Colonial Village exodus: Residents face uncertain future as deadline to leave looms

Peter Gill, Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·5 min read

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the name of the management company that announced the relocation of residents. Capstone Real Estate Services took over management from Hayes Gibson Property Services in October.

When Elissa Nelson learned in late November that she — along with hundreds of other residents — had to leave her home at the Colonial Village apartments in Columbus by the end of December, it was the latest jolt in a long and bumpy road.

Nelson, who is originally from Haiti, said she spent years working in Chile before making an overland journey north that included trekking across the notorious Darien Gap on the Colombia-Panama border. After waiting in a camp for migrants in Mexico for around a year, she was admitted into the U.S. in September 2022 with a pending asylum case, she said.

The shock of the latest displacement from her Columbus East Side apartment was dampened by the news that the city will provide hotel rooms for Nelson and other displaced Colonial Village residents through March. Still, Nelson said she’s worried about what comes after that.

“I don’t know how long it will take (to find a new home). I’m waiting with the hope of God,” she told The Dispatch in Spanish.

Elissa Nelson, a Haitian immigrant, packs her bags Tuesday in preparation to move from her Colonial Village apartment. Management at the East Side complex has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to find new housing.
Elissa Nelson, a Haitian immigrant, packs her bags Tuesday in preparation to move from her Colonial Village apartment. Management at the East Side complex has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to find new housing.

Colonial Village’s management company, Capstone Real Estate Services, has told more than 860 residents — including Haitians and Americans — they must leave by Dec. 31 so that extensive repairs can be made to the complex on the East Side near East Livingston Avenue and Barnett Road.

The complex includes 508 units in dozens of brick buildings spread across more than 20 acres. The property has faced hundreds of housing code violations in recent years — for problems like bed bugs, rodents, water and fire damage and a lack of utilities — and was put into court-appointed receivership in early 2022.

Though most residents must move by Dec. 31, the city’s Department of Building and Zoning Services set an earlier deadline of Friday, Dec. 15, for relocating households without heat. Tony Celebrezze, the department’s deputy director, said the no-heat deadline would be enforced starting Friday night.

Several residents told The Dispatch that despite the city’s offer of temporary housing assistance, moving under a tight deadline is painful and stressful. There are unforeseen costs, challenges getting to work and taking children to school — and they worry about finding new permanent homes.

“I have not a clue of where I'm going. And not knowing is the scariest part of all,” said Cynthia Wray, an American who has lived at Colonial Village for 13 years.

Cynthia Wray, who has sickle cell anemia, slowly packs up her apartment Monday at Colonial Village Apartments in Columbus, where she has lived there for 12 years. The complex's management company, Capstone Real Estate Services, has given all residents until Dec. 31 to find new housing so repairs can be made at the apartments.
Cynthia Wray, who has sickle cell anemia, slowly packs up her apartment Monday at Colonial Village Apartments in Columbus, where she has lived there for 12 years. The complex's management company, Capstone Real Estate Services, has given all residents until Dec. 31 to find new housing so repairs can be made at the apartments.

As of Tuesday, the Community Shelter Board had helped 254 households relocate to hotels, but many apartment units — some of which contain more than one family — have yet to be vacated.

“The next priority is to relocate the households from 97… apartments that are without heat. The next priority after that will be the households occupying the remaining 260 … apartments that do currently have heat,” said Sara Loken, the shelter board’s spokesperson.

The crisis at Colonial Village comes after the public revelation in November that a network of traffickers brought hundreds of Haitian immigrants to the complex from Florida, allegedly renting them overcrowded apartments under fake leases, according to court filings by the city attorney’s office.

The city has also announced it will provide security deposits and the first month’s rent for residents who find a new home and meet criteria for emergency rental assistance. That assistance is available for citizens and noncitizens, according to Sheldon Goodrum, a spokesperson for the city Department of Development.

An order to vacate hangs on a door Dec. 8 in Colonial Village, noting the management has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to find new housing. So far, the Community Shelter Board has helped 254 households relocate to hotels. It is not possible at this time to discern how many households remain because each apartment at Colonial Village is often found to be home to multiple households.

