Dozens of low-income families evicted from San Bernardino apartment complex given four days’ notice

Almost 40 families have been evicted from their home on Monday, March 2, from Brentwood Apartments at 1415 E. Date St.

Once the complex became managed by a new property management team, residents were served an eviction notice on Thursday, February 27, along with a $2,500 check…only allowing residents four days to find alternate housing.

According to Assistant City Manager Rebekah Kramer, the apartment complex had been in trouble with code enforcement for a number of years; some of the issues residents faced were water leaks, lack of water, and sewage line cross contamination.

Due to the unforeseen circumstances, in the interim, a number of the displaced parents and children slept in a U-Haul truck, other families slept in relatives’ garages, while one family was forced to move all the way to Arizona, to stay with family.

Since the displacement, a number of San Bernardino County organizations, churches and residents have lent a helping hand to the families in need.

“We are offering to waive our $42 application fees to all of the families that have been displaced,” said Collette Roach, SoCal Pacific regional manager.

According to Roach, their group manages 15 properties across Southern California, including Ascot Park in San Bernardino and Park Heights, in Highland.

“It is important for us to offer assistance to these families because there are so many children that are being affected. It’s our goal to keep these families in their local area and keep them from having to relocate outside of the region that they call home,” concluded Roach.

Another organization that has taken much lead in providing services to the displaced families is Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAP).

“CAP was notified about the situation from Jefferson Hunt Elementary School Principal Coleen. Principal Coleen reached out and wanted to gain housing support for these students,” said Darrell Frye, program manager at Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County.

When the principal reached out to CAP, 63 students had been displaced from Jefferson Hunt Elementary, Barton Elementary and Del Vallejo Middle School.

In order to assess the displaced family’s needs…CAP built out an Emergency Assessment Center and brought it straight to the families on Friday, March 6 at Ecclesia Christian Fellowship Community Center.

“With the Emergency Assessment Center, we partnered with over 15 agencies that specifically met the needs of these families…which consisted of housing relocation assistance, transportation, food and hygiene necessities,” continued Frye.

Many of the residents were alerted about the Emergency Assessment Center from the schools where students were affected, while Frye posted flyers at the complex.

Residents were only asked to provide government identification, proof of residency and proof of household income for the past 30 days.

“We met at the apartment complex and within the first 30 minutes well over 20 residents were lined up waiting for assessment and services. At the end of the day we served 18 families, 98 residents and averaged 78 services provided,” Frye concluded. “This is what community looks like.”