We're Not Okay. We're Still Fighting. We Need Help to Survive.
600+ Days Homeless Because of a Crime. Two Felonies and a Misdemeanor on the Police Report. Still No Arrest.
⚠️ THE REALITY NO ONE WANTS TO BELIEVE
January 2025: We were illegally locked out of our home in California while sick from mold illness.
We're still homeless. Still fighting. Still not okay.
There are days we don't know how much more we can take.
There are days when we don't eat so we can afford a place to sleep.
Days where the weight of what's been done to us feels unsurvivable.
We keep going anyway. Not because we're strong. Because stopping means they win.
The landlord changed the locks. Most of what we own is still inside:
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Professional clothes and shoes (for interviews and gigs)
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$70K+ in belongings (family photos, dishes, clothes, equipment, documents)
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Joe's blood pressure medication (he needs it daily, and replacing it while displaced has been a constant struggle)
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Basic hygiene and personal-care items
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Stella's belongings (bed, toys, food, medical supplies—
she's suffering from mold illness too, with respiratory and emotional distress) - Documents, tools, everything that makes life possible
We've been living in hotel rooms and friends' sofas/spare beds this entire time.We spent months in a motel. We wake up in pain every morning from mold exposure. We're trying to work—but without our equipment and resources, we can't bridge the gap between what we're able to earn in crisis mode and what we need to survive while fighting this case. Hotel homelessness isn't sustainable—we need stability to have any chance of justice.
Felice produced a 40-person choir at the San Diego Convention Center in February 2025—
in the only pair of shoes she still had in her possession.
That's not success. That's survival.
If you can help us survive the next 3 months, donate $10, $27, or $50 below.
DONATE NOW
🚫 Why We Don't Have Our Belongings:
In January 2025, we evacuated temporarily for medical safety: Our doctor confirmed mold exposure was causing pneumonia and told us we wouldn't get better if we stayed. We also had no heat — living in 30-40°F temperatures while it snowed outside in the mountains. We thought we'd be back in a few days, maybe two weeks tops — once the landlord remediated the mold, fixed the heating, or paid for relocation (as California can require when a home is unsafe to live in).
We packed for a SHORT evacuation—toiletries, a few clothes, essentials. Then the landlord changed the locks.
Now most of what we own — $70K+ worth of belongings — is locked inside:
We can't just "go get our stuff" because: 1. When a rental is so unsafe that code enforcement orders tenants out, California law requires the owner to pay their relocation benefits (Health & Safety Code § 17975). The county inspection that could have led to that was being scheduled when the landlord changed the locks, cutting off the inspector's access. We believe that was the point: a lockout instead of paying for what his house did to us. 2. The lockout itself is a crime:
3. Police treated our report as a "civil matter" instead of a crime from day one — we feared for our physical safety attempting to access our own residence. |
This photo was taken before the illegal lockout. Now even Joe's service animal, Stella, is sick from mold illness. |
Kern County had one of the highest rates of police killings per capita in the United States in 2015 — In 2015, police in Kern County killed more people per capita than in any other U.S. county: 13 people that year (county-wide, across KCSO and Bakersfield PD combined). Between 2013-2023, KCSO killed 31 people — a killings-per-arrest rate higher than 81% of comparable departments nationwide. Only 7% of civilian complaints against KCSO were ruled in favor of civilians (2016-22). KCSO has operated under a state-mandated reform agreement with an independent monitor since a 2020 settlement with the California Department of Justice, following a four-year investigation that found civil rights violations.
So no—we were NOT going to risk "breaking back in" to our own home, even though it was our home. The last thing we needed was to give a police force with that record an excuse to escalate against Black and Latino, disabled tenants.
We filed complaints with Internal Affairs, the Attorney General, the Civil Rights Department, and the DOJ. None of the institutions that should have protected us has stepped in to end the lockout or return our home.
This is why:
- Felice was left with one pair of sneakers and Joe was left with two pairs of sneakers
- We can't access professional equipment ($20K+ locked away)
- Work is scarce—lack of stability makes it impossible to pursue contracts consistently. When gigs do come, we're underpaid (e.g., $1K for work that should pay $5K) or asked to work upfront without payment.
- We need help surviving while the case proceeds.
The illegal lockout manufactured our homelessness. Now we need help fighting the case to escape the trap.
If this is happening to us—and we know how to assert tenant rights — imagine how many thousands don't even realize a crime is being committed against them.
HELP US SURVIVE
🚫 EVERY AGENCY THAT SHOULD HAVE HELPED — FAILED (The Material Reality)
Police documented THREE crimes on the report:
→ Forcible entry and detainer (PC 418 -
Misdemeanor)
→ Grand theft (PC 487 - Felony)
→ Extortion
(PC 518 - Felony)
Still no arrest.
