HUD meets with tenants at Eureka Gardens, Washington Heights

Councilman, residents express concern over lack of repairs at Washington Heights

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville city councilman says he is concerned that the owner of Eureka Gardens is making repairs at that complex and not at Washington Heights.

Both complexes have been the focus of a months-long investigation by the I-TEAM into deplorable living conditions that have prompted response from local and federal government officials.

READ: HUD agenda for Eureka Gardens meeting

Representatives with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development met with residents at Eureka Gardens Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Then HUD officials met with residents at Washington Heights Thursday afternoon. 

"We're starting to get a little bit of answers. It's not what we want, but it's a start," said Eureka Gardens Tenant Association President Tracy Grant. 

In an email the I-TEAM obtained from Councilman Tommy Hazouri's office, Hazouri expresses concerns to HUD about repairs at the two complexes. Hazouri said he is "concerned" that projects are being completed at Eureka Gardens and not at Washington Heights.

The owner of the two complexes, the Rev. Richard Hamlet's Global Ministries Foundation, has put those properties and nine others up for sale.

Residents did not want the media inside the meetings so people would feel more open in what they said, HUD officials said. But after meetings at both complexes, residents told News4Jax they were hoping to receive more concrete answers. 

The three primary things HUD spoke with Eureka Gardens residents about was the removal of mold, replacement of stairways and the complex being up for sale. 

HUD officials, representatives from Sen. Marco Rubio's office and City Council members attended the meeting Wednesday night to talk with Eureka Gardens residents whose futures are uncertain now that the complex is up for sale. 

Eureka Gardens resident Darlene Ball said it has been confusing since GMF announced it intends to sell the complex.

"You don't know who to believe. You don't know what to do. You don't know whether we're going to be out today or tomorrow or the next morning. We don't know what to do," Ball said.

With the complex up for sale, tenants wanted reassurance that the new owner will continue to make repairs.

"We need to know, 'Are you going to do it? How long it's going to have to move?' Those are the questions that are being asked. So until we know who the owner is, the new owner, then right now those questions are just up in the air," Grant said. 

HUD administrator Ed Jennings talked about what the ownership transition would look like.

"The entire property will be looked at to determine what needs to be invested in. And when we look at that potential new buyer, we will make sure that he or she or they have the resources to make that investment. And then we will hold them accountable for that investment going forward," Jennings said. 

HUD officials said they're also looking for a new owner who will improve Eureka Gardens, not let it regress to what it was before.

"What happened in the past is you have one owner change to another. The owner didn't even know all the issues. So we don't want one challenged owner going to another," Jennings said.

In the meantime, HUD officials said the mold in Eureka Gardens has been remediated and a third party will verify that next week. Some repairs have been made to the stairs, will all repairs set to be completed by August by court order, according to HUD.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, took News4Jax inside her apartment at Eureka Gardens to look at what's been done so far.

"So where (there was) mold all along that wall right there, from wall corner to corner, you can see where they replaced half of the wall from the floor up to the middle. So the mold is gone," she said. "They supposedly fixed the wall but the air quality still wasn't good and he came and ripped out the carpeting because of it and see the carpet from all three rooms here has been tore up."

The meeting at Washington Heights Thursday afternoon centered on the concern that GMF was not making repairs at the complex like it was at Eureka Gardens.

HUD officials said the process at Eureka Gardens started first, and so far they have not been made aware of any code violations when it comes to mold or stairways at Washington Heights.

Denise Hunt, who said she was not a resident, but a concerned citizen, said she left the meeting unsatisfied.

"This is a health care crisis in here when we have no air conditioning, no ventilation and we have children living in here," Hunt said.

HUD officials said both complexes have a long way to go, but there is progress.

"If we see a little at a time, then we at least know that yes, it is happening and it's going to be better," Grant said.

The next step at Washington Heights is to see what code issues the city has identified there, HUD officials said.

A GMF spokesperson sent the following statement to News4Jax Wednesday about the meetings:

"The property management teams at Eureka Gardens and Washington Heights host regular meetings with residents to discuss upcoming events, restoration of the properties, organize community activities and answer resident questions. GMF works in close partnership with HUD and we want to underscore the value of HUD’s engagement with residents today and tomorrow in coordination with the Eureka Gardens and Washington Heights tenant associations.

