My granddaughter has no where else to live her mother and step father on drugs, father unemployed and homeless. I am her only hope of a stable life and now I have to leave my home because of her. I cannot afford housing anywhere else as I am retired on ss retirement with mobility issues. What can I do if anything to stay in my home?
People pay a premium to live in child free communities for a reason. It’s not fair to everyone else in the park to make exceptions to the rules.
BUT - we have playgrounds for the kids plus swimming classes for them; they fish in our lakes, attend special programs such as crafts and day camp at holiday times, and they are welcome at entertainment as long as it's not a adult thing where they'd be in the way, such as underfoot while their elders are learning to tango. In summer, kids have special hours at all pools. There's a grandparents' club so they can arrange play dates with other grandparents. They can stay for lengthy times while their parents are on a longish trip. We are friendly and welcoming, but this cannot be their legal residence. They cannot run and play freely in others' yards, and they cannot drive golf carts.
Rules might be bent for someone in OP's case, but probably only temporarily as an emergency.
There must be someone on your HOA board who can give you the 'rules'. I actually think it may be against the law to discriminate against someone b/c of age.
Don't assume the worst!
I had a friend who has custody of 3 grandkids. At one point she was facing losing her home and she was looking into 55+ mobile home parks. There were a lot of situations where grandma had custody of a couple of grands. Not one of the parks refused to rent to her with the kids in tow.
Good Luck (on all accounts!)
We could have no idea what you might do in this circumstance.
I think that you might have better luck with adding the word "temporary" to this custody, as it may be just that if the couple gets clean.
I would say you have temporary custody due to family illness. See how that works. If there are not parties and such then this may just be sort of ignored and under the carpet, but again this is up to you to find out for your own community; they are all different.
I sure do wish you the very best of luck.
I'd check with the park management or HOA management and feel them out.
There are a lot of mobile home communities in Florida that allow families with children. You may need to move to one of these more welcoming communities.
My county in Florida, Alachua, has government agencies that help people find affordable housing. Those with children, and women, are prioritized and relocated to housing in less than 30 days.
Also, since you are caring for a minor child you may qualify for some extra assistance money from the state of Florida. The state would rather have the child cared by by you, a family member, than in foster care.
With such limited income and mobility issues (do you have a car? do you drive?) and now with pressure to move to a more expense location... you run the risk of plunging both you and your Granddaughter into poverty and stress.
I'm 65 and my grandson is 14 (and living with his parents). He's doing well in school because his home life is stable (working Father who can support the family, makes time for his kids). He plays JH football and thus has a good network of friends (which is extremely important to belong to a social group during formative youth years). He goes to the afterschool bible study group. He goes to (and hosts) sleepovers. Your granddaughter won't have any of this if she lives with you.
I'm so sorry for this dilemma, but there is an alternative.
I would talk to her social worker about the possibility of foster care.
"one third to one half of children that have been in foster care report having suffered abuse in their foster homes.."
The OP is between a rock and a hard place because of the two drug addicts that became parents. She has limited income and means to care for her granddaughter and is restricted by a 55+ community. I will post more about that above.
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