→ The Attorney General's own 2022 bulletin tells police that lockouts "are not merely civil matters" and that officers "should intervene to enforce the law and stop self-help evictions." When we reported that the Sheriff's Office had ignored it, his office wrote back that "evictions that occur without a court order are unlawful," then told us to direct our complaint "to the local law enforcement agency itself." The same Sheriff's Office.
→ Victim compensation exists for exactly this, yet CalVCB left us to give up through delay, administrative burden and denial, while the Restitution Fund that pays victim compensation ended fiscal year 2023–24 with an $87.5 million balance (California Governor's Budget 2025–26, CalVCB fund condition statement).
→ Legal aid for tenants told us: "We can't take your case due to the current administration."
The system isn't broken. It's working exactly as designed. Designed to exhaust people until they disappear.
We refused to disappear. So we taught ourselves federal litigation. Pro se. While homeless.
In August 2026 we filed our First Amended Complaint, adding the County of Kern and three Sheriff's deputies. Our appeal is now before the Ninth Circuit, and we're continuing to seek an attorney.
But we haven't won yet. We need to survive long enough to finish this.
HELP US FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
A lockout isn't a "civil matter." California already makes it a crime.
| When a landlord… | The law | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Changes the locks or keeps tenants out without a court order | Penal Code § 418 (forcible entry and detainer) | Misdemeanor: up to 6 months in county jail and/or a $1,000 fine (PC § 19) |
| Keeps tenants' belongings worth more than $950 | Penal Code §§ 484, 487 (grand theft) | Up to 1 year in county jail, or 16 months, 2 or 3 years (PC §§ 489(c), 1170(h)) |
| Holds tenants' belongings as leverage to make them give up their rights | Penal Code §§ 518, 520 (extortion) | 2, 3 or 4 years (PC § 1170(h)) |
| Rents out a home with conditions like visible mold and ignores a code enforcement order | Health & Safety Code §§ 17920.3, 17995 | Misdemeanor: up to 6 months and/or a $1,000 fine |
The first three are listed on our police report. No one has been arrested.
Arrest the landlords who do this, and watch how fast it stops. Domestic violence stopped being "a family matter" when police started treating it as a crime. Illegal lockouts should be next.
💔 WHY WE NEED HELP (The Material Reality)
🏩 What "Hotel" Really Means:
People hear "hotel" and assume we're fine. We're not.
This lockout has destroyed — and continues to destroy — our ability to secure stable housing:
- Illegal lockout + cascade of past victimization = ruined credit
- Can't qualify for standard rentals (credit checks fail)
We have gone to lengths most Americans never have to imagine just to stay off the street: we crossed an international border to Canada when we had nowhere left to turn, then came back to the U.S. when a private citizen offered us a temporary place to stay. We've had to depend on the kindness of strangers, because our own home was taken from us and this country offered no faster way back to safety. We remain California residents, our case proceeds in California's federal court, and we are currently staying wherever we can manage while we fight to get our lives back.
But we're still homeless:
- No permanent residential address (can't qualify for credit, rental cars, most services needed to exist in America)
- Week-to-week/day-to-day survival (if we can't pay Saturday, we're on the street)
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Most of what we own — approximately $70K+ worth of property — is still illegally detained. The small amount we got out in one carload lives in a storage locker or our luggage.
- No HOME—just temporary survival
This is homelessness with a roof. It's still homelessness.
No stability. No place we can call home.
That's what "hotel" really means.
🏥 The Mold Illness (This Isn't Abstract)We wake up in pain. Every day. Mold exposure doesn't go away just because you leave the building. It's in your body. It affects:
We need ongoing treatment for mold exposure that isn't easily accessible where we currently are. This is about health, not convenience — untreated mold exposure has lasting effects. |
Stella has been with us through everything—now she's suffering from mold illness too. Her bed, toys, and supplies are locked away with everything else we own. |
💰 What $45,000 Actually Does
This is survival AND resistance.
Every contribution keeps us alive while we fight a federal case that could set precedent for every tenant, disabled person, and crime victim abandoned by the system.
We're not fundraising from a place of strength. We're fundraising from survival.
$85 = one more night
$595 = one more week
$2,380 = one more month
Every dollar extends how long we can keep fighting.
Federal Case Completion:
Yes, we're fighting in court AND we can't afford to finish it.
- Court travel (the federal courthouse is in Fresno, California)
- Expert witnesses (testimony isn't free)
- Evidence organization (300+ pages need professional formatting)
- Court costs that fee waivers don't cover (copies, certified mail, postage)
The illegal lockout made us homeless. Now we need money to fight the case about being made homeless. See the problem?
🎯 We're Not Asking You To Fix Injustice. We're Asking You
To Help Two Humans Survive.
We don't need you to believe the system is broken.
We need you to believe:
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Two people forced out of their home with barely more than the shoes on their feet
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Mold illness causes daily physical pain
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$70,000 in stolen property means we can't access our work tools
- Every contribution funds real recovery time so we can finish the federal case
That's it. That's the whole ask.
