Greenville Manor in need of repairs

I've sat here from time to time trying to think of the words that would grab someone's attention, someone unafraid, someone who really cares about the residents of Greenville and Smithfield, someone who would pick up the ball and run with it. This is my attempt to find that someone.

Residents need to know what happens, and more importantly, what doesn't. Come election time, we'll hear elected officials brag about what they accomplished and what they would like to, if reelected. And don't forget those who want to be elected for the first time. Promises, promises, promises. We hear scores of them. Residents of Greenville need people who make things happen, someone unafraid to make good things happen.

Those who really care about this town need to take a good, long look at Greenville Manor. The buildings are not really wheelchair accessible. Residents with wheelchairs, walkers or canes find it difficult to manage the heavy entrance doors, especially when struggling with groceries or laundry. Sewer lines block, toilets overflow, but nothing is done to have the infected units and areas professionally cleaned and sanitized. Management's solution: Open the entrance doors to air-dry the carpeting. Forget about having the sewer lines cleared; there's "no money." And so what if bugs take up residence in the units.

Cities and towns across the nation complain about budget cuts, but management at Greenville Manor has used the "no money" excuse long before the nation's crisis. For several years residents have been told the outer buildings would be repaired "in the fall," but that hasn't happened. And each year residents are given the same excuse: "No money."

There is a "board of commissioners". Who appointed them? What is the function of the group? Surely it hasn't been to insure quality of life. One commissioner resides at Greenville Manor and echoes management's answer to complaints: There's no money, or, if you don't like it, move. This mid-50s bully has some nerve, don't you think, telling 80- and 90-year-olds to move? Perhaps she should. How was she allowed to live at Greenville Manor anyway? But let's get back to those "commissioners." Who insures that they and management do right by the residents of Greenville Manor? HUD? Now that's a whole other story. If someone here took complaints seriously, I would not be doing this on a Saturday afternoon.

A defective stove was the reason for a visit by the local fire department because of smoke. Despite several requests by the resident, the stove was not repaired. The resident had left the building, and upon her return, she was harassed by that bully commissioner. I was under the impression that laws protected the elderly from abuse. I guess not at Greenville Manor. Residents have become quite fearful of such attacks, fearful of being evicted, and therefore, remain quiet.

Residents of neighboring Macintosh Estates beware: Greenville Manor's management is on its way to you.

P.S. In March I wrote to Commissioners DePetrillo and Barden. I'm sure my letter was used to start a fire.

Ann Hebert

Greenville