DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - The closure of an eastern Iowa mobile home park this summer is causing worry among residents who aren’t sure where they’ll live next.
Some say they may be homeless for a while because they can’t afford to move on such short notice. Director Terri Gleize of King’s Harvest homeless shelter in Davenport said most of the residents of Lake Canyada Mobile Home Park live paycheck to paycheck, the Quad-City Times (https://bit.ly/1E4uTVr ) reported.
“Many of them can’t be expected to come up with a security deposit and first-month’s rent,” Gleize said. “It’s definitely going to be a crisis, especially since most of our homeless shelters are full and families are on waiting lists.”
Scott County Administrator Dee Bruemmer said there’s a prospective buyer for the property, which is near Davenport, but that they don’t want to keep it as a mobile home park.
The park’s managers have declined to comment to the newspaper.
Meghan Dipple, a mother of two children, said she started an online fundraiser over the weekend in an effort to raise enough money for moving expenses.
“We’re looking at the possibility of sleeping in the van,” Dipple said.
Mary Garcia is raising her teenage daughter on what she earns as a hospice nurse, and they have lived at the park for 14 years. They’re busy packing even as their options look bleak.
Garcia owns a 1983 trailer which she said is considered too old to move. She said she’s looked at other parks, and they won’t accept older trailers.
“Nights, I sit at home and tears just roll down,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
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Information from: Quad-City Times, https://www.qctimes.com
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