GoFundMe Set Up To Help Homeless Long Island Music Teacher

NORTH FORK, NY — The community is coming together to help Eldie (who asked that her real name not be used to protect her privacy), a Long Island music teacher left homeless and without a job amid the coronavirus pandemic.

After reading Eldie's story on Patch, many have reached out to ask how they can help. And now, a GoFundMe page, "Help Eldie Find A Home," was created by Nancy Baylis of Southold.

"It recently came to my attention that a beloved member of my community — my former piano teacher — is homeless due to a lack of employment as a result of the pandemic,” Baylis wrote. “I want to raise money for her so that she will be able to get back on her feet and find a place to rent for the next five months until she is able to get a job and a regular income.”

Baylis added: "When I read her story on Patch I felt the need to help out because I thought to myself, 'But for the grace of God go I.' Eldie is a wonderful, kind, positive person. She has always been there for her family, friends, and community. Now we have the opportunity to give back what she has given to others — support, kindness and love of neighbors and community members. Please help out if you can."

Eldie shared her story with Patch. The year began on a high note, she said. Eldie, a single mom on the North Fork, said for the first time in what seemed like forever, she received a tax refund and bought tickets for herself and her son to visit Italy for Easter.

Life in January seemed bright with promise.

Ten months later, Eldie is living in a women's emergency homeless shelter, her life upended by the pandemic and the sudden loss of her job and home.

Remembering January, Eldie, a soft-spoken woman who spent years as a self-employed private music instructor and, most recently, as a caretaker for a homebound elderly client, said the trip was to be a longtime dream realized.

"We had not been on vacation since 2005," she said.

Eldie, who turned 60 this year, wanted to travel with her son to celebrate his impending graduation from high school — a journey they would remember forever.

"We were so excited and happy," she said. "That was back in February. In March, my son came home and announced that school may be closed for a week or two because of COVID. Well, as we all know, everything was canceled."

The Italy trip was no longer possible and the airline took three months to refund the fare, Eldie said. Her son, an honor student, saw his senior year derailed, Eldie told Patch.

"No play, no sports, no senior trip, no prom, and almost no graduation," she said. "But a modified graduation was held — and I am still wearing the mask that each guest received."

She still wears that mask during the cold days of November as she sits at the kitchen table of the women's shelter, where she has been a resident since late October.

"I am a homeless woman at the age of 60," she told Patch. "Homeless for the first time in my life. It takes a lot of courage to admit this current reality. I never dreamed I would be saying these words. I am homeless in 2020."

Eldie is not a criminal and has never been arrested, she said. She is not a drug addict or an alcoholic. She does not suffer from from any physical disability or mental illness and is medicated only for high blood pressure.

"So why am I homeless?" she said. "I am homeless because I did not take my mom's sage advice: 'Save your money for a rainy day.' That rainy day is here and I have three umbrellas but no money for rent."

Having been a single, divorced mom for 20 years, Eldie's work as a music instructor was fruitful for a long time. Through the years, enrollment dwindled. With the coronavirus, she has no students, doesn't own a computer and people aren't inviting teachers into their homes like they once did, she said.

"I have managed to scrape by with a string of part-time jobs — cashier, waitress, bagel counter server, farm helper, elder care,” she said. “But these jobs were all minimum wage jobs and even if I had worked at them a full 40-hour week, East End rent costs are still out of reach for me.”

For several years, she lived in a small cottage behind her parents' home, until they downsized and moved to an apartment out of town. Next, she heard of a job as a caregiver for an elderly and ailing woman.

"My son and I moved in with her and cared for her, along with other caregivers, until she passed away in June,” she said. “So I then lost not only my live-in caregiver job, but our home, when the house was put up for sale.”

The rapid descent into despair took place as her son prepared to graduate from high school and prepare for college. He received a full, four-year scholarship and is now living in a dorm.

"We spent the summer bouncing from friend to friend, and on relatives' couches or air mattresses on the floor,” she said. “We had to find a new home for our beloved cat — thank God he was adopted quickly — and store all of our belongings in a storage unit which costs $130 a month for a 5 x 8 unit. Most of our precious things are in there, photo albums, childhood toys, a few dishes, my son's new bike.”

Those things may seem small, Eldie told Patch, but it's the little things that are everything — the memories that make up a life. And she worries that the day may come when she can no longer pay for the storage unit.

As she searched for a new job and place to live, Eldie's small amount of savings was spent on hotels and restaurants. Today, unemployment pays $150 a week, which barely covers the most basic expenses.

Coronavirus paved path to homelessness

The coronavirus also paved Eldie's harrowing path into homelessness. Along with lost income, landlords had new fears about renting a room or sharing a home. And on the East End, renters moving out from New York City put a strain on the availability of North Fork housing stock, she said.

And then, there is the search for employment during a time when the local economy is reeling from the pandemic.

"I have not been able to find a job anywhere yet. That is, a job that would pay enough money to allow me to afford rent on the North Fork," she said. "All I need is a bedroom and a bathroom but I cannot find it. I don't even know if any such thing exists."

But, she added: "As I am adjusting to life in a shelter for homeless women" — the emergency shelter is provided by Suffolk County's Department of Social Services — "I try to remain hopeful."

However, there are days, she said, when it is not easy to remain upbeat, when optimism falters.

"With the news of COVID numbers rising again and a new lockdown looming on the horizon, it is hard to remain hopeful that life will improve anytime soon. I know that I am not alone in my situation," Eldie said.

Eldie is grateful for the safe shelter provided by DSS.

"I am happy that Social Services is there for us when we need it," she said. "And the way things are going these days, more and more are going to need it. Low-paying and few jobs, high rent, no affordable apartments — it's a recipe for disaster."

But despite her gratitude for a safe haven, Eldie still finds it hard to believe that at 60, she is now counted as one of the homeless in Suffolk County.

"I am not proud of myself for not planning better or that rainy day Mom spoke of. But neither am I ashamed to be poor. There are a lot of worse things than being poor.”

Despite it all, Eldie believes in the promise of a better tomorrow. She believes that one day, she will have a new job and a home to call her own.

"That is my faith," she told Patch. "I didn't fret about saving my money. Because I have done a lot of volunteer work through the years, in different ways, and also given money to less fortunate when they needed it, during all my years as an adult. So, I know that God provides. And He is always on the job — even now in this place where I'm at."

To donate to Eldie's GoFundMe, click here.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.