For Immediate Release
October 18, 2011
Contact
Sandy Gaffney
Mobile Home Residents for Equality and Fairness
802-461-7865
Heather Pipino
VT Workers’ Center
802-595-1671
When:
Wednesday October 19, 2011 at 6PM
Where:
Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, Barre, Vermont
Who:
Mobile Home Residents for Equality and Fairness (MHREF), a new resident organization of Vermonters displaced by Irene, have witnessed first-hand the acute affordable housing crisis, and unique challenges to remove their destroyed homes in order to rebuild, relocate, and recover before impending winter.
Background:
With winter quickly approaching, many mobile home residents — made weary first by disaster, have experienced disappointment, discouragement, health issues, car troubles, and the
pressure of day-to-day survival. By November 1st, many will face mounting expenses on a home that is no longer habitable and are struggling to find long term housing solutions.
“Trying to find a way through the maze of available services left after budget cuts on top of budget cuts is never ending road of dead-ends and referrals to other agencies. It still seems that no one wants to hear our voices or include us in any decisions being made about us. We are asking Governor Shumlin to take action to help us now,” says Sandy Gaffney, a leader of MHREF and (former) resident of Weston Mobile Home Park in Berlin, Vermont.
Residents are asking that removal of homes in parks across the state begins by the end of the business day Friday 10/21 — and are calling on the Governor to direct his staff to take any and all means necessary to ensure residents see decisive action on this issue. After nearly 8 weeks, residents believe enough time has gone by make affordable removal options available to those that need it. Businesses and non-profits have pledged their support through donations to cover the cost, yet residents have seen no tangible progress.
Resident leaders also recognize that the kind of response truly needed is for people to find homes as quickly as possible without so much red tape and in ways that are truly affordable. “I’ve gone from a home in a park that was affordable to a rental unit that costs over $1,000/month. My family can not sustain these expenses for long. I’m
worried we’ll be homeless in January,” says Tracy Towne, a former resident of Patterson’s Mobile Home Park in Duxbury, Vermont.
“We know there have been many fundraisers to help with rebuilding Vermont and helping those have lost their homes and belongings,” said Gaffney. “We know there is help out there. Somewhere. We need to see that help now. Affordable housing is needed now.”
Residents, recognizing that time is of the essence, are planning a demonstration encampment outside the Governor’s office on Saturday, October 22nd if progress is not made at Weston’s and other mobile home parks across the state in order to lift up the plight of so many facing housing challenges in these hard economic times.
Leaders and advocacy groups have been invited, and the public is welcomed to attend the Housing Forum in Barre on October 19 at 6PM at the Old Labor Hall.
For more information: www.workerscenter.org/mobilehomehousingforum or call (802) 861-4892.
