DETROIT (AP) - For the first time in nearly three years, a Detroit woman has running water after leaving a ramshackle rental home and moving into an apartment.
The Detroit News (https://detne.ws/21lK4VL ) featured Fayette Coleman, 66, in a December article about the 6,000 Detroit homes that never had water service restored after a massive citywide shut-off campaign.
Coleman moved to an apartment near Warren last Friday, leaving behind the tax-foreclosed rental home whose water was shut off in May 2013, the newspaper reported on Thursday.
“I appreciate it so much. I respect the water,” Coleman said. “The first time I took a bath, my body just screamed it was so nice. It’s what I craved.”
Her troubles at the rental home began over a $7,000 water bill that Coleman said she didn’t know about. After the water was shut off, she relied on bottle water and rainwater collected in a garbage can.
Coleman’s plight had attracted concern, prompting an intervention from City Hall. Detroit officials directed the nonprofit Southwest Solutions to help provide housing and other assistance for Coleman. Her new apartment is rent-free and its utilities are covered.
“I haven’t felt this good in a long time,” Coleman said. “For so long, I just survived. Not thrived. Just survived. People don’t realize what water does to your body and what happens if you don’t have it.”
Help has also been provided to others featured in the newspaper’s December article.
“There’s a need for help out there and … part of our role is to find adequate housing for citizens who need it,” said Gary Brown, director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. “Something that may look like a Water Department issue is really a poverty issue. Whether the city turns water on or off, the underlying problems remain.”
About 40 percent of Detroit residents live in poverty.
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Information from: The Detroit News, https://detnews.com/
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