PUEBLO — Pueblo City Council approved an additional $50,000 in relief for former tenants of Skyview Apartments during Monday's regular council meeting.
In February, over 80 families were given a three-day notice to evacuate the apartment complex after a water main break. Posada of Pueblo helped secure the first $50,000 allotment last month for residents to cover the cost of hotels. The second round of funding approved Monday will help cover costs for more residents, including hotels, new housing deposits, the first month of rent, moving trucks, food assistance, and more.
Nearly two months after residents were forced out, Posada said 15 families are still searching for permanent housing. Sarah Ford is one of those residents, who is currently staying at a motel after living with strangers.
"Here I am about two months later and it still doesn't seem real. I'm just still kind of in a state of shock over all of it," said Ford.
She said finding an affordable and safe apartment in the area is almost impossible.
"Everything's running approximately $1,000 and I live on my own, so it's kind of hard to qualify for like three times the rent," she said.
Robbin McGarvy and Marcus Bonnici, former tenants of Skyview, said they were lucky to find another apartment quickly after moving out. However, they said they used all of their savings between moving in and paying the higher cost of rent for their new apartment.
"Luckily, we had the money in savings to afford the down payment, the application fee, and the first and last month's rent, otherwise, we would have been living in a car," said McGarvy.
KOAA reached out to Skyview Apartments for comment and a timeline on when repairs on the complex would be completed. We did not receive a response back. Tenants like Ford, McGarvy, and Bonnici said they will not be moving back to the complex after repairs are complete.
"Some of us are still very lost, like, we lost our entire lives and we're still scrambling to pick up the pieces two months later," said Ford.
Posada says former tenants who have already settled into a new apartment can still apply for a portion of the now $100,000 in funds. Posada said they cannot reimburse moving costs but can cover an upcoming month's rent.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
