Residents demand transparency, better support from Durham Housing Authority

Durham residents are demanding more transparency from the Durham Housing Authority as people are still living in dire conditions.

The public is calling for more transparency as the DHA works through a backlog of more than 800 work orders.

In January, residents stood outside Durham Housing Authority headquarters with their list of demands. DHA’s CEO spoke one-on-one with WRAL and said back then they were working to fulfill hundreds of repair requests. Four months later, residents are expressing the same concerns.

Sheryl Smith, a resident at the housing authority took part in a protest outside of the walls of DHA's headquarters.

“As we speak today they are in this building making decisions. Do you see anyone from the public," Smith said.

The protesters rallied outside while a housing and transit town hall meeting took place.

"We want to know exactly where he’s at with fixing up these people homes. And we want them to stop making decisions without the public input," Smith said.

On Monday, CEO Anthony Scott said staffing vacancies and the pandemic caused some of the backlog in housing repairs.

"We have had almost 4,000 work orders opened from January through the end of April. We’ve closed almost 4,000. We currently have a backlog of 890 work orders," he said.

In order to remedy this problem, DHA has hired more contractors and staff to handle work orders and is also launching a hotline repair system to expedite the process.

“I’ve been staying from pillow to post," said Alicia Jones.

Jones is disabled and has been homeless since 2018. She’s been anxiously sitting on a waitlist for one property, until she found out that she’s was taken off that waitlist. Now, she's back to square one.

"Get involved with the people. And not letting us find out in another way. That’s messed up," added Smith.

The hotline repair system is expected to launch next month. The organizers of today’s town hall said public meetings are held weekly, and will continue to be held to include all voices in an efforts to improve housing in Durham.