Tenants wait for answers about persistent problems at their affordable senior apartments.

When HumanGood, the nonprofit corporate owner of the 200-unit Pacific Meadows apartment complex off Carmel Road for very-low-income seniors – many are in their 70s, 80s and 90s – cut back on janitorial services, the carpets in the hallways became filthy. At a town hall meeting in June, attended by over 60 tenants, a HumanGood representative suggested a solution: Help us out, vacuum in front of your own apartment. Tenants were incredulous.

A month later, the carpets are still filthy despite a promise at the June 1 meeting they’d be cleaned.

That’s just one of a long list of issues residents have with HumanGood, which bills itself as the largest senior housing provider in California and the sixth-largest in the U.S. The company was a merger of sorts in 2019 between a Baptist and two Presbyterian organizations providing affordable senior housing – Pacific Meadows was part of the Baptist group. Residents say many issues arose after HumanGood took over. Last year, the situation reached a boiling point when a tenant died inside her apartment and wasn’t discovered until more than a week later.

Residents’ persistent calls to local and state officials resulted in the town hall meeting on June 1, moderated by a representative from the nonprofit organization ECHO Fair Housing, and attended by representatives from the County of Monterey, California State Sen. John Laird’s office, County Supervisor Mary Adams office, as well as HumanGood. They met inside the community room, which used to be a regular gathering spot for lunches and social events until HumanGood managers ended them, or refused to reinstate them after the pandemic.

Other problems listed by residents included moldy apartments, clogged rain gutters, problems with garbage disposal, a lack of front-office staff and not enough generators.

Residents also complained of disrespectful employees. When one woman asked HumanGood representative Kenetta Jackson if specialized staff training could be provided to remedy attitudes, the audience loudly applauded. We’re not here to complain, the woman said: “We’re here because we want to be able to live peacefully with each other.” (Jackson did not answer the question, later replying, “Respect goes both ways.”)

Jackson told residents that cuts have been made in staffing levels, janitorial services and other maintenance because of vacancies at the complex, which has reduced revenues. “I can’t hire six people to help us if we don’t have the funding,” she said.

How many vacancies exist was not clear; estimates by residents range from 10-to-20 vacant apartments. A HumanGood spokesperson was unable to provide information about vacancies by the Weekly’s deadline. During the meeting in June, Jackson said they had made progress on the length of vacancies, yet she reported vacancies lasting as long as 245 days, or eight months, despite a waiting list of approximately 500 names. Jackson said they needed to hire an occupancy specialist and blamed a lengthy process to determine which applicants meet income requirements.

At the end, Jackson agreed to cleaning the carpets, clearing rain gutters and hiring an occupancy specialist. A month later, a representative of a tenants’ group says the carpets have not been cleaned and the specialist has not been hired; she is unsure about the rain gutters. Before the town hall ended, Jackson agreed to a follow-up meeting, but it’s still not clear when that might happen.

Residents report after the town hall the company sent out a satisfaction survey asking for input.

One month before the incident with the tenant dying, the California Department of Housing and Community Development inspected Pacific Meadows and found “a lack of onsite property management and unit maintenance.” In September, a spokesperson for HCD said that HumanGood had cleared the findings and was in good standing. On June 30, an email from the HCD media office said that a new inspection is planned based on a recent inquiry.