Housing

Uncertain TIMES: State cuts jeopardize program for homeless men

Submitted by Dan Petrella on Mon, 2011-10-24 14:23

By Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- On an average night last year, nearly 60 homeless men didn't have to sleep on the streets of Champaign-Urbana thanks to the TIMES Center.

But like so many other service providers in Illinois, the transitional housing program for homeless men, located near downtown Champaign, faces an uncertain future as a result of the state’s ongoing fiscal morass. In the state budget that took effect July 1, the TIMES Center, 70 E. Washington St., saw grant funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity slashed by a combined $95,000, officials said.

Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess -- The TIMES Center, a Champaign transitional shelter for homeless men, faces an uncertain future due to the state's on going monetary woes.

Public housing residents begin to move

Submitted by pdempsey on Mon, 2011-09-12 12:30

CHAMPAIGN --- For Daphne Dalton, her move from Joann Dorsey Homes to a three-bedroom rental near Kirby Street and Mattis Avenue was a good one.

But it would not have happened unless the Housing Authority of Champaign County had reconsidered and raised the amount that its vouchers would pay for rent, residents said.

“This house we’ve got now, that’s the nicest house we’ve ever lived in, it’s the nicest neighborhood we ever lived in . I’m happy they raised the vouchers,” said the 20-year single mom.

Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess/A U-Haul truck sits outside a building at Joann Dorsey Homes apartment complex Sept. 1, 2011. Dozens of residents have moved from the property following an increase in rental vouchers.

Public housing residents have hard time finding new places to live

Submitted by pdempsey on Wed, 2011-07-27 16:49

By Pam G. Dempsey, CU-CitizenAccess.org and Sean Powers, Illinois Public Media/ CHAMPAIGN --- About a dozen residents from Joann Dorsey Homes and Dunbar Court protested outside of the Champaign County Housing Authority Wednesday to bring to light the troubles they have had finding a new place to live. (Read their letter here)

Their protest had the intended effect - a meeting with housing authority officials within the next week or so and increased help to find a place to live.

Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess/Public housing residents protest outside of the Champaign County Housing Authority offices next to the Virginia Theatre Wednesday, July 27, 2011.

Temporary restraining order extended for building at Cherry Orchard

Submitted by pdempsey on Fri, 2011-07-15 17:59

Housing

By Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess.org - A Champaign County judge extended a temporary restraining order Friday that gives public health officials the power to keep one building at an unsafe apartment complex north of Thomasboro closed.

Judge John Kennedy granted a 10-day restraining order late last week after several witnesses testified that at least one building on the Cherry Orchard Village apartment complex is still being rented.

Shadow Wood: Storm shelters scarce for local neighborhood

Submitted by CU Citizen Access on Fri, 2011-07-08 18:21

By Jose Diaz/For CU-CitizenAccess/CHAMPAIGN – Every time the National Weather Service issues a storm warning, Heidi Zavaleta has to decide where to seek shelter. She can stay at home, go to the mall or drive to the nearest hospital.

Most of the time she simply stays at home.

Zavaleta lives in Shadow Wood Mobile Home Park, a trailer home community in northern Champaign. She knows that mobile homes are not safe during storms but staying at home is safer than what most of her neighbors do.

“Most of them just go underneath the interstate’s bridge,” she said.

By Jose Diaz/For CU-CitizenAccess/Residents of mobile homes, like this one at Shadow Wood Mobile Home Park in Champaign, account for 43 percent of tornado-related deaths, according to the National Weather Service. The nearest public building that can provide shelter for Shadow Wood residents during a tornado 24 hours a day is Carle Foundation Hospital, located 2 miles away.

County health officials begin eviction process at Cherry Orchard

Submitted by CU Citizen Access on Fri, 2011-07-08 17:43

By Dave Hinton/Rantoul Press/Champaign-Urbana Public Health District officials, accompanied by sheriff’s deputies, went door to door at a rural apartment complex Friday afternoon to inform tenants that they had until Saturday morning to vacate the premises.

Julie Pryde, public health administrator, said many tenants at Cherry Orchard Village apartment complex were not at home, and some did not open their doors.

File photo/ A building at Cherry Orchard apartment complex. A Champaign County judge ordered the complex closed in April, but its managers, Bernard and Eduardo Ramos, continue to rent out units on the property. Champaign County health officials received a temporary injunction Thursday that allows them to evict tenants from the property to stop the use of a broken sewage system that left raw sewage on the ground and in neighboring areas.

Cherry Orchard tenants to be evicted; managers ordered jailed

Submitted by pdempsey on Thu, 2011-07-07 10:35

Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess/A Champaign County judge granted a temporary restraining order Thursday that gives public health officials the power to evict tenants living at an unsafe apartment complex north of Thomasboro. The judge also ordered the managers jailed until the complex’s problems are repaired.

The action follows a previous court hearing in April in which Bernard and Eduardo Ramos, managers of the Cherry Orchard Village apartment complex, were ordered in April to close down the property. In addition, they were fined more than $54,000 following the conclusion of a civil case filed by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.

Court file/This diagram shows the flow of sewage from six of the eight buildings that make up the Cherry Orchard apartment complex.

Cars, tenants still observed at Cherry Orchard

Submitted by CU Citizen Access on Wed, 2011-06-29 06:43

By Pam G. Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess / It’s been six weeks since a Champaign County judge ordered the closure of an apartment complex between Rantoul and Thomasboro.

But public health officials say people continue to live there. Indeed, as of Thursday, there were several cars parked in front of a far east building, which had a new dumpster nearby and kids playing in the yard.

The first collection buildings in the complex, known as Cherry Orchard, looks empty from the main highway – County Road 1500 East. There appears to be no cars and no people.