Carolina Rios

My name is Carolina Rios and I live in Rio Puente Trailer Park in Paramount, CA. We were renting before, but things were getting so expensive. I already had some friends living here and we thought it could be a good option.

I moved here in 2004. For the first 10 years or so, everything was fine, but after a corporation took over things started to change. They don’t inform us of anything – they treat us like ghosts. The manager doesn’t do what they are supposed to. They constantly raise our rent, add on fees, and pass through costs to residents that they should be responsible for.

50% of my monthly income goes toward housing expenses. We don’t know where we’re going to end up if this continues. We’re fighting for 3% rent caps and no more pass-through charges. We’ve been in discussions with the City Council since last year, but it’s a slow process. They need to understand that we don’t have the means to keep paying so much.

I’m proud to represent my community. We’re not afraid and we’re not going to let them intimidate us. We already pay too much for rent. It’s not fair for us to pay for the owners’ operating expenses too. We deserve to have a better quality of life and we’re working together to make that happen.