Antonia Romero, 46, and her daughter Ana, 31, have been in a hotel room since the latest homeless sweep they’ve endured. The sweep at Longhorn Shores went on as their neighbor Rosemary Renteria‘s dead body lay in a tent with yellow tape around it. The two are used to hotel living; after several surgeries, Antonia could not risk infection living outdoors. To pay for the repeated stays, Antonia spends all the money she earns at Whataburger and from selling her plasma. Last week she spent $930 for their room, $780 the week before.
Ana says she’d do anything to help her mother, who needs dialysis and another surgery. Antonia lost custody of her daughter when Ana was 9, but the two have faced every challenge as a team since being reunited when Ana was 17. “The reason I look like my mom is not just genetics,” Ana said. “While I was in foster care I thought every day, ‘I want to look my mom so I don’t forget her.'”
Saturday, March 5, the two joined activists from Stop the Sweeps outside of City Hall to demand housing, critical for Antonia’s healing as she faces another surgery. “I can also die out here too without anybody knowing,” Antonia said. “Even though we’re homeless, we’re important people too. We need our housing and we need it now. That’s why I’m out here. ‘Cause I’m tired.”
This article appears in Guide to SXSW 2022.
