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Kendra Bowden-Ponder, her husband Quan and their three children Ja’Lissa, 6, Jordyn, 1, and Kayleb, 10 months, are facing eviction. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Kendra Bowden-Ponder’s boxes are packed. The mother of three born and raised in West Philadelphia is preparing to leave the community where she has spent most of her life — and she needs to find somewhere else to go fast.
After a rough 2020 wherein she and her husband both lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the family’s landlord is evicting them from their Mill Creek home.
Bowden-Ponder said the stress of trying to find a new home is all-encompassing. Her three kids haven’t been sleeping through the night. She tries to soothe their anxieties by doing a lot of family activities like having “experiment night” where they cook a meal they’ve never tried before or having impromptu dance parties in the living room.