Melissa Ross
A chastened Tennessee pastor and nonprofit CEO has promised to make a laundry list of fixes at a troubled Jacksonville Section 8 housing complex after media reports uncovered deplorable conditions at the city’s notorious Westside Eureka Garden complex.
“I am not a slumlord,” said the Rev. Richard Hamlet during an appearance on WJCT’s First Coast Connect.
Hamlet, a Baptist minister, is the head of Global Ministries Foundation, the nonprofit that owns the apartment complex.
Eureka has long been known for high crime and unsafe living conditions. Recent inspections found mold, pest infestations, and other code violations. Residents have had to be treated at local hospitals for gas poisoning. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, upon touring Eureka Garden recently at the insistence of local activist Denise Hunt, called conditions at the community “heartbreaking.”
Global Ministries has come under fire for its management of other HUD properties in Memphis and Atlanta as well.
Hamlet, who met Monday with local and federal officials at Jacksonville’s City Hall, says he’s committed to improving the situation on the ground for the local tenants.
“These properties are very management-intensive. We have to build a better relationship between our management team and our residents. We bought properties that have been historically troubled, and we came in to generate a sustainable business model with the HUD federal subsidy, and a plan of action to empower the residents.”
Records show Hamlet earned $485,000 in 2013 running Global Ministries Foundation. He took issue with callers’ criticisms that his high salary and spotty management record of HUD properties does not comport well with a man of faith.
“We should not be prejudiced against because we are faith-based. The residents are our priority, and we want them to have safe, decent housing.”
