WASHINGTON – One year after the president of Eureka Gardens' tenant association called the I-TEAM about deplorable conditions at the Westside apartment complex, Tracey Grant told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Thursday that the unit she rented for herself and her children was full of mold, had no air conditioning and regularly flooded.
"Gas leaks sent some of our residents to the hospital, and persistent mold made it hard to breathe sometimes. Repair crews often did more harm than good, like when they had to shut off the heat in November. There was even a case where a child had a case of lead poisoning," Grant told senators. "Crime is still a problem. About a month ago, seven people were shot at Eureka Garden, including a 20-year-old mother of two. I realized this was not an environment that I wanted my children to have to grow up in and I wanted to do something about it."
Grant testified to the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development, which is considering a bill that would change federal Department of Housing and Urban Development rules on the inspection process of subsidized housing projects. She is there at the invitation of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who put Eureka Gardens in the national spotlight and proposed the bill.
"I saw crumbling staircases, exposed electrical wires and boarded-up windows that would trap a child inside if there was a fire," Rubio testified about his visit to Eureka Gardens. "I saw an apartment that hadn’t been painted in 13 years. I saw pieces of wood with exposed nails put up in place of a door, in a unit with small children."
Despite the problems, a HUD-contracted inspector gave Eureka Gardens an 85 on a scale of 100 in the summer of 2015, just before Grant and her tenants began speaking out. A follow-up inspection gave the complex a 62, which still barely passes HUD's current standard for Section 8 housing.
"The residents of Eureka Gardens have had to endure conditions like this for years, but now we are speaking together as one voice so that people can know what it’s like to live there," Grant said. "I’m grateful for the public attention that our situation has received, but I know I speak for all of the residents when I say that what matters most to us are some real changes -- changes that help us live our lives without fear of crime or sickness, changes that give our children a safe place to come home to after school."
Rubio and Florida's other U.S. senator, Bill Nelson, testified about what they saw during a visit to Eureka Gardens, which is home to 400 families who pay part of the rent to the owner, the other portion being paid by HUD using taxpayer dollars.
"The conditions at these properties are unacceptable," Nelson said. "I challenge the owners of these properties to spend a week in their own buildings. I doubt any of them will take me up on that, though."
Global Ministries Foundation -- the company that owns Eureka Gardens, along with five other housing complexes in Jacksonville and dozens more around the country -- has collected tens of millions of dollars in federal subsidies. The company and its president are under federal investigation, in part due to Rubio's call for such inquiries.
"The slumlords at Global Ministries Foundation caused this problem, but HUD enabled it," Rubio said.
Also testifying at Thursday's hearing was Dr. Ed Olsen, a public policy and economics professor at the University of Virginia. He said he was shocked by the I-TEAM's findings.
"The problem that emerged here is one I didn't realized existed. I have been operating under the assumption HUD was enforcing minimum standards that's in the contract," Olsen said.
Olsen argued that a voucher-based program allowing a tenant to choose where to live is a better long-term option.
After the hearing, Grant said, she's hopeful her voice can continue to inspire change.
"I felt relieved a little. At this point now, it's like me throwing the basket in the hoop," she said.
Global Ministries has listed Eureka Gardens and many of its other properties for sale, and federal and city authorities are vetting a potential buyer.
After Thursday's hearing, GMF released a statement:
"We applaud elected officials at all levels for aggressively joining GMF in our multi-decade commitment to ending homelessness and helping low-income families through affordable housing.”
HUD officials no-show at hearing
The subcommittee's hearing was titled "Oversight of the HUD Inspection Process," yet not one member from the Department of Housing and Urban Development attended, despite being requested to testify.
"How can we allow these living conditions to exist? How cannot a single person from HUD come? Should we not care about the living conditions of our country's poor?" said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who expressed outrage after watching part of the I-TEAM's story showing squalor at Eureka Gardens and the failed HUD inspection process.
Rubio and Nelson also expressed frustration over the absence of HUD members.
"It is totally not acceptable they didn't respond to you and I suggest a subpoena to haul them in here," Nelson said.
According to the subcommittee, taxpayers give $32 billion annually to HUD to manage the country's public housing system. Rubio warned it's money and a system that need more oversight.
"The problems found at these properties are not limited to the state of Florida. GMF owns properties in Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, Georgia and Tennessee – where similarly bad conditions have led to federal investigations," Rubio said. "This is not a partisan issue."
The I-TEAM contacted HUD for comment, but has not yet heard back.