‘Heartbreaking’ burglary at Renton nonprofit has homeless families reeling ahead of holidays
A Renton nonprofit that helps the homeless is reeling after they say burglars smashed into one of their storage facilities and stole about $12,000 worth of power tools used to fix up apartments.
Vision House, headquartered in Renton, says the theft means four families currently staying in their cars or at a shelter will have to wait even longer to move into housing.
The goal was to have three of the apartments ready before Christmas and one by January. But now the families will have to wait until after the holidays.
“Even if it’s an added week or two weeks of a family having to stay in their car instead of moving to an apartment, which is safe and secure -- that adds to their trauma,” said Vision House Executive Director Melissa Gehrig. “That’s heartbreaking, especially this time of the year.”
Gehrig says the burglary happened sometime on Sunday near the apartments at North East 4 and Bremerton.
When crews came in on Monday morning, they arrived to find a garage door broken – apparently by a sledgehammer. She says a witness saw people driving away in a truck, but thought it was a volunteer group working.
