Elevator outage at Vine Street Lofts leaves disabled Jasper residents relying on 911 for medical appointments
An elevator issue is forcing second-floor residents at the Vine Street Lofts to call 911 to attend medical appointments and rely on property staff to deliver medications and remove trash.
The low-income housing in Jasper is for residents 55 and older, and many have varying degrees of disabilities requiring canes or walkers, making it difficult to use the stairs. They rely on the elevator to get out of the building.
Resident Theresa Durkee has filed a complaint with Pivotal Housing Partners, the property manager, stating that the elevator issue has effectively trapped 14 residents on the second floor.
“The sole elevator at Vine Street Lofts (1308 Vine Street, Jasper), a Section 42 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) property managed by Pivotal Housing Partners of Dayton, Ohio, failed on Saturday, July 18. Today, property manager informed some residents that a necessary replacement part could take ‘a couple of weeks’ to arrive,” wrote Durkee in a notice to local news. “Mobility-impaired seniors and disabled residents remain completely trapped on the second floor of a taxpayer-subsidized apartment complex in Jasper, as both corporate owners and local fire officials have failed to intervene despite multiple emergency alerts this week.”
The Dubois County Free Press has attempted to contact the local property manager through the phone number residents are given to report issues as well as through the company’s online contact form (no phone number is listed on Pivotal’s website). They have not responded to either message we left.
Jasper Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang confirmed he was notified of the elevator issue Sunday. He explained that they thought a lightning strike may have impacted the elevator, causing a malfunction. The elevator is set to return to the first floor and stop operating in the case of an emergency such as a fire or if someone pushes the elevator’s emergency button. Thinking this might be the case, Chief Hochgesang went by on Monday to see if it needed to be reset manually. However, that did not work.
He advised residents at the time to contact emergency services if they have an emergency.
“Okay, that helps for somebody who’s actually trapped, but it doesn’t help the residents who can’t get up and down the stairs due to being in walkers, canes, whatever,” Durkee said in a subsequent interview on Thursday. “I mean, I can manage the stairs with my cane, but if I’m carrying groceries or I’m carrying, you know, garbage out to the dumpster, that’s like going to be 10 trips.”
One second-floor resident, Julie Heichelbech, is wheelchair bound due to multiple sclerosis (MS). She’s been a resident there for about eight years. She was diagnosed about a year and a half ago.
She has several medical appointments weekly and had to call 911 on Monday to make it to an appointment at Memorial Deaconess.
Emergency responders moved her onto a special chair and manually carried her down the stairs, where she was transferred back into her wheelchair. Another resident drove her to her appointment, but she was told to contact emergency services to carry her back up the stairs when she returned to the Lofts. She did so, which required emergency responders to return to the Lofts to take her back to the second floor.
“I’ve had to cancel two physical therapies,” Ms. Heichelbech explained. “I’ve got a neurology appointment tomorrow (Friday) and I’m worry about how I’m going to get out.”
Fortunately, she was able to attend the appointment virtually, but she wonders what she will do next week if the elevator remains inoperable.
Meanwhile, Ms. Durkee has sent Pivotal Partners and the property manager another notice about the situation and reached out to the State Fire Marshal’s Office as well as the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
Management’s statement that residents must use their own personal funds to pay for alternative lodging constitutes an illegal denial of a Reasonable Accommodation request under federal law. When a housing provider’s infrastructure fails, the financial burden of mitigating that failure falls entirely on the housing provider. A delay in securing an elevator part does not excuse your legal obligation to maintain an accessible, safe dwelling.
We demand that management immediately—within 24 hours—provide and fund the following emergency accommodations:
Immediate Hotel Placements: Management must fully fund and arrange accessible ground-floor hotel rooms for any 2nd-floor resident with mobility impairments who requests temporary relocation until the elevator is certified as fully operational.
Daily Essential Deliveries: For residents remaining upstairs, management must provide staff or a courier service to deliver groceries, medications, water, and mail directly to their doors.
Daily Trash Service: Management must remove trash daily from the doorways of trapped 2nd-floor residents.
Excerpted from Ms. Durkee’s letter
According to Ms. Durkee, neither Pivotal Housing Partners nor the on-site property manager have directly responded to the letter. But on the door to the property manager’s office, there are two notices posted that show a shift in the company’s messaging to residents since the outage.
An earlier notice told residents management was “waiting for parts” and provided a phone number for assistance requests. A newer notice, signed by on-site Multisite Community Manager Betty Anderson and posted on Thursday, outlined additional support: staff will collect trash from residents unable to use the stairs on weekdays at approximately 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and will deliver packages and medications as they arrive. (see below)
Ms. Durkee stated the assistance directly reflects what she asked for in her notice. However, neither notice addresses how residents who need to physically leave the building — for medical appointments or other necessities — are expected to do so while the elevator remains out of service. She says the company should provide temporary housing with adequate facilities to address their needs until the elevator is fixed.
She has received a response from the State Fire Marshal’s Office that they would send this region’s inspector to the Vine Street Lofts at their earliest convenience.
Residents said they intend to pursue complaints with the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and the Indiana Civil Rights Commission if the outage continues.
No representatives of Pivotal Housing Partners had responded to requests for comment or messages at the time of the publication of this story.
The following letter was delivered to each second-floor apartment Thursday morning.
Dear Resident,
We know this elevator outage may be difficult, and we want to reassure you that we are actively working on the repairs. In the meantime, we are providing Monday through Friday assistance with trash removal, packages, and medications for residents who need extra support.
We understand that having the elevator out of service has caused hardship and inconvenience for many residents, and we are truly sorry for the disruption. Please know that we are working closely with our elevator vendor to complete the repairs needed as quickly and safely as possible.
Your comfort, safety, and access to daily necessities are very important to us. While the elevator is out of service, our service technician is available to help residents who need assistance taking trash to the dumpster or bringing packages to their unit.
Monday through Friday, Matt will stop by at approximately 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to collect trash from residents who are unable to use the stairs. To help with pickup, please place securely tied, non-leaking bags outside your unit.
We will also deliver packages and medications throughout the day as they arrive, so you do not have to carry them up the stairs.
We will continue offering this support until the elevator repairs are complete. Thank you for your patience as we work through this together.
We truly appreciate your understanding and cooperation. Please know that our residents’ matter to us, and we will continue doing everything we can to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
Betty Anderson
Multisite Community Manager
