GRANITE CITY, Ill. – A Granite City woman in the fight for her life is also fighting to keep her home.
“My main concern right now is just having a roof over my head," said Melissa Saul.
She is also in another battle; this one for her life. She has stage 4 breast cancer.
“This is a letter from my doctor basically saying I’m unable to work," Saul said.
She says the pain is constant. Doctors give Saul six months to live but she hopes to fight for more amid another battle she’s having with the Granite City Housing Authority.
“They wanted the back pay, $4,000, within the next two weeks and that’s just impossible for me," she said.
Saul says she’s been trying to get ahold of the office to work out a payment plan and they wouldn’t accept her current rent payments until she paid the outstanding fees.
“My options are basically the street if they don’t let me stay here. There are no other low-income housing options that I’m aware of and I have children," she said.
Saul says the stress of moving combined with the physical pain is almost too much to handle.
“For someone who has worked hard all my life to be treated that way in low-income housing that the government provides for people like me. It should not have happened the way that it did," she said.
Fox 2 reached out to the Granite City Housing Authority by phone and when there was no answer, went to the office in person where they were directed to speak with their attorney. Fox 2 has reached out to that person and—as of Thursday evening—has not heard back.
Saul has a 16-year-old son that lives with her part-time. She says she’s been looking into new treatments but, given her financial constraints, that also presents an issue.
on September 7, 2019, 11:16 pm