ST. LOUIS — Dozens of Heritage House residents are still looking for a new home after flooding and damage forced them out of their Midtown complex. Now, St. Louis is trying to help them out.
"I don't know what to do. I'm just lost," former Heritage House resident Vol Riley said.
In a matter of two weeks, Vol Riley's life turned upside down. He found out his kidneys were failing him while he was forced to leave the place he called home.
"I asked my brother can things get any worse? Then, later that day, that happened, so yeah, it can get worse," he said.
Sub-freezing temperatures and no working heat caused water pipes to burst and ceilings to cave in at the Heritage House Apartments on Jan. 15., which forced Riley and many other residents to move out.
City of St. Louis Director of Human Services Adam Pearson described it as 'traumatic.'
"They've bounced around to a couple of different hotels and have settled here at the Hilton by the airport," Pearson said.
The clock is now ticking for the residents to find a steady roof over their heads, since Pearson said, private and public funding can only pay for them to stay at the hotel one more week.
"Obviously there was an immediate emergent concern about these individuals, getting put out on the street," he said.
That's why, according to Pearson, St. Louis City leaders and community partners came together to host a housing fair on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
"We wanted to make sure that there were other options provided for these folks," he said.
The goal of the housing fair was to connect the Heritage House residents with other available long-term living facilities, according to Pearson.
"We want to make sure that we allow them some opportunity to meet with housing providers and the community landlords. It's also functioning as a health fair of sorts. We have nurses here, pharmacists here to engage people," he said.
Bristol Care Inc. Director of Quality Assurance Justin Brown was one of the dozen organizations at the fair with his team.
"We're here to help anybody who needs a place right now. We just saw the need, and we dispatched our entire management team over here to come and help," he said.
Brown said they are doing whatever they can to turn these residents' lives back around.
"We're offering lower rates today just to find these people a home to take away the burden. This has got to be tragic for them," he said.
Fortunately like in many tragedies, some hope has come out of it.
"It has been amazing because everyone has showed up and showed out," former Heritage House resident Katrina Holmes said.
For many like Riley, hope is exactly what they need.
"I'm just trying to hang in there. That's all I can do," he said.
The city is hosting another housing fair at the Hilton St. Louis Airport Hotel from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 31, Wednesday.