On the streets: Farm dorm residents protest evictions

OLATHE — Though not surprised, Kera Williams got the news she had been dreading Tuesday.

She and several other residents of the Pueblito del Pais farm worker dorm in Olathe had been waiting for evictions after, they say, dorm management treated them poorly.

Residents began receiving eviction notices last week. Williams and her husband, Mason, want to stop what they see as an injustice.

“We’re worried about the wrath of God coming down on us if we allow this to continue (and affect others),” Kera Williams said last week in one of several conversations with the Daily Press.

She and other residents complained of bullying and false accusations from farm dorm management. One of the alleged incidents resulted in a resident making a police report, which is still under investigation.

Montrose County Housing Authority Director Tim Heavers declined to comment on the residents’ specific allegations against his staff.

Heavers said there were rules governing the use of the farm dorm, which limit non-eligible tenants to 30 days.

The dormitory is under United States Division of Agriculture’s Rural Development division guidelines and by legislation is designated for eligible farm workers who are either U.S. citizens or legal residents.

A temporary waiver, for which the facility applies yearly, allows for the admission of “ineligible tenants,” or non-farm workers. The waiver is valid for 30 days per ineligible tenant, Heavers said.

“The waiver is very specific. It says we are eligible to admit zero-income families for up to a maximum of 30 days,” he said. “Since this is still our off-peak season, we do have several (non-farm worker) families out there.”

Heavers said that to date no eligible farm workers have come into the dorm, but he reiterated the requirements for non-eligible tenants were explicit. “They’re subject to leaving at the end of 30 days.”

He was not aware of any other shelter in the state that allowed 30-day stays.

The MCHA sought the waiver so that people caught without housing would have someplace to stay temporarily, Heavers said, but the rooms are not intended for permanent daytime use.

Williams and the other non-farm workers furnished a copy of the lease, which states an ineligible tenant can be pre-empted by an eligible one, or be evicted for violating rules, for having a criminal background and in situations where behavior results in criminal activity or a danger to others.

Heavers could not be reached Wednesday to ask whether the monthly leases could be renewed.

The Williamses have been in the dorm since February, when they first talked to the Daily Press for a feature on homelessness. They were not asked to leave the dorm until Tuesday.

They, and fellow residents Nicole Carter, Felicia Ortiz, Charles Williams (no relation) and Robert Schultz said they had not violated their leases, although they siad another tenant was evicted after being cited for failure to appear in court.

“Being homeless, you’re not even second class,” Mason Williams said Friday, prior to getting the notice. “We’re nobody. I can’t sit by and watch this happen (to others).”

The residents said they were criticized for growing too close to one another, and that management wasn’t happy when they all started attending the same church.

Carter alleged the dorm staff targeted her son and falsely accused him of causing disturbances after learning he might become employed there. The youth, she said, was accused of property damage for using his knee to open a push-bar door.

Monday, Carter said she was terrified what would become of her family, especially her younger son, who is terminally ill. Another child is disabled. By Tuesday, when she received her eviction notice, she said she was just angry.

“I haven’t broken any rules in the lease. (Son) is dying. I’m done playing games. I’m mad as hell,” Carter said.

Charles Williams alleged a staffer cursed at him because he removed the man’s already dry clothing from a dryer to use it himself. When Williams said he intended to report the obscenities, the man reportedly threatened to see to it he was evicted.

Like Carter, Williams has an ill family member — his wife, Valerie, is recovering from surgery. He said the dorm wouldn’t accept his rent, but served him with a payment demand. The deadline in the document was altered from three days to one.

Heavers said he could not comment on the allegations, and that staffers weren’t permitted to address them.

The residents said they had nothing against farm workers and understood accommodations — which they appreciated — were limited. They just felt it was unfair that they were being evicted when there weren’t eligible tenants needing the bed space.

“We’re not here to fight anyone,” Schultz said Friday. He also said when he moved in, he was told he could stay as long as eligible workers did not displace him.

By Monday, according to Kera Williams, Schultz and his girlfriend were gone from the dorm. He’d reportedly lined up a job for Mason and now that’s up in the air.

“We’re all trying (to find full-time work),” Kera said Friday. “Yes, we need out,” she added Monday. “We’re trying our damnedest. ... We do work. We do pay rent.”

The group spent Tuesday scrambling to contact the division of fair housing, and to secure legal advice, tents and camping supplies. Kera is also trying to find other accommodations that comply with Section 8 housing regulations and do not charge application fees.

When they leave the dorm in the next few days, the evictees intend to do what they’ve always done — stick together.

“They just don’t want us there,” Kera said. “They don’t like that we’ve forged some kind of community to help each other.”

She said she doesn’t like to ask for help, but doesn’t have a choice.

“We’re not bad people. We’re just poor people,” she said.

“I can’t conceive of sitting by and letting this happen to someone else,” Mason added.