Jacque moved to Rohnert Park in 2014 when she transferred to Santa Rosa Junior College. While in college, she rented multiple apartments and shared housing situations that were priced too high. Now, Jacque is currently staying with her boyfriend while she works as a business and operations freelancer to pay the bills, which has been made more difficult due to the pandemic.
Jacque is house hunting in Sonoma County in order to find a home to buy for her mom, who is on disability. But the prices, coupled with the high taxes and fire insurance, are making it very difficult to find anything. Her Mom qualifies for section 8 housing, but Jacque has found it to be an impossible process and also hasn’t been able to find any helpful resources.
Jacque moved around a lot as a kid and didn’t ever get an opportunity to cultivate a community. She really wants to stay in Sonoma County, which feels like home, and hopes to be able to find a place to buy for her family. She states that “about 90% of my friends have moved away to more affordable areas since 2017 after the Tubbs fire. That has been heavy on my heart. If I wasn’t so lucky with affordable rent through personal connections I wouldn’t be able to afford the rent here anymore either.”