Families living in notorious apartments get new start

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Neighbors from the Elm Grove Garden Apartments rejoiced Monday evening after getting the news they will be getting relocation vouchers. The decision was made by the Louisiana Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Ms. Dee has lived in the complex for years. She says this decision has been a long time coming.

"I have been trying hard for the tenants as well as myself to know what's going on with our lives," she said. "So right now, I'm smiling."

HUD says they are officially ending their contract with the apartment complex on August 31. People living there will start getting the vouchers after that date. A representative for HUD says the reason it took so long is because they wanted to give their clients the best options.

"We wanted to make sure that we were doing everything possible to help the residents move into a more livable situation. And just to giving them vouchers and tell them move somewhere, I think that would have did them a disservice," said Earl Randall.

Although many of the Tenants are happy about the decision, some are concerned about the conditions they will have to continue to live in until they're relocated.

"The place is falling down around our ears, it's just literally falling down. No one should live like that," said Ms. Dee.

Randall says that it could take up to three months to have everybody relocated. Until then, they will still have to stay where they are. He says he's aware that the relocation will be a lot for families to handle, but they won't have to do it by themselves.

"They're not in this alone, we're going to walk with them hand in hand in this process in this relocation process. As they go through this abatement process and we just want to assure them that we will work hard along with HUD, the Louisiana, and the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority," Randall said.

Randall says it might be difficult for the owners of Elm Grove to win any future contracts with HUD because of the current conditions.

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