We’re Californians who moved to Texas after experiencing homelessness. We’ve been here less than a year and can’t wait to go home.

Affordability drew us to Texas

Dannielle: I left California with my daughters for the first time in June 2021. My mother is originally from Texas. Three years ago, my stepdad retired, and he and my mom relocated from Mira Loma, California, to Henderson, Texas.

She said they went to Texas because it was more cost-effective. So, I got online and started looking. The houses were so cheap, and they were huge! Everything was really low-cost.

We were all excited. My goal was to be able to purchase my own home one day.

Eiman and my son weren’t able to come to Texas the first time.

I initially moved in with my mom in Henderson, which is in East Texas. When we got to Texas the first time, we were blown away by the beautiful nature. There was no smog, no pollution. It was really beautiful.

My older daughter and I started applying for jobs immediately because we wanted an apartment of our own.

We got jobs, and my daughter and I both worked full-time. On the weekends, we would drive to Tyler, which is about 30 miles from Henderson, and look at apartments. We knew we wanted to leave Henderson because the demographic is primarily retirees.

But my eldest daughter started getting depressed. It was just too much change for her. My mom and stepdad are great people, but it was difficult living with them.

Plus, the weather in Texas is so brutal in the summer.

We pay for all our utilities here, which I’ve never done in California. All of our bills are behind because I haven’t been able to find a livable, long-term, full-time job. I’m about to lose the car I finance.

I’ve worked two jobs here in Tyler already, and they are the worst experiences of my life.

And I haven’t gotten many job interviews here in Tyler. It seems like a lot of the jobs are part-time. Plus, I went from making almost $18 an hour in California to $11 here.

Eiman: We thought everything was going to be cheaper here in Texas than it has been.

We didn’t do our due diligence before moving

Dannielle: For all the negatives of Texas, there are some positives. Some people really do have that Southern hospitality and are so nice.

We’ve also met a lot of people who aren’t originally from Texas. It’s nice to talk with them and realize we’re all experiencing the same struggles after moving here.

The nature and clean air are my favorite things about Texas.

But we are definitely not planning to stay in Texas. We just want to get back home to California once our lease is up in May.

We are excited to go back, but we’re apprehensive too. We want to make sure we have enough money to get started again.

But we’d rather deal with the high cost of living and have the convenience. It’s home.