Justice for De-Kids!

Stand with Deirdra Duncan and her 5 foster children as they demand justice for an illegal eviction from their rental home! After a foreclosure and simultaneous sale of the property by Bank of America/ Bank of New York Mellon, over which the owner is still in legal dispute, Deirdra and her children were illegally evicted by an investor. Legal eviction gives a tenant 90 days to relocate after an eviction notice is issued by law enforcement. The investor that purchased this property from the bank gave the family 4 days. Unfortunately, the Pasadena police helped him enforce this illegal eviction based on his possession of the deed to the property alone (now suspected a fraudulent document).

Deirdra was not able to complete the move in this time and she and her children were locked out and moved to another of this investor's properties, next door. After she obtained permission to retreive her things, neighbors arrived to help. However, when they had not finished in the 72 hours allotted and refused to leave thereafter, the investor assaulted 2 neighbors inside the home. Police documented the incident, but instructed her to discontinue moving as the investor had said and did not arrest him.    

We are seeking reparations for the Deirdra and her children from the bank, this investor and the Pasadena police. Please sign our petition and enlist your support in other ways by subscribing to our email list and liking our facebook page! Justice for De-Kids!

  a few words about Deirdra Duncan
 
Deirdra Duncan has been a foster care mother for 32 years.  In 2007, she assumed long-term foster care of five high-risk children - all siblings - ranging in age from 4 to 17.  She became the children’s legal guardian in 2010, an agreement that required her to provide them with a long-term, stable environment, and, in essence, to accept the children as her own.
 

It is an obligation she takes seriously, all the more so since the children’s birth mother has spent considerable time in and out of prison on drug-related charges. Their birth mother currently lives on Skid Row.  As high-risk children, they are prone to emotional disorders, which D.D. likens to the experiences of traumatized prisoners of war  (i.e., separation anxiety and troubles concentrating.) In fact, some of the children were born in and spent time in prison with their mother, who was a runaway from a broken home.
 

Deirdra Duncan is a Pasadena native with strong community ties. Her children attend school there (at a charter school she helped establish). She is deeply committed to her church community and been an active member of neighborhood groups.  Her own 29-year old daughter is the co-guardian of the foster children that D.D. cares for. D.D. speaks lucidly about how hard it is for large families - especially foster care families - to find suitable housing in Pasadena.
 

When she was a young woman considering her future calling as a foster care mother, D.D.’s mother, (also a foster care provider) advised her to: “Treat these children like they are your own. Never take it like a job.  The whisperings in your ear come from the Lord. God loves us all, no matter what we do, so follow God’s example and have the same love in your heart for these children.”

 Speaking of the five siblings currently in her care, D.D. said:  “Because these children don’t have a family, we, as a society, are obligated to take on that responsibility. We are the village that needs to give them extra loving and care.”  Occupy Fights Foreclosures is working in solidarity with D.D. to get her and her children back in their home.y helpful, but don't be afraid to be passionate and be yourself.