"Eureka Gardens and Washington Heights did not evolve into problem properties overnight; rather, they have been a burden to the City of Jacksonville for decades. Local government and community leaders largely ignored these important homes to families in need of affordable housing and allowed the properties to suffer decades of neglect and decay under previous owners. GMF recognized this need when it acquired the properties in 2012 and continues to work tirelessly to make improvements for the benefit of residents, improvements which should have been made years prior to GMF’s purchase of these historically troubled properties.

"GMF-Preservation of Affordability Corporation is a Global Ministries Foundation company that invests in real estate opportunities that provide affordable housing for low to moderate income residents across the United States. GMF ministers to the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of our residents, at no cost to them and on a strictly voluntary basis."

HUD is expected to hold more meetings at both complexes in the next 30 to 45 days. 

Eureka Gardens tenants say they're again facing eviction

Eureka Gardens tenants told the I-TEAM last week that they have once again been threatened with eviction.

The eviction threats came one day after Rubio announced he's formally called for four federal investigations into Global Ministries Foundation.

RELATED: Sen. Rubio wants feds to investigate Eureka Gardens' owner

City Councilman Garrett Dennis attended the meeting Wednesday night. He said he wanted to hear from residents who said they've been threatened with eviction.

"It appears there has been some retaliation. One woman told me she was being evicted because she asked for a new refrigerator. I put this all up in writing, sent it to federal HUD, along with Rev. Hamlet. I haven't received any questions," Dennis said.

Dennis brought it up to HUD at the meeting.

"They said they are investigating, taking the allegations seriously. And they're investigating," Dennis said. 

Dennis, whose district includes Eureka Gardens, told the I-TEAM that he had been on the phone constantly with HUD after tenants said they were being threatened with eviction -- one for simply asking for a new refrigerator and another for talking to the I-TEAM.

Dennis also said the mayor of Riviera Beach in south Florida called him Wednesday, asking for help and advice on a troubled GMF property there.

Grant said the pressure might be mounting on GMF after Rubio sent four letters around Washington, D.C., asking for federal investigations from the Justice Department, the Treasury Department, HUD and a Senate committee less than two weeks after he visited the property.

“My skin just crawls. He went further than what he said (he would do),” Grant said of Rubio.

Eureka Gardens is up for sale, as are all of Hamlet's Jacksonville properties and five more across three states. All are said to be in deplorable condition.

Grant said she hopes the federal investigations force change.

“We don’t hate you,” she said of Hamlet, who founded GMF. “It says it in the Bible, 'Do unto others like you would have them do unto you.' If you don’t want to live out here in mess, then don’t leave us to live in mess.”

Single mother Johnisha Bryant has experienced that mess firsthand.

Playing with her 2-year-old son, TJ, outside their home at Eureka Gardens, the stairs outside their door still have visible Band-Aid fixes.

Bryant showed the I-TEAM patchwork repairs over a leak in the bathroom and the mold she fears is making her children sick.

“Every time I take my youngest son to the doctor, he has an ear infection, a cold. He’s always sick,” Bryant said. “His nose is always running. I can’t get rid of it. That’s why he wants me to get a mold test, a lead test, a mildew test.”

Bryant lives a few doors down from another home the I-TEAM visited last month, where a grandmother showed us mold covering the bathroom.

Her neighbors said she was evicted from her daughter's home after management saw her in our news report talking about the mold.

Property management refused to comment Wednesday about those claims, but GMF officials said they adamantly dispute the account. They said that the woman's name was not on the lease, which is against HUD guidelines, and that she was kicked out after a fight with her daughter and not evicted. 

They said the only evictions they are pursuing are against residents who are not paying their rent.

“They don’t need to intimidate people,” Grant said.

As for the federal investigations Rubio had requested into GMF’s business practices and finances, GMF officials said: “We abide by and take seriously our commitment to the law and to IRS regulations. We have always been, and will continue to be, 100 percent transparent.”


About the Authors:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.