SAN ANTONIO — Before Rose Cruz opens her closet, she has to remove a towel from underneath the door. It’s because she has mold inside her unit at the Seven Oaks apartments on San Antonio’s Northside.
She stuffs her mold-covered clothes in a trash bag by her bedroom door.
“I haven’t thrown it away yet, so I can see if I can save it. I don’t know how to get mold out of clothes,” Cruz said.
She has to seal up drafts with duct-tape so her room can stay cool during this triple digit weather, but she has multiple box fans just in case it gets too warm.
“It’s like that all the way down, ew, but I had to do this because either I was going to freeze or be hot,” Cruz said.
Cruz and the rest of the residents unionized so that they can shine a light on the poor living conditions.
They’ve protested and gathered at the complex, but they and Texas Organizing Project (TOP) recently took these issues to city hall so that Mayor Ron Nirenberg can address them.
“We have lived in unfair conditions,” Kryslyn Stanley said.
Stanley says that the residents have tried to meet with the mayor for weeks now. She stood on two crates that said “soap box” inside the city hall entrance and talked about her living conditions.
“I bathe underneath an A/C in which my ceiling is crumbling. My daughters are 5 and 9 and when we shower the plaster is falling and there is mold,” Stanley said.
Nirenberg said in a statement that the city has spent $22,000 on temporary lodging, $29,61.88 in CPS assistance and provided $178,039.19 for rental assistance.
The mayor’s statement added that there were 33 relocation assistance applications from Seven Oaks Apartment residents.
Nathan Robinson stood outside of city hall with glossy eyes during the protest.
“That’s why we are here today to ask for support from the mayor. We are not here for a conflict, we don’t want to fight, we want some help,” Robinson said.
Last month, Seven Oaks sent residents a notice to vacate, but Cruz says even though the evictions have stopped for now, the poor living conditions haven’t.
“I’m a little bit ashamed to say I’m a San Antonian because I didn’t realize San Antonio was like this,” Cruz said as she choked up.
Claudia Nega shouted they aren’t asking much from the mayor.
“All we are ask for is a proper flushing toilet like he has at home. All we are asking for [is an] air conditioner like he has,” Nega said.
Achieve Properties, which owns Seven Oaks, told Spectrum News 1 that this complex was in bad condition when they purchased it, but residents are saying they are receiving fraudulent completed work orders.
Nirenberg said that the Development Services Department (DSD) has already issued 24 citations totaling $7,200 to the property owner and will continue issue them if the repairs are not corrected.
Despite that, the residents still want to have a conversation with the mayor.
“If Mohammed don’t come to the mountain, the mountain will come to Mohammed,” Nega said.