NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Residents at Madison Towers apartment complex in Madison are speaking out about elevator breakdowns that left disabled and elderly tenants trapped in their apartments for days.
The 11-story complex houses a couple hundred people, many of whom are disabled or elderly residents with housing vouchers. When both elevators stopped working this week, disabled residents became stuck in their apartments, unable to navigate the stairs.
"There are people inside the building that can't get out because of that elevator," said one resident who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation from management.
The man, who lives on the eighth floor, described the physical toll of climbing stairs multiple times daily.
"I've had to walk up eight flights of stairs, that's up and down, and at my age it takes a lot," he said.
Residents expressed frustration with what they see as management's lack of urgency in addressing the problem.
"They don't care about us. It's dollars and cents with them," the man said. "When you guys showed up, that is when they got into gear, not before then."
The resident invited us inside to show us the conditions inside the complex, management asked us to leave the property.
The Metro Development and Housing Agency confirmed they have made several elevator repairs over recent days. A spokesperson said additional parts are expected by Friday for a more permanent fix.
An MDHA spokesperson said they are helping people who live at Madison Towers with food boxes, wellness checks and overnight staff to monitor the elevators.
Have you experienced similar housing maintenance issues that put vulnerable residents at risk? Share your story and help us investigate housing conditions in our community. Contact Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com with your experiences.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
This is a story I immediately went home and showed my boys - young athletes with big dreams. The Vanderbilt football team's success has stolen the spotlight - what I love about Steve Layman's story is he reveals the individual hardships it took to get there. As Clark Lea says, "we all have scuff marks." This team proves perseverance pays off!
- Carrie Sharp
