Disabled Monrovia Residents Facing Eviction Notices
By Monrovia Weekly
Published: Thursday, August 27th, 2009
A tear-filled Regency Court resident, Lily Hixon, stood along-side her father Ken at a press conference outside the Monrovia apartments on a sweltering afternoon in August.
The reason: The tenants have been given thirty day eviction notices from the management company.
As tenants, parents and supporters gathered outside the Regency Court Tuesday, people held photos of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who devoted her life helping end some of the obstacles the Developmentally Disabled by founding Special Olympics.
The developmentally disabled and physically disabled tenants of Regency Court Apartments, a 115-unit affordable housing community in Monrovia, California, recently received notices terminating their leases.
The 30 day notice issued from Professional Property Management, LLC, a division of Star Holdings of Illinois, LLC also allegedly purged all developmentally disabled individuals from its waiting list for vacancies.
This could have a devastating effect of the lives of people like Lily Hixon who works at King Ranch Market in Monrovia. Twenty disabled residents, ranging in age from 21 to 61, could be forced from their apartments – including tenants who have lived at Regency Court since it opened in 1995.
“I’ve lived here 14 years,” said one disabled tenant, Frankie Mae Platt. “Now they want to kick me out five months away from my 62nd birthday.” The owners’ reason for the eviction notices is not yet clear according to Lorraine Grindstaff, the attorney representing the affected tenants.
Grindstaff, with the Monrovia-based law firm Patten, Faith & Sandford, said, “Both the California Legislature and United States Congress have enacted laws promoting independent living by special needs individuals and have provided tax benefits as well as given subsidies to encourage developers to build affordable housing.
Regency Court is an excellent example of how subsidized housing works for the disabled and the greater community as well.” Don Davis, the father of Jennifer Davis, a Regency Court tenant who is physically and developmentally disabled, is concerned for the safety of his daughter, “Jennifer is safe there. Regency Court is a gated community where residents look out for one another. She also is dependent on support from nearby family and friends as well as social services. We cannot have her too far away from this kind of help.”
Many of the developmentally disabled tenants at Regency Court receive services from Foothill Vocational Opportunities in Pasadena. As a result have secured jobs with local employers such as Target, Ralph’s, and King Ranch Market locally.
Foothill Vocational Opportunities has more than forty-four years as a nonprofit agency which has provided services that help individuals with disabilities and subsequently helps their clients find and retain employment.
“We know how hard they ( Residents of Regency Court who attend Foothill Vocational Opportunities) have worked to become independent and the many challenges they have had to overcome to achieve their success. It is painful to imagine them being forced from their homes, and being forced to leave the jobs that are so important to them.
This is an unfair setback that will damage the lives they worked so hard to create for themselves. They deserve better from us,” said Jim Hall, Executive Director of Foothill Vocational Opportunities.
Among the developmentally disabled residents threatened with eviction are 7 graduates of the “Transition-to-Independent-Living” program at Taft College in Taft, California. The nationally recognized program prepares young adults with developmental disabilities to lead independent lives. “Regency Court has offered a safe and healthy environment with affordable rent for the developmentally disabled for many years.
Please don’t let them take this away,” said Cheryl Hollis, whose son Brandon Daniels, was purged from the Regency Court waiting list along with three other upcoming graduates of the Taft program. “It is outrageous that Regency Court would throw these disabled citizens out into the street,” said Jeff Ross, the director of the Taft College program. He strongly defended his students, “The graduates from the Transition to Independent Living program at Taft College have successfully completed a two year residential program that prepares these individuals to live independently and these graduates have demonstrated their abilities at Regency Court Apartments by paying their rent on time, complying with all of the regulations and acting as responsible adults.” Jamia Marcell, the Transition Specialist with the Taft program, has been placing program graduates at Regency Court since 2004. “The graduates and their families absolutely love Regency Court. It’s a perfect community for them.
Monrovia has become their home. They all ride the bus and work nearby. They belong to a local bowling league and social group. They love hanging out with their friends. It has allowed them to become self-sufficient.” Brandon Daniels, a developmentally disabled student at Taft College, was purged from the Regency Court waiting list.
Integrating the elderly and the developmentally disabled in low income housing communities is an emerging trend throughout the country. Senior citizens are often apart from their families and enjoy the company of their younger disabled neighbors. The developmentally disabled benefit from the stability and watchful eyes of their elderly neighbors.
It can be a life saving relationship. Last year a power surge created by a transformer explosion at Regency Court caused a fire in the apartment of one of the elderly residents. Matt Fosbury, a developmentally disabled tenant, quickly extinguished the fire, while his wife, Laura, comforted their distraught older neighbor.
Attempts to contact Gerald Walters of the Property Management Corp. who manages the units went unanswered as of Tuesday evening.
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