Senior citizens in Kent, Ohio are fighting an eviction notice at the Silver Oaks apartments for retired persons. Over the summer, an out of state buyer called Capstone informed residents they’d purchased the property to turn into student housing, and that the seniors would have until October 1 to move. Currently, there are still between 40 and 50 residents living in Silver Oaks, but they have heartache on top of housing woes to cope with. Five seniors who called Silver Oaks home died between September 14 and 22, and their friends and neighbors are blaming the eviction notice for their deaths.
“I would just say it was the stress. That’s what I would say. [...] And I’ll tell you what, it was plenty hard on us,” said Sam Mazzolla, a former resident of Silver Oaks for twenty-three years. He and his wife, Mary Lou, recently left Silver Oaks because of Capstone.
Around 20 current Silver Oaks residents bussed from Kent to downtown Cleveland for mediation talks with Capstone last Wednesday. They were joined by Kent City Councilman Robin Turner and Portage County Community Action Council’s director of community outreach Arlyne Habeeb. Everyone had to sign a confidentiality agreement before the mediation, so the outcome of the talks is still uncertain.
“It was very fruitful discussion, ongoing, and that’s all I’m allowed to talk about right now,” said the seniors’ civil rights attorney, Avery Friedman.
Residents who are planning to stay through October may find their standard of living interrupted. Capstone has said that inconsistencies in electricity and water utilities will likely occur as construction on the property begins this month.
“It doesn’t always have to be the bottom line, and that’s all it is here. The bottom line,” said resident and WWII vet Tom Hudak. “People could ask me to move in a cooperative, constitutional way.”
