Fifty-eight-year-old Deborah Tapper moved to the Bronx so long ago, she can’t even remember what year it was. She raised her daughter there and loves the apartment she has now. “It’s nice and new and clean … and I love the neighborhood. It’s busy all day long, and I like that,” she says. For years, Ms. Tapper had been working for a ompany that contracts to provide security guards. When the contracts dry up, so does the work. And that’s what appened in late 2023. She was able to collect unemployment insurane, but it wasn’t sufficient to cover her rent in full. I tried to pay what I could,” she recalls, “but I fell behind.”
Mis. Tapper was back at work by March of 2024, and although she was making full rent payments again, the
.andlord took her to court for the outstanding rent balance. She had never been in Housing Court before and found it confusing and scary. “I was worried. I didn’t have anyone I could talk to help me understand it,” she recalls. Someone at the court gave her a list of agencies that might hel .
Mrs. Tapper made her way through the list, calling and waiting for replies. It was The Bridge Fund that came :hrough. “I called so many places for help, so many agencies. The Bridge Fund got back to me and gave me
ope.” The Bridge Fund also gave her all the information she needed to deal with housing court and answered all her questions. Then, they put together the funding to cover the back rent. Ms. Tapper remembers the moment when her caseworker told her The Bridge Fund was sending the landlord a check. “Oh my God. I can’t even explain how I felt, I was so happy I wasn’t going to lose my apartment. That’s all I was thinking about, that I wasn’t going to be on the street.”
Today, Deborah can enjoy babysitting her granddaughter without worrying about losing her home. “They saved me. I had no one else to turn to. I would have been in the street. The Bridge Fund gave me the peace to sleep at night.”