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Carriage House residents moved back after month in motels in Petersburg: 'They deserve better'

Residents of the Carriage House Apartments said they were given little to no notice before being told to pack up and return home Thursday morning.
Petersburg cleared the Carriage House Apartments Friday after a safety closure, but residents still await word on when they can return home.
Carriage House Apartments approved to reopen after 114 residents spent weeks in hotels
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PETERSBURG, Va. — Residents of the Carriage House Apartments in Petersburg were told with little notice Thursday morning to pack their belongings and prepare to move back to their building, nearly a month after being displaced when the complex was deemed uninhabitable.

Some residents said they learned about the move only when a knock came at their motel room door.

"The lady knocked on our room door and said, 'Be packed, start packing, cause you're going back to the building," resident Correen Brown said.

Fellow resident Dana Strickler said the lack of communication was frustrating.

"We didn't get a notice," Strickler said. "It's not handled at all. It's just sink or swim. You either do it or you don't."

Brown echoed that frustration.

"I'm kind of upset because the managers should have talked to us and let us know what's going on," Brown said.

The building was red-tagged by Petersburg City Code Enforcement on May 12, meaning no one was allowed to live in the apartments until repairs were made. In a statement to CBS 6, the city said the necessary repairs included addressing failures in the water-heating system and boiler, roof and pipe leaks and resolving other unsanitary conditions.

The red tag was removed on May 29 after a re-inspection by the city.

A man who asked not to be identified to protect his mother, who lives in the Carriage House Apartments, said the situation could have been handled with more care.

"It could be handled more professionally... with better care for the people who reside there, who are mostly elderly and disabled," he said. "[They] need more assistance than just being abruptly told, 'Hey, you need to leave and we'll do the best we can to get you back in."

As residents learned they were moving, they used whatever bags they could find to pack their belongings. Transport vans arrived to be loaded.

LaVerle Talley, who runs a nonprofit called Lending Helping Hands and has supported the residents throughout their time at the motels, said the residents deserved better.

"I'm disappointed that they were treated like this," Talley said. "I'm disappointed in the lack of respect I think they get. I think they deserve more. They deserve better treatment."

While many residents said they were glad to be back home, others said they returned to find the same problems that existed the day they moved out.

Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.

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