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HUD Long Neglected These Residents. Now As They Move Out, Some Feel HUD Let Them Down Again.
Retweeted by Kenwardjr: https://twitter.com/Kenwardjr
MUST READ: Check out this stunning story by @MollyParkerSI about the disintegration of the public housing safety net.
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HUD long neglected these residents. Now as they move out, some feel HUD let them down again.
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HUD Long Neglected These Residents. Now As They Move Out, Some Feel HUD Let Them Down Again.
A scramble for housing in southern Illinois has exposed mixed messages and false hope. “It’s betrayal, really,” one resident said of the way she’s been treated by HUD.
by Molly Parker, The Southern Illinoisan April 6, 7 a.m. EDT
This article was produced in partnership with The Southern Illinoisan, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
CAIRO, Ill. — For years, residents of public housing complexes here were stuck living in aging and neglected buildings with inoperable heat, leaky ceilings, broken windows, mold, mice, roaches, and frequently clogged toilets and sinks. ... And for years, federal authorities failed to step in despite regular financial reviews and building inspections that should have flagged problems and prompted corrective action much sooner.
But the solution once the Department of Housing and Urban Development finally faced the scope of the decay in Illinois’ most southern city has turned out to be every bit as thorny and painful.
Last spring, HUD announced it would shutter two sprawling World War II-era family housing complexes in Cairo and help residents move out. Ten months later, HUD officials delivered similar news to residents of two more public housing complexes in the nearby village of Thebes. ... All told, nearly 500 people, half of them children, are being forced to find new homes.
While HUD’s moves address residents’ repeated complaints about neglect, the agency is falling short in meeting the needs of those displaced, experts and some residents say.
A scramble for housing in southern Illinois has exposed mixed messages and false hope. “It’s betrayal, really,” one resident said of the way she’s been treated by HUD.
by Molly Parker, The Southern Illinoisan April 6, 7 a.m. EDT
This article was produced in partnership with The Southern Illinoisan, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
CAIRO, Ill. — For years, residents of public housing complexes here were stuck living in aging and neglected buildings with inoperable heat, leaky ceilings, broken windows, mold, mice, roaches, and frequently clogged toilets and sinks. ... And for years, federal authorities failed to step in despite regular financial reviews and building inspections that should have flagged problems and prompted corrective action much sooner.
But the solution once the Department of Housing and Urban Development finally faced the scope of the decay in Illinois’ most southern city has turned out to be every bit as thorny and painful.
Last spring, HUD announced it would shutter two sprawling World War II-era family housing complexes in Cairo and help residents move out. Ten months later, HUD officials delivered similar news to residents of two more public housing complexes in the nearby village of Thebes. ... All told, nearly 500 people, half of them children, are being forced to find new homes.
While HUD’s moves address residents’ repeated complaints about neglect, the agency is falling short in meeting the needs of those displaced, experts and some residents say.