Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video.

When Silvia Arocha heard that a young man in her community was struggling to find a home, she gave him an opportunity to get back on his feet. Sadly, this was the beginning of a nightmare.

During the coronavirus pandemic, we all have a responsibility to look out for one another. 67-year-old Silvia Arocha was doing this, and it backfired on her terribly.

It all began when a man in her community lost his accommodation. Arocha had seen him infrequently over the years.

So when she heard that he had no place to go, she asked if he wanted to stay in her garage for a few days until he could sort his life out.

The man gratefully accepted the offer.

At first, Arocha didn’t want to bother the man. She left him to apply for whatever aid he could access.

But then she noticed people coming and going from the garage and started to worry. Was he really working on getting his life back in order?

After a few weeks, the man was still there. But Arocha tried to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Surely he was waiting on the government bureaucracy to process his claims?

At the end of the month, she received her electricity bill and was appalled at what she saw. She usually pays around $80 per month for this utility. But that month, it had skyrocketed up to $300.

Finally, Arocha decided that she had to ask the man to make plans to leave. She entered the apartment and saw that it wasn’t just the man living there.

The man had invited his girlfriend and their two kids to move in, without so much as telling Arocha.

When Arocha asked when the man, his girlfriend and the kids were moving out, the man responded that they weren’t.

Instead, they were just going to live in her garage now and didn’t intend to pay any rent or any of the bills.

Arocha had no idea what to do. She knew that there was a ban on evictions due to the pandemic.

She was happy to comply with that order, as even though the man and his family were stretching her pension pretty thin, she didn’t want to make them homeless and vulnerable to the virus.

But then the man started conducting questionable activities at the home.

People would stop off at the garage at all hours of the day, coming and going for reasons unknown. Often, there would be yelling and screaming during these strange visits, which led to the police being called no fewer than 20 times.

Arocha thought that things couldn’t get much more disruptive. And then things got violent.

One night, when Arocha was sleeping, the sound of gunshots woke her and everyone else in the block up. Arocha cautiously looked outside and saw a car driving by. Someone inside was shooting at her garage.

Arocha was now terrified. She was scared to be in her own home. So she fled to the house of a family member.

Luckily for Arocha, she learned that the ban on evictions exempts situations that involve violence and drugs. So she appealed to the government for an emergency eviction. The process would still be slow, but she was determined to have her home back at last.

Currently, the eviction claim is still going through the government system. Hopefully, Arocha and her neighbors will be safe again soon.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: News4SA