Mount Vernon Optic-Herald

My husband and I moved our family from Baton Rouge to Mount Vernon 3 years ago. We thought we had found the perfect place to raise our 5 children; in an old town with little crime, old fashioned morals, and lack of prestigious political power. We thought we had basically moved to Mayberry. We never have gotten out much and met many people but most of the people we have met have been nice. Others, however, have made sure we knew we were outsiders and have made us feel very unwelcome. My marriage fell apart about a year after getting to Mount Vernon and my children and I lost all our financial security, our home, and our vehicle. My husband moved back to his hometown but my children and I loved this little town so much I decided to do whatever it took to stay here. In the past two years I have babysat, sold goods at town square, cleaned houses, sold avon, had garage sales, and sold items on e-Bay just to make ends meet and get my bills paid to make sure my children had electricity, shoes, etc. The couple of times I could find a babysitter for my 5 children I took jobs outside of the house for as long as I could keep the sitter. Right before I lost my house I searched high and low for a place to rent that would accept me and my children without a steady income. Every place I called turned me down because I had too many children. I never even got to tell of my income; no one would get past the fact that I was a single mom of 5. Even the owners of 4 bedroom houses told me there were too many people in my family for the space in their rent house. Just a couple of weeks before my house was foreclosed on I found a couple in Winnsboro that had a rent house on Yates Street who gave us the opportunity we needed to get on our feet just a little and kept us out of a shelter. It was a nice older 2 bedroom home with a great backyard. It also sat in the backyard of Mr. and Mrs. Sears. I had no clue who these people were when I moved there. It didn't take me long to figure it out, however. I watched Mr. and Mrs. Sears walk to church every Sunday morning as my own family was preparing to go to our church. My kids occasionally went over to play with their grandchildren. I always felt looked down upon by them though. They would not speak to me, would not wave, and would not allow their grandchildren to come play in our yard. We only lived there for a few months because I was not able to afford the house for long and was forced to move into the housing authority when my name came up. During the time we were on Yates Street I had two garage sales to pay the rent and other bills. During the second sale Mr. Sears made a point of coming over to tell me I was only allowed 2 garage sales a year without a tax permit. He also made a point of telling me he would not report me but to please find another way to pay my bills. I thanked him for the information because I really had no idea (this is not the practice where I moved from) and told him I would not have anymore. The next week a gentleman from the city came by to let me know the Sears reported that I had been having too many garage sales and this was against the rules. I explained the situation to him and told him also I would not be having anymore and he politely left. I was appalled that this "good Christian" couple would treat someone this way. First to blatantly straight faced lie while looking me in the eye and second to try to hurt my family by making sure it was even more difficult to pay bills. We are not materialistic people. I don't spend money on many, if any, luxuries. We wear out, re-use, and re-cycle everything we can to make our dollar stretch. Most of the money I spend goes towards electricity, gas, insurance, and shoes. I am very sorry this is the family that is in the Mayor's office. This has definitely not turned out to be the town I thought it was; the one I was excited about raising my children in.