Hadley Park Horrors

By Vicky B.

It’s supposed to be a happy time when a call comes in saying they have a place for you that’s affordable to live in. Ten floors of apartments give hundreds of elderly and disabled residents living on fixed incomes and even those without incomes, a place to call home. However, there is a dark side to this place many call home.

Cathy*, a longtime resident of Hadley Park, discovered mold in her apartment after numerous visits to the doctor, complaining of allergy-like symptoms She called maintenance only to have the mold scraped and painted over. She contacted Legal Aid where they told her in a letter dated Oct. 1, 2019, “The fastest way to resolve this is to move out of Hadley Park and somewhere more suitable to your needs.” Cathy lives on a fixed income and can’t afford to move. They did move her to another apartment within Hadley Towers, but she had to replace clothes, food, and furniture out of her own pocket. Mold is an environmental hazard for a healthy person, and can cause serious health complications for individuals with other health issues if they breathe in this deadly fungus daily. Another resident also complained of mold in her bathroom vent, but in a statement from MDHA Executive Director James Harbison, their maintenance team determined, pending test results, it was not mold, but, “accumulated dirt.”

Another resident told me she had a problem with roaches running around in the kitchen. I was there when she alerted the office about the roaches in her apartment. A pest control company came out and placed roach bait, but the problem persisted. Another resident gave her a $6 tube of Raid Roach Gel and she finally has relief.

Another resident stated she’s noticed an increase in spiders and roaches since a PTAC (Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner) was pulled out of the side of the building on the 6th floor, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the building for seven months. Ceiling tiles have also gone missing from previous leaks on the seventh floor, creating more hazards.

After reaching out to MDHA for a comment, the hole in the side of the building was patched and taped preventing roaches and spiders from entering the sixth floor. The morning after sending my email for comment, the missing ceiling tiles were also replaced. Harbison explained that, “Due to the impacts of COVID-19 on manufacturing and delivery of products, the replacement of PTAC has been delayed for approximately five weeks.” The statement went on to say that they will “take steps to make the opening less accessible to insects and do additional pest control.”

This still doesn’t explain why it took so long to repair the hole. Maybe just maybe it was part of a pattern of a lack of regular maintenance such as floors not being mopped or inspected after the rains we’ve received.

Harbison’s statement read, “The hole was left out so staff could observe the repair.” If the staff was observing the repair, I think they would have noticed the hole in the side of the building for the past 7 months. In responded to the lack of routine maintenance at Hadley Towers, Harbison stated, “In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are minimizing risk to Hadley Park Tower residents by modifying maintenance procedures to prioritize emergent health and safety and minimize routine maintenance,” citing the national and local standards to maintain social distancing and increase resident safety.

COVID-19 is not an excuse to let regular building maintenance such as mopping the floors and maintaining the building’s integrity. I’ve been thinking about renaming the building The Patchwork Towers because nothing seems to be fixed just patched over.

Work orders have backed up, which creates more issues for residents, general frustration and tensions run high. Broken elevators trapping residents on their floors when many residents are disabled and unable to use the stairs is a weekly occurrence. Harbison addressed the elevators stating, “The State inspects our elevators annually and have consistently approved them.” That’s not much of a consolation when residents constantly get trapped or are unable to use them because of their disrepair. Last week, there were notes posted over the elevator buttons on each floor saying, “Elevators closed for maintenance. Do not use”.

Harbison stated, “please notify the on-site property management team with any future concerns.” This puzzles me greatly. Since living here the office staff (the lady who collects the rent) has been here maybe 14 days out of the month and usually only when rent is due.

In addition to these maintenance problems, since living here I’ve been on the receiving end of discrimination over the size of my ESA (Emotional Support Animal) dog, Faith. I get daily obscenities yelled at me and threats from residents and some staff. I’ve even heard rumors of a petition circulating to have me evicted because of my dog. I take my dog out back to a small fenced area for dogs to go off leash. Recently only the grass in the fenced area has died. The discoloration is so bad, my friend Mario who is a landscaper, stated after looking at the picture of the pet play area, that he thought it was “sand, mulch or wood chips.”

I think it’s been done on purpose and with chemicals that have made a couple of dogs sick. In his statement, Harbison states, “brown grass in the dog park was not killed intentionally but rather the result of dry conditions and dogs using the area for its intended purpose of pet play and elimination”. I find it disturbing that the only area to have these “dry conditions” is the small, fenced in part.

One night recently, what I thought were pallets being dropped turned out to be gunshots ringing through the neighborhood. I can see a “dope hole” outside my window behind a local Marathon store where I can see drug users sitting waiting for their next fix. During the COVID-19 outbreak I’ve noticed that MNPD has had the resources to keep an eye on this particular spot, but once MNPD leaves they are right back at it.

There was talk during the COVID-19 outbreak of locking the basement entrance where many would sneak in their friends and family, but that hasn’t happened. Locking the basement entrance would also prevent many drugs (such as meth, heroin and crack) from finding their way into the building, drugs. Some dealers are even so bold as to drive up to the back entrance around 4 p.m. when they know people’s monthly checks have come in. A security guard only sits in the front entrance. Cameras fill the parking lot, but offer very little protection for those needing to go to the Marathon station. Instead, people must take their own precautions such as not going outside alone after dark. But for those of us who need to take our pets out at night, not having a security guard at the back of the building where the fenced dog area is, means we have little security. Ineffective security seems to be the word around here. This past Sunday morning the daytime security guard was found napping on the bench out front.

Yes, MDHA has given low income residents a place to reside that may not be perfect and maybe no place is perfect, but Hadley Towers lacks proper management and maintenance. Responsibility now lies with residents obeying the rules to keep everyone safe. Longtime residents have said, “Nothing will ever change around here; I’ve lived here for 20 years.” I tell them to be the change. Create a place that you feel safe in. After all this is their home.

Some people would even say that the issues with the building makes it uninhabitable. Most people probably wouldn’t dare move in here, however it’s still better than a tent, than a bench and even a car.

*Names of residents were changed for their protection.