WASHINGTON — When WUSA9 showed up to Potomac Gardens on Capitol Hill to report on a story at the public housing development in the Spring, residents were quick to point out multiple dangerous and unsanitary conditions including mold, bugs, rodents and padlocks on gates that the DC Fire Department later deemed a fire hazard.
Because of that reporting, repairs were made and are still happening. But then WUSA9 started hearing from other people about the conditions in public housing complexes all across the city -- buildings the D.C. government is responsible for maintaining.
WUS9 reporter Delia recently sat down with the Executive Director of the DC Housing Authority, Brenda Donald, to ask what is being done to fix the problems.
Donald is a D.C. native and has worked under three mayors in various agencies including as the deputy mayor for DC Health and Human Services and Child and Family Services, though she’s never held a position in affordable housing.
"They're the same kids, same families, same neighborhoods in fact that we serve in public housing," Donald said.
And some of those families are crying out for help.
Courtney Mills, a mother of three, has been living with water bugs in the kitchen and mouse holes in the walls.
“I’m convinced they want us to live like this,” she said.
Another mom piled up four mattresses to avoid the rats she caught on camera crawling around her basement apartment at night. Many of the residents say they have no reason to believe things will change, since they've been living with the conditions for so long.
"I get it and I honor their frustration," Donald said. "I respect what they have lived through.”
Donald took on the job at DCHA the summer of 2021 after the former housing director was ousted following allegations that millions of dollars were misused.
“I discovered a lot of things from a management standpoint that needs to be improved they need to be completely overhauled,” Donald explained.
Donald and Nona Eath, senior vice president of property management, took WUSA9 on a tour of two facilities to get a glimpse of the repairs being made. We visited Lincoln Heights and entered the first-floor apartment of Linda Savoy. Crews were removing bathroom tile and remediating mold on her plaster.
“In the past two years, housing crews weren't allowed to get into units to do repairs,” said Eath. "We were only doing emergency repairs so some of this is deferred maintenance.”
Next, WUSA9 visited Donna Howard’s two story walk up. She told WUSA9 she’s been waiting 10 years for repairs to her home. The bathroom tub shifted causing major water damage to the kitchen below. Crews were ripping down the ceiling to begin repairs. Eath said crews aim to work quickly with the least amount of disruption to tenants, but she said DCHA may have to place the family in a hotel while work is being done in the kitchen and bathroom.
DCHA is the Districts' largest landlord responsible for maintaining 6,800 houses and apartments that 8,700 residents call home. According to the agency's own numbers, the average unit is between 55 and 62 years old; about 20% of them are vacant.
“I don't think we can identify what the problem is at this point it's that bad,” said Alicia Lendon the chief for the Civil Rights Section at the Office of the Attorney General.
The OAG has filed suit against Donald and the Housing Authority for allegedly denying more than 200 disabled residents’ proper accommodations. In many cases, the lawsuit alleges people have been waiting several years. The claim even includes an elderly woman who was living in a third floor unit and needed neighbors to carry her and her wheelchair down the stairs while she waited for a wheelchair accessible apartment. She sadly passed before she was ever relocated.
“There's a real human cost here that is creating suffering in these tenants that is frankly abhorrent,” said Lendon.
When asked why those residents hadn't been moved yet, Donald pointed back to unit renovation.
"Of course I can't talk specifically about the lawsuit but in general, we do have enough inventory," Donald said. "Now what we're doing is renovating units that are vacant so we can move people in.”
Donald showed WUSA9 one of the newly renovated units in Kenilworth Courts. The 3-bedroom/ 2-bathroom two-story walk-up has hard wood floors, updated kitchen, modern baths and a laundry closet. She said the remodel represents the future of public housing. While the goal is to renovate in just three months, the work to flip all 1,300 vacant units will take time. Advocates say too long for the hundreds of families still on the waiting list while living in dangerous and unsanitary conditions.
“I'm confident we will whittle down those waiting lists by the end of the year,” Donald said. "These are real lives and people can't wait and shouldn't wait and we need to act with a sense of urgency to meet their needs.”