PORTLAND, Ore. — Dozens of tenants at an Old Town apartment complex said they feel stranded as its only elevator has been broken for more than a week.
Maybelle Center is a four-story assisted living apartment that houses around 50 tenants, residents said. Without a working elevator, many have struggled to get downstairs and run errands or see family and friends.
"Feels like I'm in jail, trapped," said Babs Jacobsen, a Maybelle Center tenant.
Jacobsen, who is in a wheelchair, has an aortic aneurysm. If it ruptured, she could have internal bleeding.
Jacobsen said that without a working elevator, the only way to get to her third-floor apartment is through an evacuation lift, a chair that goes up and down the stairs. But, she added, the building only has one — for around 50 tenants.
"Most of us are in walkers, wheelchairs and electric chairs," Jacobsen said.
This also isn’t the first time the elevator has broken recently, residents said. In the past year and a half, it has broken four times.
"I feel like we're being abused," Jacobsen said.
She and others worry something bad could happen in the future.
“It's just hard for some,” said Diann White, another tenant. “Quite a few people have a hard time getting up and down."
White has lived at the Maybelle Center for six years and has congestive heart failure. The broken elevator has made it challenging for her to get outside and see her family.
Some residents are now considering moving to another low-income apartment complex.
"It's very dangerous not to have a working elevator with handicapped people," Jacobsen said.
In response, a spokesperson for the Maybelle Center said they understand why the tenants are frustrated. However, they said they are doing everything they can to make repairs as quickly as possible. Elevator technicians have also purchased duplicate parts to ensure similar problems don’t occur in the future.
The apartment complex is also applying for grants to install a second elevator and make long-term repairs.