Charter House Still Not a Home

Residents of the Charter House are still locked out of their homes because of a Nov. 30 basement flood. "It will be after Christmas before people get back into their apartments," Gary Stith, director of the Silver Spring Regional Center, tells The Gazette.

About 230 people--most of them elderly--got the boot when a leaky pipe filled the building's basement with up to five feet of water, NBC 4 News reports. The flood destroyed electrical equipment, making the senior residence at 1316 Fenwick Lane uninhabitable, The Gazette writes.

Displaced residents spent a weekend at the Gwendolyn Coffield Community Center in Lyttonsville. Those who couldn't find accommodations with family were later placed in local hotels, says NBC 4 News.

Last Wednesday, management of the Charter House said it would stop paying for residents' hotel tabs, NBC 4 News reports. Instead, the company would waive December's rent and offer a $1,200 one-shot deal.

The county has since placed some residents in nursing homes, The Gazette writes.

Photo courtesy of Harkins Builders.

"Charter House residents still displaced" (The Gazette)
"Charter House stops paying for displaced residents' hotels" (NBC 4 News)