Evicted Part 3: Chapters 21–24 & Epilogue Summary & Analysis

Chapter 21: Bigheaded Boy

Chapter 21 returns to Doreen’s family. Lamar and Kamala’s burned-out building next door has been bulldozed, and Sherrena has used the insurance money to buy new duplexes, doubling the units she lost in the fire. Patrice receives a letter from the courthouse stating that she owed Sherrena almost $2500, despite having only lived in the upper unit for four months. Patrice thought it would be closer to $900. Doreen’s overcrowded unit continues to suffer plumbing issues, which leads to unwashed plates, dirty clothes, and roaches. The state of the house is a constant drain on the will of the occupants, who slip ever further into lethargic depression. Trash accumulates on the floor. Desmond points out that substandard housing causes people to lose confidence in themselves, because it is a reflection of where society thinks they belong. Natasha has her baby and is excited to be a mother. Unfortunately, when she and the baby are released from the hospital, they return to the same unit with Doreen.

Chapter 22: If They Give Momma the Punishment

Chapter 22 returns to Vanetta and Crystal, who are no longer living together. Crystal has been sleeping at the train station or in the waiting room of a hospital. Vanetta has recently been kicked out of the Lodge because her daughter pulled the fire alarm. Vanetta contacts Crystal, who had found a new roommate, but after a fight, is homeless again. They agree to find another place together. They find an apartment in the inner city with a clogged sink, no appliances, and a front door that doesn’t lock. They planned to stay a short time while saving money, but Crystal ends up throwing an acquaintance through the front window for using up all of Crystal’s cell phone minutes. Crystal is forced to leave so Vanetta and her children can stay.

Vanetta goes to her criminal trial and pleads guilty, asking for leniency. The judge hears the prosecution, defense, and character witnesses. The judge decides that Vanetta robbed people out of desperation, but since she is still destitute, nothing has changed. He sentences her to eighty-four months in the prison system. Meanwhile, Crystal’s SSI is discontinued, since it was awarded to her as a minor and she has been found ineligible as an adult. Desmond describes Crystal clapping along in church while stating that she has taken to prostitution and is still sleeping at the train station.

Chapter 23: The Serenity Club

Chapter 23 returns to Scott, who is determined to stay sober. His friend Pito got him into Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), where he earns money cleaning in the evenings. Scott continues to work and stay sober, generally irritated by the rituals of the AA meetings, until he finds out that his meeting attendance and drug screenings will not apply toward getting his nursing license back. He starts using again and is kicked out of the house where he has been staying. Scott eventually contacts his mother and asks for $150 so he can go to a methadone clinic. Scott stays at a shelter, the Guest House, and takes a bus to the methadone clinic every day. After a year, he is offered permanent housing and a job through the Guest House. He moves into a nice apartment downtown and he only has to pay a third of his income. Reinvigorated by the clean home, work, and sobriety, Scott starts on a five year plan to regain his nursing license and resume his career.

Chapter 24: Can't Win for Losing

Chapter 24 returns to Arleen, who still struggles to find a place to live. At one point, she and her boys move into a fairly nice apartment, but she is asked to leave not long after moving in. Jafaris, her son, had a bad asthma attack and she called an ambulance. Since the building was a nuisance building (having received too many nuisance citations), the landlord was displeased. Then, her other son, Jori, got into an altercation with his teacher and police showed up at the apartment. Arleen tries to reconnect with Trisha and even lives with her temporarily, but Trisha’s new boyfriend moves in with some of his family and there are ongoing issues. Arleen and her boys continue to move in and out of shelters and borrow money where they can. At the end of the chapter, she moves into a small apartment with no stove or refrigerator.

Epilogue: Home and Hope

The Epilogue opens with an aside from Desmond. He describes the importance of a stable home for work, family, building community, and maintaining relationships. Once Scott acquired affordable housing, he was able to stay sober and focus on improving his life. Doreen and Patrice eventually moved to Tennessee, and Patrice earned her GED and went to community college. Arleen and Vanetta, on the other hand, spent most of their money on rent and most of their time looking for new places to live while delaying eviction. Their children suffered greatly for it. Desmond states that there are millions of evictions in America each year, and it is one of the least-studied processes that affects poor families. People who are evicted lose stability, time, possessions, and often their jobs. It takes a toll on mental health as well, often causing depression.

Desmond argues that Americans deserve the right to a decent home. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are all connected to a stable home. America provides support for older citizens and twelve years of free education, but housing should also be recognized as a fundamental need. Affordable housing projects were initially successful, but became part of the problem after funding was cut off. Newer voucher programs, where families pay only thirty percent of their income for public housing, have become the most effective anti-poverty programs. As of 2013, only one-third of poor families received assistance or public housing. Affordable housing should be at the forefront of domestic policy, since even those with moderate incomes are often paying fifty percent of their monthly income on rent. Legal aid for the poor has also diminished in the last forty years. In eviction court, ninety percent of landlords have attorneys and ninety percent of renters do not. Tenant lawyers could push back against abusive landlords and practices.

Desmond also argues against the exploitation of poor people by landlords. Increases in minimum wage only matter if rent and grocery prices do not rise accordingly. Desmond argues for measures such as rent control, stating it’s the government that legitimizes and defends the landlords’ right to charge as much as they want, as well as providing law enforcement that forcibly removes those that cannot pay. Universal housing has been successful elsewhere in the world. Vouchers are more cost-effective than new, state-funded construction or subsidized private developments. Desmond argues that affordable housing would “strengthen and steady the American work force.” It would allow people to acquire new skills or pursue additional education. A universal voucher program would also need to mandate participation. Landlords would not be able to discriminate against voucher holders. Desmond admits that the current voucher program is horribly inefficient, but economists have argued that the current voucher program could be expanded to all poor families in America without additional cost if it were streamlined and overcharging were rooted out. Such a voucher program would also greatly decrease homelessness, which would save taxpayer dollars.

Backmatter: About This Project

In the “About this Project” section, Desmond describes how he collected all of the stories of the different tenants and landlords. He lived in Tobin’s trailer park in 2008 and met with the tenants and office staff regularly to discuss their lives. He then moved to a rooming house on the North Side, renting from Sherrena and Quentin. Sherrena was pleased to have Desmond follow her and find out what landlords had to go through. He met Sherrena’s tenants over time. Some of them warmed up to him more quickly than others, since he appeared as an outsider. Desmond tried to intervene as little as possible when it came to tenants and landlords, but he did spend time with the tenants, helped them move, attended church with them, and argued with them. He recognizes that people acted differently in his presence, but he kept meticulous notes or used a voice recorder.

The raw data Desmond collected for the book amounted to 5,000 typed pages. The research work affected Desmond psychologically, as he witnessed all of the pain and suffering people endured. After his field work with tenants and landlords, Desmond ran a study to gather data involving 1,100 tenants, interviewed by professional interviewers. They collected data on housing and urban poverty. He also studied eviction records from 2003 to 2013. Throughout his experience, Desmond became close to the families he studied, often loaning tenants his car or phone so they could look for housing.

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