RICHMOND, Va (WTVR) - Richmond resident, Cora Dickerson has hundreds of dolls. Some of them, she started collecting 30 years ago when she moved into her current home.
" I just like beautiful things,“ she said.
They’re beautiful, like her home. That’s why she has chosen to stay there for three decades, even though her neighbors left years ago.
"They were afraid they were going to have to go back into the projects," Dickerson said.
She may find herself in that very place because the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is looking to put its scattered site homes up for sale. These public houses are mixed in with privately owned homes throughout the city.
Dickerson and dozens of other residents plead before leaders of the housing authority asking them to reconsider. “I'm going to sit this out like an Indian in the middle of the floor. When they move the house, they are moving me,” said one resident.
The agencies new COE, Adrienne Goolsby, said she had the same issue in Chicago and no residents were forced from their home. “Some houses remained public housing and some houses became affordable housing,” Goolsby told CBS6.
Councilman Marty Jewel said the city and the agency must figure out what its doing with public housing communities like Gilpin Court before targeting these residents.
"We don't have a housing plan. We're talking about knocking folks houses down without a plan. That's terroristic. It's terrifying,” said Jewell.
