HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. — Some residents at the Rosewood Station apartments said a broken elevator has left them stranded for more than a month. Older residents with health issues either can’t walk downstairs, or struggle to get up and down.
"Nobody's really helping," said Colleen McMannis, a tenant at the Rosewood Station apartments.
McMannis said she’s been unable to get downstairs for more than a month, because she is blind in one eye and suffers from sciatica. She said she also has poor depth perception and balance.
She has had to cancel physical therapy appointments twice.
"I've had to cancel three different specialists, doctor appointments twice,” McMannis said. “Because of the elevator."
She said it’s been emotionally and mentally taxing to be stuck in her apartment.
"Depressing,” McMannis said. “And I'm bored, but it's turned into depression."
A woman brings groceries to McMannis and sits with her four times a week. But on days when her caregiver doesn’t come, McMannis is forced to put down pee pads for her service dog to use the bathroom.
"He hasn't been doing well," McMannis said.
She said she has contacted Adult Protective Services, Fair Housing Council of Oregon and other agencies for help. But no one has returned her calls.
Marilyn Vandehey, 76, is also struggling to leave her apartment. She has epilepsy. One of the main reasons she moved into the apartment complex in March was because there was an elevator to her apartment.
She has already fallen on the stairs twice since the elevator hasn’t been operational. The first time, she was carrying groceries to her third-story apartment and was using the heavy bags to stabilize herself.
"One more fall, especially if it was a head, my head, could be the last one I was told," Vandehey said.
Management at Rosewood Station Apartments did not agree to an interview request. Their corporate company, Pedcor Living did not respond to phone calls.
A representative for TK Elevator, the company who maintains elevator service, said repairs were in progress, but did not say how long it would take.
The apartment complex is an affordable housing building, but the Housing Authority of Clackamas County did not respond to interview requests.