MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People living at Memphis Towers continue to fight to see their living conditions change for the better.
Tenants met on Sunday to work on a plan for to get consistent hot water and to discuss their safety concerns.
"I got a million and one traps…They in there like they pay rent," Memphis Towers tenant Esther Williams said.
With the weather getting hotter, tenants are finding their living conditions to be unbearable.
"Get rid of the pest, rats, and roaches. We pay too much money. We don't even have pest control here," Williams explained.
There is also no consistent hot water, and to add to that list, safety has been another issue they have been tirelessly working to fix.
"They just got rid of everything that makes a home safe," tenant Yvonne Collins said.
Yvonne Collins who has lived at Memphis Towers for nine years said she feels like Millennia Housing Management, which is the company that owns Memphis Towers and four other apartments in the area, has failed her.
"We were on a hot elevator for 45 minutes. This man shoved me from in front of the door in the back wall, poked me in the forehead, had me in the corner…and when I tried to move, he gets all in my face, 'Ima hurt you, Ima hurt you,'" Collins explained.
Residents met with the Memphis Tenants Union, which is an organization of renters who fight for safe, affordable, and secure housing.
The group has been meeting with Memphis Towers tenants every Sunday since last fall to strategize on their approach to hold leaders accountable.
Organizer Alex Uhlmann said they also make tenants aware of their rights.
"Memphis Towers actually gets a lot of money in the form of tax cut dollars and federal money from HUD. The conditions aren't representing that fact and what the tenants are entitled to through government money, so we're trying to make sure all that happens," Uhlmann said.