On Saturday afternoon, families and seniors who had been living at the Economy Hotel in Roswell grew damp from drizzling rain as they rushed to move loads of personal belongings from their rooms to the back seats of cars.
The hotel residents had only a few hours left, until 5 p.m., to move before they would be forced off property by city officials and hotel security.
Last week, the city of Roswell issued an emergency order to abruptly shut down the hotel citing unsafe living conditions, including nonfunctional fire alarms, exposed wiring, structural decay, a nonworking elevator with no alternative accessible options and water intrusion.
The safety violations were discovered by Roswell’s fire marshal after police had responded to a call at the property reporting potential criminal activity. Responding to that call, police arrested six men accused of sex trafficking and drugging two young girls.
Those living at the hotel, which according to one resident included more than 100 families and seniors — some of whom had lived there for years — were given notice Tuesday that they would be forced to leave by Saturday. They had less than five days to figure out their next moves.
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
The Economy Hotel, and others like it, have served as emergency housing for people who find themselves in a financial bind. When individuals or families lack the deposit money, application fees or lump-sum monthly payments for traditional housing, extended-stay hotels like the Economy offer an opportunity to pay as they stay.
“Once you get sucked into staying at a hotel, it’s hard to get out,” said Sheronda Robertson, 35, who has been living at the hotel with her four children — ages 12, 11, 5 and 4 — for more than a year. Robertson has been a resident of the Economy Hotel off and on for 17 years, since she was a teenager, she said.
She described a cycle of playing financial catch-up to pay the daily rates at the hotel, plus frequent late fees, that stack up and make it difficult to ever get ahead.
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
On Saturday, she sat in the passenger seat of a U-Haul van that her hotel neighbor had rented to help them both move out their families. In the back of the cargo van, Robertson’s 12-year-old daughter, McKenzie, lounged on the aluminum floor with the family’s pet dog, Winter.
McKenzie is just one of roughly 30 to 40 kids who were living at the hotel, Robertson said.
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
“During the daytime you’d usually see nothing but kids running around,” Robertson said. “You’d see all the grown folks bunched up, standing around, probably screaming at the kids. We all banded together to watch the kids.”
Robertson recently welcomed 15 children to her home at the hotel to celebrate her 4-year-old’s birthday party. The kids are sad to be leaving, she said.
“My oldest son, him and his best friend, they were both crying. They thought that they weren’t going to see each other anymore,” Robertson said. “That’s their main concern.”
Robertson has bigger concerns.
On Saturday afternoon, she still did not know where she would be taking her family. She doesn’t own a car. Her two youngest were being cared for by their grandmother for just one week to give her an opportunity to figure out what’s next.
She is at the tail end of her training to be a home health aide while working several part-time jobs, including as a clerk at Circle K; doing hair, nails and tattoos; and training dogs. She is also her mother’s caretaker.
Her family will likely end up at another hotel, she said.
Nonprofit workers, some of whom have sat under a tent in the Economy Hotel parking lot over the past several days, have been trying to help.
The Drake House, a nonprofit that empowers women and children experiencing homelessness, gave Robertson a gift card for moving expenses. The City of Roswell reportedly gave $25,000 to The Drake House to assist. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has not independently confirmed this.
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
Credit: Danielle Charbonneau
St. Vincent de Paul’s Motel to Home Program, which helps families with deposit and move-in costs once they find available housing, has also connected with some residents. The Fulton County School District reported assisting 22 students who had been living at the hotel. It is unclear how the district helped.
In addition to nonprofit workers, there were others at the hotel to help Saturday.
Parked next to Robertson’s moving van, George Carter, a field service supervisor for Fulton County Animal Services, sat behind the wheel of his work truck. Carter and members of his team were on site to help with animals that either needed transport or were left behind. His department reported roughly 30 animals were living at the hotel, mainly dogs.
As a father of six, Carter said it was hard to watch families scramble under the circumstances.
“It’s kind of sad,” he said. “But the police department have got to do their job.”
City officials said the hotel shutdown was critical.
“When you become aware of a situation where a building may have some serious issues, you want to move people as quickly as possible,” Roswell City Administrator Randy Knighton said in an interview with Fox5.
Robertson, however, wasn’t as sure.
“They dropped a bomb on us,” she said. “They already know we wouldn’t be here if we had anywhere else to go. … This whole thing has been so rushed. … They don’t understand.”
The Drake House has started a fund for those affected by the Economy Hotel shutdown.
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