By Julian Emerson
One month after they were displaced from their trailer because its roof was buckling and in danger of collapsing, Krystal and Kenny Buttke wound up right back where they started, at Maples Mobile Home Park, despite multiple efforts to help them find alternative housing.
The Buttkes moved back into another mobile home at Maples on Aug. 16, transferring their belongings from the outdated hotel room at Regency Inn and Suites, 1828 S. Hastings Way, they had occupied for the previous three weeks. Prior to that they stayed at a Motel 6 in Eau Claire for a week.
Their return to Maples is a cautionary tale of the difficulties of obtaining housing faced by Chippewa Valley residents on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder, local officials said.
The couple’s immediate reaction to their new dwelling was a mix of elation, relief and frustration. They said they had tired of living out of suitcases and bags in a hotel room and longed for a place they could call their own.
“The trailer we moved into is a lot nicer than the one we were in,” Krystal said during a recent interview while spending time at Positive Avenues, a drop-in day shelter in downtown Eau Claire operated by Lutheran Social Services. “I’m happy to be there.”
However, while the couple is glad for their home in a familiar setting, they said they worry their new residence at Maples, 1611 Western Ave., may be temporary because the run-down trailer park’s future is up in the air. Last year city officials considered closing Maples because of poor housing conditions that endanger the health and safety of people living there.
Ex-lawyer planning to buy Maples
Earlier this month, Scott Kramer, of Chester Heights, PA, announced he plans to buy Maples from its current owners, Reed and Connie Woith, of Florida, who purchased it in 2007. The trailer park is listed for sale for $675,000. Kramer said he plans to close the deal to buy Maples on Oct. 1.
Kramer, who worked as a lawyer, was recently disbarred by the state of Pennsylvania after officials there determined he improperly accessed hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from clients he represented and failed to provide them with competent counsel. That revelation has prompted concerns about Kramer’s overseeing Maples.
Despite that action against Kramer, the Buttkes said they are optimistic he will make investments to improve homes at Maples. He has pledged to replace outdated, unsafe housing there and to make other needed improvements at the trailer park mandated by city officials for it to remain open.
“It seems like (Kramer’s) plans are good,” Kenny said, “if he really does what he says.”
Assistance failed to net housing for Buttkes
The Buttkes also expressed concern about the fact that after a month of trying to find housing themselves, and after receiving the assistance of local agencies and government officials, they were unable to find even one landlord willing to rent to them.
Never mind that the Buttkes (and other Maples residents displaced from their homes) were moved to the top of long city and county waiting lists to receive subsidized housing. Never mind that they received assistance from the Eau Claire County Department of Human Services, the City-County Health Department, state legislators and others seeking landlords willing to rent to the couple and ways to subsidize their rent.
Never mind that the county Human Services Department paid about $300 weekly to house the Buttkes in hotels while they searched for a place to live and wrote a letter of recommendation for the couple.
In the end, despite that multi-agency effort, the couple was unable to land a new residence. So when another trailer at Maples opened up, the Buttkes took it.
The couple said during their month-long search, five landlords showed them apartments. But none of them decided to let the Buttkes rent from them.
No reasons given for turndowns
“We weren’t given any reason,” Krystal said when asked why landlords would not rent to her and Kenny. “They just told us they found somebody else to rent to … It definitely did get frustrating looking and looking and having nobody be willing to rent to us.”
The chief strike against the Buttkes and others in their situation is their lack of income, according to officials with agencies helping them try to obtain housing. The couple subsists on about $1,000 per month. They and others who live at Maples pay $340 monthly, plus utilities, significantly below the average monthly rent in Eau Claire that tops $800.
County officials are working with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office to help Krystal obtain Social Security disability payments she once received but subsequently lost, money that would go a long way toward the couple being able to afford housing. In the meantime, the Buttkes said they simply can’t afford rents at available properties.
During one recent afternoon Krystal and Kenny each scrolled through rental home after rental home on their phones, each asking for more than they can pay.
“There are so many of these that are six-hundred dollars, seven-hundred dollars, eight-hundred dollars, some more than a thousand,” Kenny said. “There is absolutely no way we can afford any of those without help. And there are a lot of people out there like us who can’t either.”
Statistics tell the tale
Statistics show many in Eau Claire and across the Chippewa Valley struggle to afford housing. Recently released figures reveal that Eau Claire County has the second-highest poverty rate, at 14.3 percent, of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, trailing only Milwaukee County.
Forty-six percent of Eau Claire residents either live in poverty or are barely making ends meet and are in danger of losing their housing. According to the American Community Survey, 5.5 percent of Eau Claire households earn less than $10,000 annually, and 37 percent make less than $35,000 per year.
As costs for housing and other living expenses have risen faster in recent years than wages for many, they have a tougher time paying for rentals or homes. A housing shortage in Eau Claire and a rental vacancy rate of just 2 percent means landlords can be picky in deciding whom to rent to.
People with little money face an uphill battle finding willing landlords, as do those with past credit or eviction problems or criminal histories. Several landlords confirmed that situation, saying they often aren’t willing to take chances on people who may not be able to make timely rent payments.
Susan Wolfgram, co-chairwoman of the JONAH (Joining Our Neighbors, Advancing Hope) Affordable Housing Task Force that has worked with Maples residents, urged city and county officials involved with affordable housing to form an emergency housing plan for those displaced from their homes.
More must be done to assist people like the Buttkes and others who often can’t find housing given current conditions. It is not enough to just increase affordable housing stock, she said.
Changes must also be made to current housing criteria that prevent people with little money, poor credit histories, past evictions or criminal records from obtaining housing, Wolfgram said.
“That is what happened with Krystal and Kenny,” Wolfgram said. “We have to find the will to change that system.”
Note: this article was first published on Julian Emerson’s Facebook news page, where it is possible to leave comments if you wish.
The home page photo shows the ceiling in the Buttkes’ first trailer at the Maples Mobile Home Park. The couple was required to vacate the trailer because inspectors feared the ceiling would collapse.