MESA, AZ — As she shows us her new Mesa apartment, Margaret can't help but reflect on the one she was forced to leave.
"I thought I was going to be there until I died. But it didn't work out," she says.
For 22 years, Margaret called Scottsdale's Villa Montana apartment complex her home.
Her doctors, her church, and her life were all nearby.
In March, the complex said they no longer accepted Section 8 vouchers.
Without that government help, Margaret could no longer afford the $1,700 rate.
I asked her what she did when she heard that news.
"I prayed. I didn't know what else to do so I did that," Margaret tells me.
We aired her story, asking any of you who knew of a place that might be accepting Section 8 to let me know and I'd pass them on to Margaret.
And boy did you let us know!
"I've had so many responses and numbers to call. I've called over 200 numbers now," Margaret told me in April.
While most places said they too no longer accept Section 8 renters, we followed Margaret to a Mesa complex that did — but it wasn't for her.
So it was back to the computer and phone...
Just when she was losing hope, viewer Selena sent us a different Mesa apartment that did accept Section 8.
Margaret checked it out — and this one worked!
We were with Margaret on move-in day before her belongings arrived.
"The TV will have to go over on that wall," she shows me.
She's about 40 minutes from her friends and her old life.
"It's a long way from where I was, but I'll get used to it," Margaret says.
And she's already spotted a church next door.
"I have to go over and meet the pastor," she says.
While she says she'll miss the old place, Margaret also says she's lucky. So many complexes are no longer accepting Section 8 tenants, she knows people with no place to go.
"I think it's going to be a lot of people on the street homeless," she says.
Margaret wants to thank all of you who reached out to help her.
I know a lot of you are having similar rental issues.
Email me: joe@abc15.com
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