordingly, in this case too, the husband should find another solution.
But Isabella wants the entire family to remain united and calls for understanding, help and generosity: «We are good people and willing to make any sacrifice to stay together. Our appeal is for some kind-hearted person to come forward to keep our family together. My children are experiencing a situation of great stress and discomfort – the woman says -, it would be appropriate to think about my little ones too and I hope that someone will really come to help us”.
The issue also opens up a further reflection on the ever-increasing distrust of owners in stipulating rental contracts with anyone: few trust the interlocutors and even less the guarantees offered. And it does not appear to be a coincidence that today a tourist city like Trani, but also many others, abound with bed and breakfasts and holiday homes, while even at real estate agencies it has become increasingly difficult to find apartments for rent.
It is another terrible sign of an increasingly widespread precariousness, in which very few are able to plan a peaceful present and future with their families.
