Original Post Date
2013-06-18 12:58 PM
Original Body
Leontine "Tina" Collins sent a letter to the Mayor of San Francisco a year ago seeking help because the infamously ruthless deviloper John Stewart Company, so graciously attempted to turn her life upside down but now a year later she's still holding on to her sanity her existence.
In the letter to the Mayor that was sent on September 4, 2012 Tina stated that she had been unlawfully evicted from her residence at Martin Luther King/Marcus Garvey Co-Op Apartments. The next series of events unfolded beginning January of the same year, while off her medication she takes due to her disability ( she has been diagnosed with a learning disability and with Schizophrenia) she was evicted and separated from her family who also lived in the apartment. She felt as though she had been treated unfairly and had not been given a proper modification for her disability.
She had to endure the runaround in the court system as some of us can relate. Calling one number to find out you need to call another only to be told you've got the wrong office and led to another and so on before you get to the right one(we all know the drill) well she had to go through that in the court system but that did not deter her, she was persistent. When one thing failed her she went somewhere else and eventually she went to Neighborhood Services and asked them for resources for those with disabilities, they gave her the name of Brandon Riley who informed her that there is a court system for people with disabilities (which she had been told there wasn't)he further informed her that ALL judges should be aware of this program. Mr. Riley issued her the application that the courts should have given her.
The eviction that she was given goes back to the day she was arrested for battery which took place on New Year's morning with her high school aged daughter in which she had been having problems with. Her desire was for her daughter to graduate and they had had many altercations due to this subject. On the morning of January 1, 2012 it was no different except the police were called and the cops thought that a familiar phrase which is stated in the African American community( "I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out") was considered in their professional view as a threat and therefore arrested her.
Although my mother never said it to me many of my family members have said to their children and parents of friends have uttered it as well but we or they as the children knew their parents weren't going to physically take them out, what it actually means is you better straighten up or you're gonna get a whipping, but it gets your attention and lets you know that momma and daddy aren't playing around they mean business.
During this fight and arrest the two younger children ages 9 and 7 were at church with a friend so they weren't home when the drama took place. During the time the officers were there her other daughter preceded to inform them that her mother Tina Collins was a Crack Cocaine user(which at the time she wasn't) she was clean from the use of Cocaine for 12 1/2 years but she had been drinking. One of the officers then went outside to speak with her daughter Myisha Collins and when he returned he informed her she was under citizens arrest. She was taken to the Northern Station and was released on January 4th due to lack of evidence, when she returned home she was told by her daughters that she had been evicted by the property management and was not allowed in the apartment. Both she and her daughters went to the managers office at 1680 Eddy Street to pay rent and the manager Anna Lokshina informed her that she (Tina)was not suppose to be on the property, Tina asked why not? She was told it was because of the arrest. Ms. Collins explained that the charges had been dropped but she stated it was out of her hands and would not accept the rent and told her to leave the office or the cops would be called.
Other events took place as well after the lawyer for John Stewart gave her a Notice to Quit and informed her that if she was caught on the property again "all of her daughters would be kicked out". Tina left the office not knowing what to do but wanted her daughters in a safe and secure environment so she did what she thought was in the best interest of her children and left, allowing her two older children to care for the younger two (Sometimes mothers have to make huge sacrifices for the betterment of their children).