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Mother wants unit painted and new carpet for disabled son

Posted at 8:50 PM, Apr 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-12 20:50:42-04

GREENWOOD — A mother is at her wit's end trying to get a Greenwood apartment complex to provide essential developments for her mentally and physically disabled son's apartment.

The 45-year-old man who has mental and physical disabilities lives independently at Yorktowne Farms Apartments in Greenwood. His unit is Section 8 government subsidized, and he's lived there for 12 years.

His mother says during that time the carpet has not been cleaned or replaced by management. She says over that same time the apartment has not been painted.

"After a while we were told, 'Ok, we'll come sometime and put on a coat of paint. But, again, we're not gonna do anything about the carpet,'" Vicky Vaughn, the 45-year-old's mother, said.

The painting didn't happen. Vaughn says family friends moved furniture, took things off the walls and when it was time to paint the maintenance crew showed up and said her son wouldn't let them in. Vaughn said he was sick.

The painting was re-scheduled for another day and still has not happened.

Vaughn had her story, and the manager of the complex had another.

During the conversation with the manager, she tried to snatch my notebook out of my hand.

Vanessa Dolden would not do an on-camera interview or give specifics about the case, but said, "We take care of our tenants. That's how we operate. We operate by taking care of our tenants."

Vaughn's son has not appeared in this article because his mother says he is vulnerable and people take advantage of that.

"He is vulnerable. He has mental and physical challenges," Vaughn said. "Unfortunately there are people that may take advantage of that and there may be some retaliation."

Another tenant - who wishes to remain anonymous - empathizes with Vaughn's son. This tenant has a traumatic brain injury and says their maintenance complaints seem to be unheard.

"They wouldn't want to be treated that way, and I don't think they would tolerate being treated that way and they shouldn't be treating us that way," the tenant said.

Dolden has the final word and said Yorktowne Farms Apartments is nice and 100 percent occupied.

Vaughn's son receives , and his case manager told RTV6 that she would be filing a report against the complex. The report will say the apartment complex is not adequately addressing the concerns and needs of her client.