“We’re not going to stop fighting until we get the respect we deserve,” said Marisol Navarro, tenant of Concord Hills Apartments in Hartford.
For 39 days, tenants like Marisol Navarro have endured emergency housing following a fire at Concord Hills Apartments on August 10.
“It’s not a very safe place to be honest, so it’s very stressful for me and for my kids,” Yarazed Meinhofer said.
After hearing concerns over the safety and cleanliness of the motels, the City of Hartford provided various resources on Wednesday to help tenants with temporary relocation and other needs.
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“We have Greater Hartford Legal Aid here, we’ve got CRT working with residents for Meals on Wheels, we have relocation assistance where the city is coming up with dollars for relocation of these residents, but we also have folks in there who can help them find apartments,” said Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam.
He said the city is offering tenants up to $4,000 for expenses, but some remain concerned over what action will be done in the short term to find better housing.
“Everything they’re offering right now, they should have offered on day one,” Navarro said.
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“If fixing the building is going to take more than two weeks, then they should move us to a temporary place that has like a kitchenette while the building is being fixed,” Meinhofer said.
In an email sent from city officials to tenants, many of the apartments at Concord Hills are expected to be fixed in three weeks, but the most damaged units could take several months.
“We’re continuing to push this landlord to make those apartments safe and move in ready, but many of them want to relocate to new, safe apartments with kitchens, with safe living conditions and we’re going to get them connected today. There are going to be residents walking out here today connected to permanent housing,” Mayor Arulampalam said.
Tenants are also requesting reimbursement for food and items stolen from their original apartments after the fire.
NBC Connecticut has attempted to contact the property group for comment but did not hear back.