📊 Where We Are Now
Since February 2025, we've raised $3,700 from early supporters before this campaign even existed on FundRazr — plus everything shown in the live total above. We're not sharing this because we're financially secure. We're sharing it because asking for help, without shame, is the only reason we haven't slid further. Homelessness is a slide, not a floor — once you're on it, it's hard to climb back up, and most people who end up on it stop asking long before they hit bottom. We didn't stop asking. That's the only difference these numbers actually show.
That's hard-earned. That's proof people see us. That's community saying "don't give up."
We're deeply grateful. And we're still not okay.
We're raising what we can, as we can, to survive through the federal case and get the medical treatment we need. Every contribution moves that forward.
This fight could set precedent for how illegal lockouts are prosecuted in California. But only if we survive it.
If you're reading this and thinking:
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This is your invitation to join. We're building a coalition. Whether you give $10, $27, or $50—your donation becomes part of a movement. |
❓ FAQ (The Hard Questions)Q: Can't you just get your stuff from the property? A: No. For multiple reasons:
This is a coercive control pattern — the same tactic used in intimate partner abuse. Abusers hold belongings, documents, medications hostage to maintain power over victims. That's what's happening here. We can't access our belongings until the case resolves — or until they're forced to comply. Q: Can't you work? A: We're trying. In February 2025, Felice produced a 40-person choir at the San Diego Convention Center—in the only pair of shoes she still had. Lack of stable housing makes even remote work challenging and hard to find consistently. Joe applied for Instacart, DoorDash, Uber, all gig work—waitlists are 6-12 months. Our professional equipment ($20K+) is locked in the property. We're working in pain from mold illness every day, but the system makes it nearly impossible. Q: What's the timeline for the federal case? A: Federal cases move slowly, but we're making real progress: → September 2025: Filed federal civil rights
complaint Every day we wait is another day surviving in crisis. That's why this fundraiser matters — we need to make it long enough for justice to catch up. Q: Why is this in federal court instead of state court? A: Because this isn't just a landlord-tenant dispute. This is a civil rights case. When police turn a crime into a "civil matter" and steer victims away from help, when agencies ignore documented crimes, when the system treats you differently because of race, disability, gender, or simply because you're a tenant instead of a property owner — that can be a constitutional violation. We filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which allows people to sue state actors (police, government agencies) for violating constitutional rights. State court handles landlord-tenant disputes. Federal court handles what happens when the government itself makes the danger worse, or actively harms you. That's why we're here. Q: What if you don't win the case? A: We need to reframe what "winning" means here.
The core facts are documented in writing. The landlord admitted the lockout in writing: his own note was on the door, and no court ever ordered us out. Police documented three crimes on the report.
"Winning" has multiple paths:
The only way we "lose" is if we're forced to give up before resolution — which is exactly what the system is designed to do: exhaust people until they disappear. We're not disappearing. If, against all evidence and law, we somehow don't prevail? Then we've documented proof that rule of law doesn't exist for people like us — and THAT becomes the evidence. Either way, we're building the record. But let's be clear: the law is on our side. 300+ pages of documentation is on our side. We just need to survive long enough for the system to do what it's supposed to do. Q: How do I know this is real? A: Our federal case is public record: Case 1:25-cv-01123-KES-CDB. Verify at Justia. Our stolen property list was documented in the Kern County Sheriff's Office police report as PC 418 (forcible entry) and PC 487 (grand theft). This is all PUBLIC RECORD.
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🤝 If You Can't Donate, You Can Still Help
Share this with:
- Mold illness support groups (they GET invisible disability)
- Brain injury advocates (they've been our primary supporters)
- Chronic illness communities (they understand daily pain)
- Legal justice advocates (they care about pro se access)
💜 The Ask
We're not asking you to believe we're special.
We're asking you to believe we're HUMAN — and that we're
not okay.
There are days we don't want to wake up.
Days where the weight of this fight feels unsurvivable.
We keep going because stopping means they win
and we lose EVERYTHING — our belongings, our case, our chance at justice — permanently.
Every contribution funds real survival while we keep fighting
this case.
This has gone on long enough. Help us survive
long enough to set precedent and get our lives back.
This fight matters beyond us. But right now, we just need to make it.
Martin & Borges v. Castillo
(1:25-cv-01123-KES)
United States District Court, Eastern
District of California
Public Case Updates: Case 1:25-cv-01123-KES-CDB
on Justia
and PACER
Evidence Portal:
View Court
Filings (Free)
Movement Hub:
TheAccountabilityProject.org
Publications:
The Meta Dispatch
The Accountability Project
We're not okay. We're still fighting.
Help us survive long enough to set precedent — so the next
victim gets swift justice, not the institutional abandonment
we're still living through. ⚖️💜
All contributions can be made anonymously.
The Accountability Project is a grassroots movement, not a registered nonprofit (yet). Contributions go directly to Felice and Joe and aren't tax-deductible.
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