Note: The CVPost has arranged with Julian Emerson to feature on our home page the early portion of stories that he has written and posted on his Facebook news page. You will find a link to those Facebook stories following the opening paragraphs.
By Julian Emerson
When Krystal and Kenny Buttke were removed two weeks ago from the Eau Claire trailer home where they lived, they had no idea where they would go.
The couple had lived at Maples Mobile Home Park since returning to Eau Claire last summer after three years spent living in Arizona. The trailer park, at 1611 Western Ave. on Eau Claire’s north side, is home to ramshackle units and for decades has been among the city’s least desirable places to live.
The condition of mobile homes there had become so bad, in fact, that last year city officials announced they might close the park.
Still, the Buttkes had little choice but to reside there. The couple subsists on between $1,000 and $1,100 per month, and the $340 monthly rent at Maples, plus the cost of utilities, was all they could afford.
“We knew this wasn’t a great place to live,” Kenny said during a recent interview. “But it was the best we could do.”
Residents survived last winter
Like other Maples residents, the Buttkes survived this past winter at the trailer park, even a period of several days when many homes there were without heat and water, courtesy of overworked, outdated furnaces and frozen water pipes.
However, the trailer they called home didn’t fare as well. Record snowfall piled high on the flimsy, worn-out roof of their trailer and others at the park.
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