Serious repairs needed in East St. Louis public housing, activists say. Its leader agrees
One of the East St. Louis Housing Authority’s oldest housing complexes, Orr-Weathers, needs significant work.
That was the message from a group of about a dozen activists from United Congregations of Metro-East and a longtime Orr-Weathers resident who gathered Tuesday morning outside the housing authority administrative offices for a demonstration.
Housing Authority Director Angela Russell-Perry agrees.
In an interview Tuesday, she said the agency has been working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on a plan to address Orr-Weathers. Russell-Perry said the development process takes years, but they are close to the final stage of the process.
Their plan includes renovating the 72 units in the low-rise there. Russell-Perry said they are still trying to determine if it’s more feasible to rehab the eight-story high-rise or to tear it down and rebuild.
In the meantime, activists say the elevators routinely break; residents go without hot water for days or a week at a time; apartments have bed bugs, water bugs and cockroaches; and the fixtures and appliances like faucets, refrigerators and stoves are old and rusted.
The cabinets, for instance, haven’t changed in at least six decades, resident Velma Clark said into a microphone Tuesday morning outside the housing authority. They’re the same ones she remembers from when she was a child. She’ll be 63 this month.
“Everything in the building is old — old as me,” Clark said.
Russell-Perry said one of two elevators is broken, and the housing authority is working to get it repaired. She said she was not aware of an issue with hot water.
The housing authority has a contract with a pest control company to spray for bugs regularly, according to Russell-Perry. And replacing fixtures and appliances is part of the housing authority’s renovation plan.
“That’s what we’re working on,” she said. “We would do a total gut rehab on those.”
Rev. Norma Patterson of Good Shepherd of Faith United Church of Christ said during Tuesday’s demonstration that community members have been bringing these issues to the attention of the housing authority for years, but they persist.
East St. Louis public housing serves residents who make less than $10,000 a year. Patterson said the rent they pay to the housing authority is based on their income, and the federal government supplements the local agency’s budget.
“We been talking to people in the housing authority the last three years. We didn’t just start today,” Patterson said. “... If the water’s not working, send them to a hotel, let them stay there ’til you get it fixed, pay the rent at the hotel, then bring the people back.
“It’s a way to be done. You don’t have to oppress people, make ’em feel insignificant. If you need a blood transfusion, their blood’s as good as anybody else’s.”
Russell-Perry said she hasn’t been approached to discuss issues and possible solutions. She started the job 18 months ago. Since then, she said trying to find grants for renovation projects has been a priority for her.
The East St. Louis Housing Authority secured $3.4 million for work at Forest Village and Roosevelt Homes. The agency was a finalist for another grant but was not selected in the end. Russell-Perry plans to reapply for that funding, which would be used to rehab the Samuel Gompers apartments.
“I’m from East St. Louis,” Russell-Perry said. “I remember the Orr-Weathers from when I was a kid. I want to see this area grow. Development, decent housing: that’s my vision for this city.
“... I know what my residents need, and I’m trying to get there.”
This story was originally published May 16, 2023 at 1:50 PM.
