Cecilia Welch long dreamed of leaving Ohio for Alaska after her children were grown up, but a small room inside a shelter she shares with her friend and her dog is far from what she imagined.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had this great view of the Gastineau Channel, I loved it,\u201d Welch said while sitting in a plastic chair outside St. Vincent de Paul Society\u2019s temporary housing where she now lives. The only view she enjoys these days is of a dealership lot.<\/p>\n
Welch lived in one of the eight units at the Channel View Apartments on Gastineau Avenue downtown that were affected by a fire April 10. Flames in one of the fifth-floor units created smoke and water damage for at least one unit on every floor below.<\/p>\n
One of those units, Welch\u2019s second-floor apartment, was initially OK\u2019d for continued living until housing manager Tamme Martini said water damage was discovered in the walls. Welch had to leave while her unit underwent construction to remove any possibility of black mold.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been completely gutted, it makes no sense,\u201d Welch said in an interview Wednesday. Unable to see the actual damage, save for some moisture on the walls and ceiling, she said she can\u2019t understand why she had to leave and she has no idea why it\u2019s taking so long to get her back home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the not knowing,\u201d housing manager Martini said, empathizing with the displaced tenants. \u201cI can just feel their emotion and despair, wanting to get back home and get back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
[Seven families displaced after downtown apartment fire<\/a>]<\/p>\n Martini said she keeps in constant contact with all of the families now living out of suitcases and plastic bags because of their displacement. Their frustration levels are building, and understandably so, Martini said, but St. Vincent\u2019s employees are doing all they can at this point. The five remaining displaced families were given rooms to stay in at the Breakwater Inn hotel downtown, but for Welch that wasn\u2019t a reasonable option.<\/p>\n Welch, 61, suffers from spinal stenosis, kidney failure and is battling reoccurring depression. Those ailments require she keep a certain diet that she manages by preparing home cooked meals. In a hotel without a stove or refrigerator, her only option was fast-food, which quickly heightened her health problems. She had to move into a room at the St. Vincent de Paul shelter with her roommate and her dog Roxanne. Now she has a stove, but it\u2019s in a community kitchen across the hall. For someone living with multiple disabilities, even a trip across the hall can be stressful. Nothing, except two beds and clothes, is inside the room she estimates to be 10 feet long and 10 feet wide.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to walk clear to the other end of the building to go to the bathroom that I have a key to,\u201d Welch said. \u201cFor me, walking isn\u2019t the best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n