More than two weeks ago, Diane Wardrick’s entire life was placed on hold.
The 31-year-old customer service representative was one of more than 800 residents at The Cooper apartment complex in Fort Worth’s Near Southside neighborhood who were displaced by a six-alarm fire. She said her apartment was one of the units deemed a total loss, and she stayed at a hotel for two weeks before ultimately signing a new apartment lease.
As she starts her life over, Wardrick has no idea if or when she’ll be able to sift through her belongings.
“I cried like every day for quite a bit,” she said.
Since the June 23 fire, many tenants have expressed frustration and anger at Cushman & Wakefield, The Cooper’s property management company, for what they describe as “radio silence.” Tenants have raised concerns about a lack of transparency from the company about the state of the apartment complex’s two buildings, when and how tenants may retrieve their belongings and unclear information about insurance coverage.
On July 10, about 100 of those residents filled the Near Southside brewery HopFusion Ale Works for a community town hall organized by and for displaced tenants. After gathering to socialize and share information, several residents, including Wardrick, said their shared frustrations and collective efforts to demand accountability from the property owners and management company left them feeling encouraged and hopeful.
“I’m grateful for this part of the experience — us coming together, seeing familiar faces, making new friends, being able to share what happened and bounce ideas,” Wardrick said. “It’s been pretty cool.”
During the town hall, community leaders, city officials and staff, and nonprofit organizers shared various resources and information updates. Local attorneys shared general legal advice with the gathering.
Megan Henderson, director of events and communications for the nonprofit Near Southside Inc., told residents her organization is willing to help in whatever way it can to share resources and information. She, along with Fort Worth City Council member Elizabeth Beck, organized a relief fund in collaboration with the nonprofit United Way of Tarrant County that has raised more than $100,000 in donations.
The donated funds will be distributed to Cooper tenants in $500 checks per apartment unit on a first-come, first-served basis, Henderson said. Tenants may apply to receive the funds here.
“You were, prior to this moment, Near Southside residents, and you are forever Near Southside residents,” Henderson told town hall attendees. “We’re here to help you. We care about you.”
Caitlin Dobson, a 26-year-old behavioral therapist who had lived at The Cooper since moving to Fort Worth from Virginia last year, said she’s made intentional efforts to allow herself to feel the full course of her emotions — anger, frustration, sadness — over the last two weeks. What she feels now is reassurance and comfort.
“It has been a big comfort going through this with people who are also going through this,” Dobson said. “And it’s been really heartwarming to see the whole community of Fort Worth, but also just the complex itself, coming together and being there for each other — because we’re the only ones that can relate to one another.”
Dobson, like many others, attended the town hall with fellow Cooper tenants they befriended in the fire’s aftermath.
Emily McMullan, 34, and Claire Carden, 35, met the day of the fire, standing on the sidewalk outside The Cooper as they watched their home burn. Now friends, the two said they’ve gotten more information about the tragedy and resources for displaced residents from their fellow tenants than from the apartment owner or property management company.
Tenants frequently share updates, including communications with the property management company, in a private Facebook group for victims of the fire.
“I do feel a sense of community in there, and I appreciate the residents who have even been more proactive,” McMullan said. “I mean, that Facebook group is the only way that we got the (property’s) structural report, so we’re getting updates from there that we’re not getting from the property management.”
Beck, the City Council member, read aloud an email she received that day from Ramsey Soliman of Lightbulb Capital Group, the company that owns The Cooper. In the email, which Beck provided to the Fort Worth Report, Soliman wrote that Lightbulb is pushing Cushman & Wakefield to deliver “more frequent community-wide communications.”
Soliman, who did not immediately return the Report’s request for comment, said the company is terminating all leases and issuing refunds for prepaid rent and security deposits with the goal of distributing refund checks by hand as soon as July 11.
“I do understand that residents are frustrated with the process and the circumstances, and they’re not wrong to feel that way,” Soliman wrote. “Our demand of current management is that they continue to make themselves available to email, phone and in-person communication and there has been a tremendous amount of it.”
Beck, who represents the Near Southside, told residents, “You truly do have the entire city of Fort Worth at your back,” and said she will continue working to provide resources and share any new information she can.
“I want you to hear from at least someone that we’re sorry,” she said, “and that this shouldn’t have gone this way.”
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
Mary Abby Goss is a multimedia fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at maryabby.goss@fortworthreport.org.
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Great Job Cecilia Lenzen and Mary Abby Goss & the Team @ Fort Worth Report Source link for sharing this story.
