JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Residents living on the third floor of a senior apartment community in Ortega said they’ve been trapped in their units for weeks after reporting issues with the elevator.
The elevator at Meetinghouse at Collins Cove Apartments on Collins Lakes Drive has an “out of service” sign, and some residents said they can’t walk down the stairs.
“It’s mind-boggling because of the heat now and me having asthma, I have an inhaler, I go up and down but it’s very slow,” a woman, who didn’t want to be identified for fear of retaliation from management, said.
The apartment complex houses residents age 55 and older, making living on the third floor hard without an elevator.
“Them stairs ain’t no joke,” the woman said.
She said this elevator had been broken before, but never for this long.
Carolyn Samuel, who’s 84 years old, lives on the third floor of the building with the broken elevator.
Samuel uses a walker because of her hips and is unable to go up and down stairs.
“It’s just very heart-wrenching and frustrating knowing I can’t bring her down by myself,” Arlene Dixon, Samuel’s daughter, said.
Dixon and her daughter Tashina said because of this situation, Samuel is frustrated and had to cancel some of her doctor’s appointments.
According to the family, they’ve reached out to management multiple times asking when the problem would be fixed.
News4JAX visited the complex Thursday and asked management that same question before being asked to leave.
A woman who identified herself as the assistant manager said she had no comment.
“You should have plan B and a plan C. You should have extra parts and a contingency plan so if stuff like this happens you can replace it quickly,” Tashina said.
After being asked to leave, News4JAX also called the front office hoping to speak with the manager or someone else to get answers. At the time of this publication, we hadn’t heard back from them.
Dixon said if the elevator isn’t fixed by Sunday, she plans to call the fire department to see if they can help get her mom down.