The senior citizens of the Academy Retirement Community had a chance to voice their frustrations and push city leaders for change Monday morning.
Spokane City Council Member Kate Burke met with tenants from The Academy following a notice that one month from now, the residents have to vacate the building.
KREM 2 first brought you this story last month. A Utah-based senior living property management company purchased the historic building that is located a few blocks east of Gonzaga University. The Academy’s tenants and employees had 6 weeks to get out, so the building can be renovated and most likely turned into multifamily apartments.
A few dozen tenants and their family members gathered in the guest area at the entry of the building. Burke asked the tenants to describe the situation. Many expressed frustration, anxiety and a bit of hopelessness regarding the current situation.
"I had this conversation so I can hear these stories, even though I knew they would be hard and difficult to get through, but it's important that there is someone on city council that wants to hear their voice, so in the future we can make sure these things don't happen,” Burke said.
An employee with The Academy said about half of the residents have already moved out. She said just a few people have not found a new place to live yet. The transition is well underway, but it has not been easy according to a number of tenants and family members. One woman told Burke the stress of the move has made her mother sick.
A majority of the conversation was about how expensive finding a new place and moving can be for senior citizens many of whom are on a fixed income. Multiple senior citizens have said facilities are hard to come by in the Spokane area.
Heather Measor is one of the tenants who spoke at the meeting. At 65-years-old she is one of the youngest tenants in the building. Measor found an independent-living facility, but with progressive MS, she worries about how long it will be until she has to move again.
"You just didn't have time to look for all the amenities you're going to need,” Measor said.
Tenants said they want more policies that protect senior citizens from evictions like this and they want more financial support and investment in senior living communities.
“At least they’re listening to us, listening to the problems that there are and perhaps they'll fix them, so they won't continue to happen,” Betty Huffman, a resident of the Academy, said.
There were several possible solutions tossed around at the meeting. One woman suggested city leaders draw up a policy that would ‘grandfather in’ certain facilities, which would mean once a building is built for seniors it would have to stay that way.
Another person asked Burke to look into getting some funding to help with moving expenses. But perhaps the most widely acknowledged solution was at the legislative level. They asked for more protections for senior citizens under city and state laws. This includes more notice given and getting rid of ‘non-refundable’ deposits when there is an eviction.
"It's great because she listened and hopefully they can pass some type of legislation to prevent how it happened to us so quick,” Measor said.
Many of the tenants realized their time at The Academy is coming to an end. There is not much that can be done to stop the eviction at this point. But some people left the meeting hopeful that by them speaking up now, others will not have to.
“This example of what happened here will hopefully prevent the rush again for somebody else that is going to have to go through this,” Measor said.