Resource fair held at Greenbelt Place Apartments on Saturday
The fair was held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.
TOLEDO, Ohio — Saturday was a day of giveaways, food, and live music at the Greenbelt Place Apartments, which was home to a resource fair held by Lucas County Children Services. The goal of the fair was to connect residents with resources to improve their quality of life, while also preventing additional issues at the apartment complex, which recently failed its HUD inspection with a score of 36 out of 100.
Robin Reese, executive director of Lucas County Children Services, says today is all about prevention, while also changing the perception many residents have about children services and their role in the community.
“We are moving toward prevention. Child protection will always be needed, but you know what, it is not sustainable for us to take in thousands of children in our care, when that can be prevented by just doing upfront work,” said Reese. “Even on television, we’re portrayed as that mean, protagonist that comes and takes children, but that’s not what we’re about. We have moved so past that.”
Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken says that his goal is that residents know they’re seen and heard, as well as that the owners of the complex take action on the property, which has no stairway doors, issues with pests, a high number of calls for service, and so many other issues.
“This community at the Greenbelts has been disinvested in and ignored and disrespected too long. What we’re trying to show the community is we’re here now,” said Gerken.
Rene Campos, managing partner at Eureka Holdings, the company that owns the Greenbelt Place Apartments, was in Toledo this week to meet with city officials and discuss potential solutions to bring the complex back up to a passing grade, which according to HUD, is an 80. Gerken says Campos is all talk, no action.
“Too little, too late. I’ve seen guys like that. I’d love to give everybody a chance, but I think it’s the community that takes this project over right now. It’s good for a guy from Texas to come up and say ‘I’m gonna do it’, but where’s he been? We’re here everyday,” said Gerken.
Gerken adds that he and the county commissioners want to ensure every resident of the complex is living in adequate conditions, and that may just mean putting up millions of dollars to do it.
“We’re poised to invest millions of dollars into housing support. We’re ready to do that, to invest millions. And if we have to invest millions here, we’re ready to do it,” he added.
I’ll continue to follow this story as changes are made at the complex. For updates, be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
