Alabama businesswoman Brittany C. Vinson seeking justice amid ‘discrimination’ against her family by resident management
Andre Johnson 
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18 NLT)
VOICE OF REASON
Brittany C. Vinson is trying diligently to live a peaceful and victorious life.
Still, every now and then, even as a devout woman of faith, she deems it necessary to address matters that could great shape her life one way or the other.
Consider, for instance, the downtrodden situation by which Vinson and her family as tenants at Cypress Landing apartment complex in the Florence, Alabama area.
During a recent exclusive interview with Making Headline News, Vinson discussed in detail how she’s surprisingly found herself involved in what she describes as a discriminatory ordeal with her landlord.
Vinson, a single mother of two, contends she’s being blackballed as a tenant, in large part because her youngest child is of special needs.
“I am being bullied, harassed, manipulated, and so much more due to being a voice for my untraditional family,” Vinson, 32, told MHN. “I am a mother with two little girls. My youngest is special needs.”
Vinson’s youngest child was born with a rare syndrome called iridogoneodigenesis, which resulted from her being born blind, deaf, severely autistic, and developmental delayed and born with club feet.
“My daughter’s special needs has a major impact in our home and everyday lives,” Vinson said.
As if her daughter’s condition wasn’t enough to make for a challenging lifestyle, Vinson sometime last summer was diagnosed with a severe anxiety and major depressive disorder known as ADD, ADHD and PTSD.
For what it’s worth, the young Alabama mother insist it because of the situations surrounding her and her baby that she’s periodically being treated unfairly by the Cypress Landing management staff.
Calls by Making Headline News to Cypress Landing’s office Friday afternoon and Saturday morning weren’t immediately returned.
As Vinson emphasized, what she’s seeking more than anything is fair treatment by an apartment complex staff she said had previously welcomed her with open arms when she became a tenant.
“Mental illness is real and, sadly, society sweeps it under a rug and allows it to go unnoticed,” Vinson said. “We are losing people every day due to being mocked, belittled, judged, harassed, manipulated, traumatized, and taunted and so much more.”
So distraught Vinson has become amid these ongoing allegations of unfair treatment by the Cypress Landing staff that she recently received an anonymous letter that subsequently gave way to her enduring a “mental breakdown,” she acknowledged.
“It triggered me so badly, causing me not able to get out of bed and so much more,” Vinson said. “In the mist of this, the general manager of my apartment complex began her illegal agonizing. She fails and continues not to operate the rights of Equal Housing Opportunity, Fair Housing Regulations, Department of Housing and Urban Development (or HUD), Americans with Disabilities Act, Civil Rights Act of 1866, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Disability Rights and Public Accommodations, and so much more.”
Vinson, in fact, said she kept documentations of every letter dating back to 2013, as well as video recordings and images of what she describes as ongoing “poor behavior.”
Just recently — October 2019, to be technical — Vinson said she’s received approximately two dozen letters of violations within a span of two weeks.
As far as she is concerned, she senses the letters were assembled as a way to create fear and prompt her to vacate the premises.
“The forms are created and typed up poorly,” Vinson said. “They’re not even the State of Alabama templates. I had decided not to pay any rent due to (management) not having handicap accessing our home, not fixing things that are needing to be fixed or thinking it is ok to beat on my door, when I post a note on my door to knock gently, come back at a certain time, or we won’t participate due to my family being up all night.
HEAVEN SENT ANGEL
“My baby doesn’t sleep and causes us to sleep when she sleeps,” Vinson continued. “Wherever she falls asleep is where I will allow her to sleep.”
Vinson told MHN that aside from her ongoing conflict with her leasing management staff, she also discovered issues with the Cypress Landing support staff.
“I have a video where a maintenance guy was under the influence and admitted to doing so while on the job,” Vinson recalled. “While finishing up in the restroom, one maintenance guy used his key after knocking twice and I held the door with my foot, stopping it from hitting my special needs daughter who was sitting in front of the door. The landlord told the general manager she was not coming in my home with her key if I didn’t want her there. Basically, this woman has told them, ‘No matter what she says, go in.’ One day, I received a letter telling me to come in and to do my re-certifications and renew my lease.”
As Vinson discovered, though, something rather bizarre transpired shortly thereafter.
“The next day I receive a non-renewal lease agreement,” Vinson explained. “Yes…it stated that they elected to not renew my lease. The landlord stated she asked if they could do that. That tells me, she forged their signatures. The landlord stated the general manager said they can decide who and who not to rent to. Then I received a notice stating that my oldest daughter was unsupervised and was standing on top of the grill and picnic table.”
Oddly, Vinson’s baby wasn’t home during the time the Cypress management team rendered these violations.
“My children are never left alone outside and they are well-behaved and it would be impossible for a two-year-old to do such a thing,” Vinson said.
An accomplished Florence-area businesswoman, Vinson stressed she will not rest until justice is served.
“This (entire ordeal) has caused me not to be at peace,” Vinson said. “If I’m not at peace, I can’t be a mother to my children. I’m grateful to God that I am a wonderful mother. I have pulled my hair out in the back — something I haven’t ever done — and I am literally bald.”
Not only that, Vinson said it was in her best interest to homeschool her children due to certain accommodations not being met by the public school system.
“My oldest daughter is indeed my rock and blessing,” Vinson said. “A lot of times, parents don’t realize how situations can effect children. I am grateful to God for Kharsyn, my oldest daughter, and her love for God and our family. She asked me why the world doesn’t want to accept Kaislee and be so cruel to us.
“I continue to share with her that when you’re chosen by God, the enemy comes harder. God told me that He sent me this special needs child to bring non-believers to Christ. Kaislee is doing everything that man said she wouldn’t do, except seeing. God told me, ‘I told you I was going to make this child whole. I’ll restore everything inside of her…. Kaislee is blind for the moment, so you can see your way spiritually through.’
“With everything in me, I believe God,” Vinson added. “I’ve been called in denial, I’ve been judged, I’ve been called confrontational and so much more. But when you know whose you are and who you are, it will cause others to hate you. My confidence in God has allowed me to be bold. I am a voice, not just for my children and myself…but for this nation.”
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Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send email to makingheadlinenews@gmail.com or to memphisgraduate@yahoo.com. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist.
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