Beyond the Headlines is our twice-weekly newsletter connecting subscribers directly to our journalists. We add context to major stories, go behind-the-scenes, highlight great work from other local outlets or provide more informal snapshots of our community.
On Friday, we introduced you to Lanika Hester and her daughter, Elesia Cooper, two longtime residents of the Park’s Edge apartment complex in Albemarle County. They’ve struggled with conditions in their rental home for years.
Theirs is just the beginning of the story. Today we’re sharing the next installment of this investigation into conditions for renters — and why it’s sometimes so hard for them to get critical maintenance and repairs. Over the past three years, I’ve spoken with seven Park’s Edge tenants as well as pro bono attorneys and community organizers who’ve talked with dozens more.
“For everything that we verify, clients are coming in and telling us other things,” Victoria Horrock, an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, told me.
The “No Way Out” series offers an in-depth look at some of the issues residents have had to deal with in their homes: fetid floods, faulty electricity, roaches, rats, mold, to name a few. It also details residents’ many but often futile attempts to get property management and their out-of-town landlords to take their concerns seriously. They’re frustrated. They feel stuck.
In Albemarle County, Park’s Edge residents endure stinking floods, rat infestations, fire hazards — and a frequently unresponsive landlord
In this report, you’ll get to know JoJo and Rick Robertson as well as some of their neighbors who’ve experienced frustrating, demoralizing and sometimes dangerous conditions in their homes. Attorneys told me that these kinds of stories are not just horrible, they’re common throughout central Virginia and the commonwealth.
Stay with us through the rest of the week. I’ll take you through one tenant’s highly unusual court case and, after that, how local governments can try to protect residents who rent their homes.
If you’re interested in learning more about the series and the work that went into reporting it, listen back to this segment from Sunday’s In My Humble Opinion talk show on 101.3 JAMZ. Thank you, Charles, for having me on!
And since we’re talking about housing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our Housing Resources Guide, designed to point folks struggling with any number of housing issues to helpful resources. It covers programs available for residents of Charlottesville and Albemarle County and is available in five languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi and Pashto).
Should we expand the guide to cover other central Virginia localities? If you think so, here’s an easy way to help us get started.
That’s all for now. Thanks for following “No Way Out” this week.
Erin O’Hare, Neighborhoods Reporter
Here’s a guide for Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents
Are you a renter who needs help? Find local agencies and programs to connect with in Charlottesville and Albemarle County in Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Housing Resource Guide.
Support Charlottesville Tomorrow’s in-depth reporting.
This series is a testament to what can happen when journalists listen to their community, paving the way for change when other systems fail. Investigative journalism is essential to a healthy democracy — it informs citizens, holds institutions accountable and catalyzes action. If you believe these stories deserve to be told, consider donating. Together, we can ensure that more voices are heard and that the stories that matter most do not go untold.
