What’s next for evacuated Davenport apartment tenants?
People who lived in the apartment building at 4th and Ripley streets were left grabbing whatever they could on March 26, and now they’re not only frustrated but worried about where they’ll next call home.
For now, those evacuated tenants are living in a hotel, where they can stay for free until the end of the month. One of those tenants is Lamonde Lathan-Berge, who’s unsure what the future holds for him. Burge called the Schricker apartment building at 401 W. 4th St. home for eight months until the city forced an evacuation after failed inspections. “I’m 23 years old. I work hard for my money so this is definitely stressful for me,” Lathan-Berge said. “It really caught me off guard because they told me I had to be out. I grabbed anything that was essential to me, and I had to be out by 4:30 p.m., and they told me this at 3:47 p.m.”
Lathan-Burge says he had a feeling something like this was about to come. “My floor was kind of starting to sink in,” Lathan-Berge said. “I went to one of the other apartments because they offered me to switch apartments, and I went in there, and all the floors were cracked up. It was kind of like an earthquake hit it, almost.”
People forced to evacuate are now staying at the Relax Inn Hotel on North Brady St. They can stay for free up until Sunday. After that, they will need to find somewhere else to stay.
“I’ll have to return to my mother’s house for the time being until I find another apartment,” Lathan-Berge said.
Lathan-Berge says he’s upset with the city of Davenport about how it’s handling housing, especially after the building collapse that happened in May 2023. “I’m frustrated with Davenport because this happened with that building, and you would think with the people’s lives being lost, they would have taken some steps to make sure things like this wouldn’t happen again,” Lathan-Berge said.
OurQuadCites News also reached out to the Salvation Army to see how they’re helping. Kelle Larned, the program and operations director, says the Salvation Army received a grant from Davenport to help people with living costs. They’ve received a few calls from people needing help on March 27. One needed rent assistance. Another was looking to stay longer at the Relax Inn Hotel. The Salvation Army says if they receive a call, they’ll take names and address needs.
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