Condemned building now empty. What happened to the poor people living there?

The dilapidated, rat- and cockroach-infested apartment building condemned by Modesto now is empty, with the remaining tenants moving out Friday and workers boarding up the two-story building.

A few dozen volunteers, social service agency representatives and Modesto and Stanislaus County officials hustled Thursday and Friday to help the roughly two dozen remaining tenants leave. Modesto is paying for two-week stays in motels for tenants who have not found permanent housing and to store their possessions for a month. Arrangements also were made for the safekeeping of their pets. Social service providers will keep working with these tenants on getting housing and other help.

Modesto also is providing tenants with financial help to move into housing. The city will seek reimbursement for its costs from the building’s owners.

The two-story building at 624 Ninth St. consists of 27 studio apartments and provided housing for poor people, including about a dozen children. Rent was $575 or $585 a month. But the building was in squalid condition, including rotting floors, mold, leaking ceilings, holes in walls and floors and problems with the plumbing and electrical.

Officials worried it would be difficult to find tenants homes because of the affordable housing crisis. The city, county and social service providers have worked with tenants for more than a month.

Officials counted 68 tenants living in the building. Jeanette Fabela, the county’s housing and supportive services manager, said 33 found housing, six were placed in motels but will move into housing within three weeks, five went to the emergency shelters at the Gospel Mission and Salvation Army, and the rest are in motels.

“Nobody was displaced on the streets,” she said. “Everyone has shelter, and we continue to work with them. A bad outcome would be if someone ended up on the streets.”

One of the volunteers agreed and was impressed with how the community came forward to help. But Dave Lambert — who leads the Guardian Angels Modesto chapter — also said the city bears some responsibility for letting the building fall into such deplorable shape through lax code enforcement. “This should never have happened in the first place,” he said. “It takes decades for a building to get into this condition.”

Lambert also is the founder of the Homelessness and Poverty Stanislaus Facebook group. The volunteers included Guardian Angels and group members.

City officials disagreed with Lambert’s assessment.

Modesto condemned the building June 29. The building is owned by Turlock residents Steve and Noma Arakelian. Steve Arakelian has said he does not have the money to make the repairs required by the city and has put the building up for sale.

The city posted notices Tuesday morning at the building, telling tenants they had 72 hours to leave before the city boarded up the building. Officials said the city took this step because the building’s condition had gotten worse.

Tenants experienced a range of emotions this week as they prepared to leave. Some teared up as they said while the building was in bad shape, it was their home.

Kelly Huggins lived in the building for five years with Tonya Lopez. She said their apartment had been the first stability she had known in her life for a long time. The couple are recovering addicts. The two were going to a motel, but Huggins was hopeful Friday, especially he said because the city will provide them with about $1,000 to help them move into a home, and they will receive other help.

“We just have to be on the ball and keep looking,” he said. “There has to be something out there. ... I feel a lot better, a better outlook on life.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Condemned building now empty. What happened to the poor people living there?."