JACKSON, Miss.—For over a decade, Chante Vaxter has called Blossom Apartments home. This week, amid concerns over deteriorating living conditions and an order from the Mississippi Home Corporation to vacate the complex, she is one of dozens of residents forced to look for a new place to live.
Vaxter was in attendance on Saturday, Aug. 9, as Mayor John Horhn spoke with tenants who are being forced to relocate amid a dispute between the property owner and the water utility company over unpaid bills. The mayor arrived a day after a federal judge ordered JXN Water to temporarily restore water access at Blossom Apartments.
“I feel like I’m homeless,” Vaxter, who uses a motorized chair to get around, told the mayor. “You just can’t move overnight. This is not an overnight thing. I’m in a chair.”
Many tenants like Vaxter initially remained at the property amid the water shutoff in late July, awaiting guidance on next steps. The Mississippi Home Corporation eventually determined that the owner, Tony Little, had fallen out of compliance with the standard of living conditions required for a tax-credit-qualifying property…