PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Seniors living in an affordable housing building in Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood have been without a working elevator for more than a week, forcing some residents to climb stairs or rely on others to carry them between floors.<\/p>\n
The outage at Man An House, a five-story affordable housing building at 9th and Vine streets, has made daily life difficult for many of the elderly residents who live there.<\/p>\n
One caretaker, who spoke anonymously, said he has been helping residents navigate the stairs.<\/p>\n
“It’s just not acceptable,” he said.<\/p>\n
Residents said the elevator has been out of service for eight days, leaving many unable or unwilling to leave their apartments.<\/p>\n
“We said, ‘Oh, you know, might take a day or two.’ Then a day or two turned into a few days, turned into a week. Now we’re over a week, and it’s just crazy that there aren’t really people paying attention to this issue,” the caretaker said. “It’s not just a normal apartment building, it’s 100% seniors, some disabled, a lot non-English speaking who really depend on being able to go out to the community to get food.”<\/p>\n
The elevator was halted last Thursday after a compliance issue was flagged during a routine state inspection, according to the building’s owner, Pennrose Properties.<\/p>\n
The caretaker said the outage has been especially hard on residents with limited mobility.<\/p>\n
“The elderly man on the top floor, he might be able to make it up a flight or two, but after that point, we really have to kind of carry him up. At this point, he just doesn’t want to come out because it’s so exhausting, so we try to do what we can to take care of him by going in whenever we can,” he said.<\/p>\n
Man An House opened in June last year and includes 51 units of fully affordable senior housing. Pennrose, which operates 350 developments in 19 states, said the elevator was taken out of service temporarily to address the compliance issue.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the company said it is “working to immediately address the compliance issue and recertify the elevators for use, with an inspection scheduled for Monday, 3\/2.”<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation said the delay has been due in part to scheduling the required state inspection.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, residents and caretakers say the situation has created hardship and concern.<\/p>\n
“Somebody needs to step in and make sure that it’s working,” the caretaker said.<\/p>\n
He added that some residents may be hesitant to speak out.<\/p>\n
“It’s subsidized housing, obviously, so I can see a scenario where they don’t want to lose their subsidies. They don’t want to make this a commotion. They don’t want to complain,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said he hopes building management understands the urgency.<\/p>\n
“I just hope they treat the elderly as if they’re their own parents or grandparents, you know,” he said.<\/p>\n
Pennrose said it has taken steps to support residents during the outage, including helping carry groceries and implementing a fire watch.<\/p>\n
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