Ricardo Henriquez with Charleen Ortiz.
Carbon monoxide from faulty furnaces drove Esther Martinez and Charleen Ortiz from their homes this winter. They have since returned home as leaders of a door-to-door organizing effort to give the 300 low-income families there a voice — and place to return to — when the Church Street South housing complex is rebuilt as a mixed-income development.
The private complex of 301 federally subsidized apartments across from Union Station is owned by Northland Investment Corporation of Boston.
Frequently referred to as “The Jungle” by local people and long a trouble spot for drug dealing and shootings, Church Street South is the target of a makeover into a mixed income development in a project launched by Northland, the city and the federal Housing and Urban Development Department.
According to preliminary plans based on a planning grant, Northland is expected to reconfigure the complex, with its attractive near-to-transit location, with only 100 affordable apartments.
What’s going to happen to the other 200 families currently residing at Church Street South?
That’s the question around which the women are organizing.
“I’d like to come back here,” said Ortiz. She added that most people they talk to feel the same way.
According to Ricardo Henriquez of the Connecticut Center for a New Economy (CCNE), who is helping in the effort, “One lady told us: I’ve lived here for 25 years under crappy conditions. Now that they’re building a new building, they want to throw me out.”
Mayoral spokesman Adam Joseph said that the plans don’t include official numbers yet.
“The city has encouraged Northland to make more of an effort to reach out to the residents of Church Street South. The city has inserted itself in these discussions because the City wants to make sure that the interests of residents are being considered as Northland works on crafting redevelopment plans,” Joseph stated. “No contract has been signed and there are no final plans. Regardless, under federal law, the developer would have to give at least a full year’s notice to all residents before any relocation for construction or renovations could occur.”
Allan Appel Photo
Esther Martinez & Charleen Ortiz.
For tenants like Ortiz and Martinez, poor maintenance of apartments hit a low point in January when dozens of families had to be evacuated to area motels as the city compelled emergency repairs which, it was alleged, federal inspectors had missed.
The families spent two weeks at the motels for two weeks during emergency repairs before they could return home. During that time, Esther Martinez said, Hill South Alderwoman Dolores Colon engaged them in the prospect of organizing other tenants. She connected them to Ricardo Henriquez.
When they returned to their apartments, they did got started. Three other women joined Ortiz and Martinez, in organizing regular meetings.
Colon Launches Re-Election Campaign
When five-term incumbent Alderwoman Colon launched her re-election campaign Saturday morning, she chose to do so with a barbecue at the main entryway to Church Street South along with the organizers.
“This is a forgotten population,” said Colon as she served up hot dogs, carrots, and celery to Brian Vega, Ortiz’s son. “I want them to know they are on my radar. This is an opportunity for me and them to speak to the powers that be.”
Ortiz, Alderwoman Colon, Brian Vega
Colon said that Northland had been holding meetings with area aldermen like her and Hill North’s Jorge Perez. The most recent meeting was on Wednesday. Colon pronounced the plans offered as still “unclear” and not speaking to the anxiety of Church Street South residents.
Henriquez said the message that he, Ortiz, Martinez, and the other organizers are bringing consists of two main points: If 300 affordable units are here now, 300 should be built. Also that people living here have a right to come back when the redevelopment is complete.
Henriquez says there’s a fear that the management company might take steps to evict people in the interim, so that there will be fewer to have to deal with upon return.
When redevelopment occurs, these young mothers like Ortiz and Martinez said good additions to the complex would include a clothing store for little kids, a deli, and a laundry. There used to be a laundry on site, but it is now boarded up.
“And more security,” said Truman School eighth-grader Brian Vega. “There’s too much shooting,” he added.
The next meeting is May 19, when door-knocking-neighbors will be joined by organizers from CCNE and the New Haven People’s Center.