City, Power Coalition and Providence House offer support to displaced residents of 3 apartment complexes
SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — Displaced residents of three Shreveport apartment complexes met with city officials during emergency relocation assistance meetings Tuesday (May 21) evening.
In just 10 days, water service will be discontinued at The Jolie, Villa Norte and Pines apartments. That has hundreds of residents searching for a place to live.
“We’re asking for help. We’re needing help tremendously right now. We’re needing help bad,” said Tracey Collins, a resident of The Jolie Apartments.
Dozens of Shreveport families are searching for a new place to call home after receiving notice that their utilities would be disconnected at the end of the month.
“So now I have no air in my apartment unit; I have no running water in my apartment unit,” Collins said.
But for some residents at The Jolie, they were given no notice and already are experiencing utility shutoffs.
“I have four kids in my apartment that are in heat. My thermostat is on 81º,” Collins said. “I have no running water. I have to get out and Doordash every day to make sure I can get enough water to flush.”
The utility shutoffs come after the apartment complex owners failed to pay the city water department hundreds of thousands of dollars in utility bills.
“This is a crisis that we are facing in our community,” said Verni Howard, executive director of The Providence House.
The city, the Power Coalition of North Louisiana and The Providence House are offering support to displaced residents.
“And so we are able to pay application fees, utility fees, first month’s rent. We’re able to provide food for them, whatever that need is,” Howard explained.
“That’s a lot of burden on someone’s mental welfare to have to come up with somewhere to stay,” said Billy Anderson, of the Power Coalition of North Louisiana. “You know, at the end of the school year going into summer when we’re about to experience some of our hotter months.”
Howard said, “We’ve been able to place families in units so they can move toward normalcy.”
While The Providence House said they already have assisted nearly 30 displaced families, they expect that number to rise as the utility shutoff date at the three apartment complexes gets closer.
If you are a resident of the Pines, Villa Norte or The Jolie apartments and need assistance, you can call The Providence House at (318) 221-7887, ext. 143 or ext. 125, or send email to assist2024@theprovidencehouse.com.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- City of Shreveport schedules additional emergency apartment relocation assistance meetings
- Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program announced for Jolie, Villa Norte apartments
- Water restored to Pines Apartments until end of May
- Jolie Apartments tenants concerned after receiving notice that water, electricity will be disconnected
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