Moving is costly, say residents

Several longtime residents told The Dispatch they are struggling to afford the move.

James Lunsford, one of the residents, said he works at a warehouse during the day and cooks at a bar at night. Still, he was not sure if he could afford new rental application fees and Christmas presents for his 11-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter — all in one month.

“It don’t make no sense, man.  I been here for a year and a half — I pay my bills and rent,” he said. “It’s hard — especially when you’re doing stuff right.”

Children in temporary housing, missing school

Residents also said many of the hotel rooms the Community Shelter Board provided are far away from the city center as well as their jobs and their children’s schools.

Columbus City Schools “is working with city leaders to get busing for the children of the families impacted. Students will remain at their school of attendance,” said Jacqueline Bryant, a district spokesperson.

But Sindiya Darji, a mother of three who came to the U.S. with refugee status, said a bus has not yet been sent to the Gahanna hotel where she has stayed since Friday with shelter board assistance. Because she has no car and the journey to Scottwood Elementary School involves a lengthy walk and COTA bus ride, her two elementary-aged children have missed school this week, she said.

Still, Darji said she was happy with the hotel room, which includes a kitchenette and some basic cookware.

Sindiya Darji, a single mom of three, who came to the U.S. with refugee status, relocated her kids into temporary housing Dec. 9 at a hotel in Gahanna because there is no heat in her Colonial Village apartment in Columbus. The management at the apartment complex on Columbus' East Side has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to find new housing, but the city of Columbus had set Friday, Dec. 15, as the deadline for those without heat to be out of their apartments. So far, the Community Shelter Board has helped 254 households relocate to hotels.

Challenges finding a permanent home

For many Colonial Village residents, finding a new home in a city where affordable housing is increasingly scarce may prove challenging.

Darji said she had been living in Colonial Village since 2019 after living in a shelter and is currently unemployed.

“Even if our (Colonial Village) apartment lacked heat, at least I could use an electric heater and get by. All I had to worry about was work. Now, I have to worry about finding a home. Where will I go after the hotel with my kids?” Darji said in Nepali, her native language.

Sindiya Darji, a single mom of three, who came to the U.S. with refugee status, tries to keep her youngest daughter, Marina Kaami, 5, warm on Dec. 9, 2023, as she waits outside of the management office of Colonial Village apartments on Columbus' East Side. The family has no heat in her apartment, and the city ordered residents of all apartments without heat to be out by Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. The management at Colonial Village has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to find new housing.

Wray said she has a federal Section 8 housing choice voucher that helps her pay rent, but it’s a challenge finding a landlord willing to accept it. She said she toured some potential apartments that looked nice, but the landlords were unwilling to hold them for her for longer than 48 hours — not enough time for public housing authorities to make necessary inspections, she said.

Cynthia Wray, who has sickle cell anemia, slowly packs up her apartment Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, at Colonial Village in Columbus, where she has lived there for 12 years. The management at the East Side complex has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to move out into other housing so it can begin repairs and improvements.
Cynthia Wray, who has sickle cell anemia, slowly packs up her apartment Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, at Colonial Village in Columbus, where she has lived there for 12 years. The management at the East Side complex has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to move out into other housing so it can begin repairs and improvements.

Nelson, the Haitian resident, worries about rising housing costs and her diminishing savings. The federal government generally grants work authorization to people with pending asylum cases like her, but the process can take time, and Nelson said she is still waiting on permission to come through.

“I don’t have work. I don’t have anything. … It’s sad. I’m here, but I don’t know for how long,” she said.

The management at the Colonial Village apartment complex on Columbus' East side has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to get out and find other housing. So far, the Community Shelter Board has helped 254 households relocate to hotels.
The management at the Colonial Village apartment complex on Columbus' East side has given all of its residents until Dec. 31 to get out and find other housing. So far, the Community Shelter Board has helped 254 households relocate to hotels.

Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.

pgill@dispatch.com

@pitaarji

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Colonial Village residents face uncertainty as deadline to leave nears