CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – During her first week as executive director of the Clarksville Housing Authority, Wanda Allen and her CHA staff had to respond and assist tenants whose Summit Heights apartment units were destroyed by a fire.
Each family has since been put into a new unit. Most families were relocated within Summit Heights, but one family was moved to Greenwood instead. “They were very happy, and we’ve had a lot of people donate, and a lot of people wrap their arms around them,” Allen told Clarksville Now.
An insurance claim has been filed for the apartment building, and CHS is waiting to see what their next move can be.
“We’re actually going to be remodeling a bunch of units anyway, so we’re going to lump (in) having that whole building remodeled with the others. We may have to use a different contractor though, because there is a lot more work that needs to go into that one,” Allen said.
‘Clarksville’s always great about coming together’
Allen said seeing the CHA staff mobilize the way the did while going through a transition, she was happy to call them her team.
“Most leaders don’t bond with their employees as quickly as that happened, but we had to. We had four families that needed to be placed, those four families were living out of a hotel for almost a week,” Allen said. “We had to coordinate services with different city and county entities, which included an ambulance because one of our families wasn’t mobile.
“We had to get all that coordinated, and the city government helped, the county government helped; it was just a great thing. Then, the (CHA) staff worked until late that night, then they came in on Saturday to make sure all the families had food for the entire weekend. We got the Red Cross deployed, and the staff helped the Red Cross. We came together really quick for what was my first week on the job.”
“I’m seeing some very positive changes here at the (Clarksville) Housing Authority. I want to show the community the things that we are doing, and I want them to be able to see it with their own eyes.”
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Allen said that the Clarksville community is always great about coming together during a crisis. “It’s a different type of place, and I’m glad to call it home, but for these four families the community came together, even individuals. We had a sponsor donate $500 per family,” she said. “One thing that is hard to come by are hospital beds. We had a whole brand-new hospital bed donated.”
YAIPAK Outreach, among other nonprofits, made sure the families had additional items that were needed following the crisis.
Campaign for renters’ insurance
Allen highlighted the importance of renter’s insurance for Clarksville Housing Authority tenants. “Please get renter’s insurance. A lot of people don’t think that when you live in our housing that you don’t need renters’ insurance. That is absolutely not true,” she said. “We are not personally allowed to replace any personal items.
“So, we’ve actually started pushing a campaign; we’re putting it all over our social media, we’re putting it all over our newsletters, and we’re talking to our customers about it every time they come in to recertify: Please get renter’s insurance.”
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