We have many neighbors that have liven on 8th Street for decades and it is always sad when they leave. Recently, a neighbor of ours lived who lived her home for over 50 years recently got sick and moved into elder care. Her family helped her decide that the home should go up for sale since no one was living in it. Since she got her home refinanced in 2008 she still owes money on it. Her husband died a few decades ago but she continued to be the matriarch of her family, taking in several family members with little time to do upgrades to the home. She owes over $50,000 on her home but it is only worth $20,000. Can you imagine living in your home for over 50 years and not getting a penny for it? In the last 10 years, her home didn’t go up in value enough to recover anything. This is how the American banking system treats older people in poverty and I think it is really shitty. The heaviness of a situation like this is so hard on me to even see secondhand and I am not even experiencing the devastation of it. I am sure some will ask why she refinanced at the worst time possible or why she didn’t pay down more on her home. I think we should be asking why the banks gave out a loan to a 70 year old who was on a fixed income and thought she would be able to pay it off. It makes me so angry that there is no voice for people like her, no one is going to congress and telling them to change these laws or whatever you’re suppose to do. The even shitter part is that our neighbor is still paying the lights, the water, etc and the bank is making her bend over backwards to try to sell it. This whole system needs to change. We need to treat our elders with respect, especially our Black elders. They have so much knowledge and richness to gain from knowing them.