The 234 Apartment

click to enlarge Wake County Housing Authority - THOMAS GOLDSMITH" /> Thomas Goldsmith Burnetta Smith, CEO of Wake County Housing Authority Residents of Forest Hills Apartments in Garner appeared March 20 with little fanfare to tell Wake County commissioners their story: they’d received short notice that they’d have to pay much higher rents and/or move out of the place that had long been home to many of them. By Wednesday night, ten days later, dozens of Forest Hills residents , led by community activist Octavia Rainey , drew a notable crowd to a meeting in a Garner church on the issue. And action at the federal and local level was underway to help residents who had been dismayed by their imminent removal. “To have done us this way was inhumane to us,” sixteen- year Forest Hills resident Janice Williams said during the meeting. Those who showed up included an aide to U.S. Representative David Price , six of the seven Wake County commission...

In the spring of 2015, residents of the Forest Hills Apartment complex complained about their air conditioners not working, mold in their apartments, outdated fire extinguishers , broken electrical outlets and slow response times from the management company . Now after about 18 months of renovations, things are starting to improve, residents say. “They’ve got a new manager, Ms. Eunice, and she is really, really trying to get some stuff done here,” Joyce Mosley, a long time resident of Forest Hills, said. “She has repaired several apartments, taken care of mold issues. They’ve sent in painters and plumbers.” Resident Keith Miller agreed . He said on a scale of 1 to 10, he’d give the new management an eight, primarily for their effort. He said things are not perfect, but he sees some improvement. Forest Hills has had a history of troubles in recent years. The 136- unit apartment complex is on Seventh Avenue and has 96 apartments reserved for residents who receive federal housing su...