Michelle Velasquez’s Hyundai Elantra was a total loss, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police detectives, after an attempted carjacking in April; Velasquez had just given birth and went to stay with her mom.

“Imagine being a mom and having two with no help, and you come home, and now you’re trying to figure out how I will get my 7-year-old to school. How am I going to get my two-week-old to her appointments,” she said.

It wasn’t her first time being victimized in the subsidized housing community on the West Side.

Six years ago, her home was burglarized twice in one week. Fearing her children’s safety, she submitted a request to move to a new unit but was denied.

“Because your low-income, you don’t have a voice; that’s what they’re saying,” said Reverend Robert Bush, President of the National Action Network, who has been investigating three subsidized housing communities, including Velasquez’s, for six months. “Everyone I have been in has mildew and mold, and the grounds aren’t being taken care of; the kids can’t go outside and play like normal kids.”

Reverend Bush is helping them find a solution.

“Our legislatures have not focused on this area and making sure that these residents aren’t treated the way they should be,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents like Velasquez say her options are limited.

“I chose this to be a good mother and provide for my children. I do not deserve to get targeted and attacked,” said Velasquez.