“We’re using credit cards, which we still haven’t caught up on those bills. “Had I known that, we would have prepared better,” she said. All in all, Koroma estimates her family spent around $10,000 of their own money on the move. There were other out-of-pocket costs too, such as rental cars and furniture while they waited for their vehicles and belongings to arrive from South Korea, she said. “It was almost like they just assumed the soldier was moving, so they covered the soldier but not the family.” “And they don’t cover the whole portion because we had two rooms,” Koroma said. At the time, the Defense Department only covered 10 days of temporary lodging expenses. Still, it was better than more hotel bills. The rental they’re living in now costs more than the monthly housing allowance her husband receives from the Army, she said. “We’re like, ‘Whatever it is, we’ll take it!’”īut they made compromises, Koroma added, like the cost of the house and the school she preferred for her children. “We were in a rush at this point because we’re racking up hotel bills and breakfast, lunch and dinner because you’re in a hotel for a family of five,” she said.

In a hot housing market, it took about a month to find something that might work for her family. Base housing at Fort Carson was full, meaning they needed to stay in a hotel while looking for a place to live. Koroma’s frustration and exhaustion from the move is evident when she details her family’s challenges, which really started mounting once they were stateside. 'I feel like what we were walking into we were just ill prepared for.” “This was the worst move I’ve ever experienced,” Koroma said. They picked up everything to move from South Korea to Colorado Springs after Koroma’s husband, who’s in the Army, received orders last fall that his duty station was changing from Camp Humphreys to Fort Carson. The past year has been a whirlwind for Lisa Koroma and her family of five.

The Falling by Kimberly Humphreys