Fairview Homes residents in Joliet seek better living conditions

Several shootings, poor living conditions and an apparently unresponsive management have been more than enough for some residents of the Fairview Homes.

One of them is Summer Graham, 24, who said she can’t allow her two children to play outside the house because there’s broken glass and rocks.

“It’s unsafe. It’s not a community I would keep my kids in,” Graham said.

Other residents have complained about the living conditions at Fairview Homes, which was rocked by gunfire twice in May. Housing Authority of Joliet officials have said they are waiting on federal officials to approve demolition of the homes.

But some residents can’t wait forever. Tonya Harris said HAJ officials have talked about plans to move residents out of Fairview months ago and some have reportedly heard this for years. Harris said she moved to Fairview more than a year ago.

“I thought I was coming to a better life, but it’s actually worse,” Harris said.

She said people don’t report maintenance issues because they will be billed for them, so nothing gets fixed and homes look “abandoned.”

Michael Simelton, HAJ chief executive officer, would not discuss residents’ complaints with The Herald-News, saying he would only discuss them with the residents.

But Simelton did talk about how HAJ has been doing a good job preparing residents for relocation with plans to eventually demolish the complex.

Seventy-two families – a third of those living in Fairview – have obtained full- or part-time jobs through a Ross Program aimed at preparing residents for relocation, he said.

“If we were not concerned, we would not have introduced these opportunities through the Ross Program,” Simelton said. “This has been going on for the last two years. We took a leap of faith.”

Simelton said HAJ started the program, which includes computer training and job preparation skills, long before it could be certain that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would approve eventual demolition.

HAJ still is awaiting approval, although it could come any day. If it does come, demolition could begin in August or September with residents in good standing at Fairview getting Section 8 vouchers to relocate as happened at Des Plaines Garden Homes when it was converted to the new Water’s Edge development, and Poole Garden Homes years ago when it was replaced by Liberty Meadow Estates.

Both projects were converted to mixed-income neighborhoods with the former HAJ residents having the option to move back.

“Those residents that moved out of Poole and Des Plaines Garden had the option of coming back, but the vast majority of residents moved out of Joliet,” Simelton said.

Unlike those two redevelopments, however, HAJ does not plan to replace Fairview.

“We’re not going to do anything with the Fairview site. We’re going to demolish it and give people vouchers,” Simelton said.

Fairview is not located near stores, public transportation or potential employers, which housing officials call “areas of opportunity.”