Muskegon Heights family living in camper 'cooking in a box' during heat

Ninety-degree days and sweaty, sleepless nights.

For the Craft family, the first heat advisories of the year in Michigan have come at an inopportune time. Forced to live in a camper after an eviction, they're feeling the heat of summer before the season has even officially started.

"August, July, I truly worry," said Jessica Craft, a Muskegon Heights resident. "I truly worry for our health."

On Monday, as temperatures surged toward triple digits, Craft says a portable generator struggled to power her camper's air conditioning unit. "Two hours on, thirty minutes off. Two hours on, thirty minutes off," she said.

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When the A/C fails, she turns to her fans, which "never shut off" in the summer.

Lately, Craft has taken to making microwavable meals as turning on the camper oven or stove is like "cooking in a box." To beat the high temperatures, she walks the air conditioned aisles of Meijer.

In January, Craft and her husband moved into the camper after they were evicted from their house.

"We had everything," said Craft, who says she broke her leg last year, leaving her unable to find work and unable to pay the bills, even as her husband works "two full-time jobs" doing mechanic and third-shift factory work.

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"I just want to get out of the camper, plain and simple," Craft said.

As the summer months and long, hot nights lay before her, she'd like others to be aware of how families like hers feel the heat. "Come humble yourself and come sit in the camper. Please do."

For more on the Crafts, click here .

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