Eviction Halted, Housing Authority Keeps Woman In Malvern Home

MALVERN, PA — A disabled Malvern woman will not be evicted from her home after activists gathered in Malvern Monday drawing attention to the circumstances that put her and many others, they said, in danger of homelessness.

After a gathering on Monday morning at The Haven at Atwater Village that included television news coverage, Chester County's Housing Authority will cover back rent and Manisha Divecha's rent voucher will be adjusted, according to a representative from the Poor People's Army.

Divecha,33, explained that her home in Malvern accommodates her disabilities and part of that includes it being in proximity to the particular medical care she needs. She said her rent has been adjusted to represent 30 percent of her income.

"I'm so relieved," she said after she was told that she would not be evicted. "I've been exhausted. I'm grateful. I can't even begin to tell you." Divecha said that her story is also the story of many others who are on the brink of homelessness right now.

"I know people out there who are going through what I am. I believe in the power of prayer, and the power of vulnerability. It's important to keep sharing your story," she said.

The group that gathered to draw attention to the impending eviction held signs and spoke to reporters, pointing out that evictions are looming for many who are behind on rent following the pandemic's economic havoc.

The Poor People's Army declared it a victory. "We received confirmation from the head of Housing Authority of Chester County and a County Commissioner that Manisha will be getting her back rent paid, the Bozzuto Group will not go forward with her eviction, they will lower rent, and the housing authority will provide a voucher to cover and keep her in this accessible apartment she’s been in for 3-plus years. Congrats, Manisha!" an online statement from the organization said.

Organizer for the Poor People's Army Cheri Honkala, a formerly homeless mother, at the protest said that present housing policy means that people like Manisha Devicha often end up "warehoused in nursing homes."

Honkalal called Divecha a "shining example for anyone who's afraid." She said that the Poor People's Army believes it is possible "to open up low-income housing if we have the political will to do it."

Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell said in response to discussion of the case on Twitter, "It is our policy not to speak about these situations publicly because it involves sensitive information."

Divecha said it has been a "nightmare" facing eviction, receiving a notice that read, "You must be paid in full or moved out by March 15, 2021, at 11:00."

A Chester County court judgment stated the tenant of the Bozzuto property owed $12,000. Her rent had been $1,650-a-month for the accessible home in the apartment community.

Divecha said she has struggled to make her rent over several years. The physical disabilities that limit her to a power wheelchair have limited her employability, she told Patch. The apartment she lives in accommodates her unique disabilities and is near the medical care she needs, she explained.

The disabled woman receives a housing voucher from the Housing Authority of Chester County, overseen by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She said that last year, the housing authority and HUD denied her a modest increase in her voucher and that she got further and further behind. The county's Housing Authority issues 1,700 vouchers countywide for designated sites.

Divecha has lived in her Malvern apartment since 2017. "I have always paid whatever I could," she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which functions within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Jan. 31 announced the extension of an order under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act to temporarily halt residential evictions to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. The order is effective through March 31, 2021, according to the federal document filed.

While local eviction moratoriums are in place in some municipalities across the state, a statewide ban on evictions that expired in August 2020 was never renewed, and eviction bans vary by state. The Philadelphia Housing Authority's moratorium on evictions expires March 15.

The Poor People's Army defines itself as "a nonviolent army of poor and working people, led by poor people, fighting for our survival by any means necessary." It has its roots in the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and Kensington Welfare Rights Union in Philadelphia.

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