The following are responses from residents who were evicted from the Sea Breeze apartments.
Relocation update #1:
I have lived and worked in Cape Charles for quite some time.
I have been employed at a Cape Charles family restaurant for 4 years, but I also worked at Cape Charles prior to their opening.
My four children and I lived at Seabreeze. My rate of pay varied in those years, anywhere from minimum wage to 15 per hour. Sometimes I worked from home as well, selling on ebay to working closely with the recently departed Ray Lewis, affectionately known as Fig. I tell you this so that you can understand the need for low-income housing, especially considering the price of rent/ electricity etc. I was and am still a single mother, and although child support was in place, other parties didn’t pay. Some still owe over 21 thousand. My income alone had to support my family.
What better place to be?! Work was within walking distance, the park, the beach, and the post office, and we took full advantage of all of them. When the ” move ” happened i knew I could not pay rent and support my family. I bought a used camper from the marketplace with money I had saved, and put my camper on a piece of property my brother owns.
My children moved into my mother’s small home. I currently still work in town. My children still live at my mother’s, and I am working on buying this property from him and making it livable. I bought a large tent to also put there with a tent stove for heat, a firepit for cooking and gathering, reasonable accommodations for bathroom use, and showering. With my income tax check and saved funds, I will attempt to afford a working well ( as of right now, we are buying water for all of our water needs, or filling up jugs at my brother’s or mother’s).
Seabreeze had a faulty heat / ac system, which had us spending more money as there was always an issue, low maintenance on the building itself, rodents, and several outbreaks of bedbugs. Usually, the computer system wasnt working, and so at times I had no idea what my rent actually was ( as it fluctuates based on income).
This was no fault of management, but the fault of the people put in place above management. I realized this when we began running through quite a few managers.
The tenants are not free from their accountability either, and we are all guilty of this.
Some didn’t use Seabreeze as a stepping stone but as a home, getting very comfortable there. Others didn’t value the property or the location. I do know those who stayed until the very end had options, given resources for loans, Section 8, etc.
I left before that time. I didn’t waste time. I took the money I had and bought storage containers, a U-Haul, and the camper and tent.
I know of one family who had to relocate across the bay to another housing development. One of their kids is not adjusting well.
I miss being with my family every night, but I’m working to remedy that.
My mother’s house is small, and often times mother’s and their oldest daughters simply do not do well living under the same roof.
I do still see my kids often, but it’s simply not the same. I should not have gotten comfortable there.
Yet even now ( and this discussion has come up often), I could not afford to pay rent and maintain support of them. I make more than 15 now, but I also work 11-hour days. It’s not the pay rate but the hours that give me the paycheck.
Sometimes at Seabreeze, I was on foodstamps, sometimes not. I haven’t been on foodstamps now for years. Food is expensive. I still often frequent the food boxes ( so helpful).
Displaced but hopeful through hard work and fierce determination.
Response #2:
It has been really hard on my family my name is Jessica Saleh. I lived in apt 11 when this happened. We were pushed over to Virginia Beach. My kids have been bullied, my daughter has been kicked out of public school for defending herself and fighting the bullies it has been really depressing for my family. We are still trying to adjust. We really miss Seabreeze Apt. My kids wish that they could come back. Everyone in Seabreeze was family to us. This was very sad for all the families.
About the Author
I applaud you both for sharing how being displaced from Seabreeze has affected your lives. I’ll keep you both in my prayers, thank you so much for sharing, please keep speaking up. Can either of you give any details as to how Seabreeze got in such disrepair to become condemned? Do you think that it was allowed to deteriorate in order to sell the property for more money than what the owners were getting from low income residents living there? Do you think the same will happen to Myrtle Landing?
I think the more we discuss this in public spaces, the less CORRUPTION CAN HIDE ITS EVIL UGLY FACE.
The first response person was not a part of anything that happened with the people having to leave in 2 (not 3) hours. She had already been evicted for non payment of rent, material non compliance (destroying the unit,etc). Simply a non factor in this discussion. Response number 2 is quite honest. Basically she was bullied into moving across the bay because she couldn’t find a place right away. The 2 hour thing was heartbreaking for all concerned. 3 of those residents were senior citizens (2 of them are now residents of Myrtle Landing). Residents were told the buildings were ” not structurally sound). When the property was in the process of being sold,however, the buyer’s inspector said they were structurally sound. Of course, it was said all along that it was a land grab by money people who invade Cape Charles and try to change everything and erase history.
Thank you for having the courage to share your heartbreaking experience with being evicted from SeaBreeze apartments. And thank you to the Mirror for giving them a platform. It must have been terrifying to be told, at around 5 p.m., on a dark February evening, that you had 3 hours to get out, because your home was not safe. Especially those of you with children. I don’t know if, retroactively, there is a way to make this right for you, but hopefully, by you sharing your story, and a light being shined on what is happening at Myrtle Landing, the same thing will be prevented from happening to those residents. In the 80s, when no one wanted to live in Cape Charles, it was good enough to build section 8 housing here. Now that everyone wants to live in Cape Charles, some people think it is too good for section 8 housing. Shame on those people.
AMEN JULIE AMEN‼️🙌🫂🫶🎯👏💯
The value of the almost beach front property is the guiding light of all all of what’s happened and what’s going to happen.
Big Bucks Developers
Nothing personal. Just busine$$.
Good luck getting any respect or justice.
WRONG ‼️GENTRIFICATION IS VERY PURPOSEFULLY PERSONAL‼️