Writer's block is real, but what happens when your creative juices are flowing and your surroundings make it hard to focus? WNIJ's Yvonne Boose has the story of two Rockford artists struggling to clear the mental — and physical — clutter.
"In the fall, we were living in our car," said artist Wren Medina. "In a hotel, and friends' couches, wherever we could, and so, places don't want to rent to you when you don't have any income."
He and his daughters, ages 9 and 6, were unhoused for a few months last year. Medina is also a poet. One of his poems is featured in The Rockford Anthology, a collection of literary works by local writers.
Medina said he went through a divorce and had to sell the home he shared with his wife.
"The day that I lost my home was the day that the anthology launched," he said. "I went to a launch party mere hours after losing the home I had spent almost the last decade in."
Medina and his current partner, Matthew Clum, used money from the sale to purchase a home in a Rockford mobile home park. They moved in in December.
The home is surrounded by random items. There are two toilets and a couple of large subwoofer speakers in the yard. A water heater is leaning against the side of the house.
The detached garage, a few feet away, is filled with layers of unassembled cardboard boxes. The mess is so large that the walls are not visible. Medina steps on a stack of cardboard as he enters the space.
"I'll just send you the picture of the possum that comes in and out of here," Media said, "because he is huge."
Medina carefully walked into the garage, which smelled like mildew. Inside are a couch, chairs and even shopping carts. Medina said they fear being fined if they put furniture outside, but so far, they have not received any fines.
The front porch is filled with bins, garbage bags and totes, leaving just enough room to walk through the front door.
Medina said he uses his art to supplement his income when he can, but their living conditions interfere. Supplies are stored in bags and boxes spread across the living room. He has nowhere else to put them.
Medina said he sometimes goes to the library to create. At home, he sits on the floor.
"I feel overwhelmed a lot, anxious a lot," Medina said, "and trying to, like, keep afloat of life, while trying to also, you know, build one here."
Clum said living there affects his ability to create on all levels.
"So much of my energy and time goes into just trying to like function in this space," he said. "I just end up so exhausted that I don't have as much time as I'd like to have to spend on practicing and songwriting and stuff like that."
Medina is disabled. He receives just under $800 a month from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, known as TANF, a cash assistance program for eligible families with children younger than 18. The rent for their mobile home lot is about $600, so finances are tight. Medina, who has an autoimmune disease, is waiting for a decision on disability benefits. Clum said he also has physical limitations.
"I'm one of those people who got covid a couple times," he said. "And I have never been the same since I got it. Like, my body just never came, like, snapped back."
He is waiting for a diagnosis related to long COVID and other conditions. Once that happens, he hopes to qualify for some type of assistance.
The mobile home needs significant repairs. They bought the house "as is." They replaced the floors with thrifted materials and are working on rebuilding the kitchen. But the main challenge is the clutter left by previous owners.
"We were expecting to have to, you know, do some of it," Medina said. "But we were told it was going to be handled by the previous tenant."
That did not happen. The items left behind take up space the family could use.
WNIJ reached out to the mobile home park manager for comment. The manager confirmed the park is responsible for maintaining underground systems, such as water pipes, but not for removing items left in or around the home.
Medina said he sometimes feels stuck.
"I can't make a dump truck appear," he said. "And I would have to be able to get it off the property, too, which, again, not something I am physically able to do."
Clum said they plan to use part of their tax refund to help clear out the clutter. For now, they will keep working at it until the space is livable enough to return to creating art.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
