A South Bend Tribune investigation published July 12 found that South Bend’s housing authority sites are some of the worst in the state. Local activists say residents should be moved out of those buildings before the situation gets worse.
The Tribune reports that none of the South Bend Housing Authority’s properties passed their most recent inspection last March, with inspectors citing hundreds of “life-threatening” hazards.
Zoe Randle’s father currently lives in the housing authority property at 501 Alonzo Watson Drive. She reached out to local organization Justice for Michiana after complaints about bugs, electrical problems and water damage in her father’s unit went unanswered.
“Just because individuals here might live in poverty – whether they’re paying $5, $500 or $5,000, they have a right to live in a clean, safe environment,” Randle said at a press conference hosted by Justice for Michiana. “From bugs, from mold, and from – more importantly – being afraid to speak up."
Rodney Gadson, president of the South Bend Tenant Association, said the most immediate solution is to move residents out of struggling properties before they deteriorate further.
“Move them now. Start the process of getting them out of here, so if the building is repairable, you can repair it safely,” Gadson said at the press conference Monday. “If it’s fixable, fix it. If it’s not, scrap it.”
Gadson said the housing authority should develop a plan to reassign residents based on their age, mobility and health status.
But Housing Authority Executive Director Catherine Lamberg said that can’t happen overnight.
“There’s more that goes into it than somebody not liking how a particular unit looks and saying, ‘Move everybody out,’” she said. “You have to give consideration to the residents that are going to be adversely affected by that action, so we don’t take that type of thing lightly.”
Lamberg said a property has to become essentially unlivable before residents are moved out, like the Rabbi Shulman building that was vacated earlier this year.
“We have not done a similar assessment on the 501 building; the particular need for that has not arisen,” Lamberg said. “At this point, I do not have an indication that the building is in that position.”
She also said pandemic precautions hindered the organization’s ability to conduct routine maintenance and regular inspections, which generate work orders of their own.
Lamberg said she understands residents’ frustration, saying they’ve lived under poor management in aging buildings “for a very, very, very long time.”
“It’s been a long time that this housing authority hasn’t been at the level that it should be,” Lamberg said. “But, changing that takes time. It’s a process, and we’re working through that process.”
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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