Community bands together as questions swirl around the housing complex and the effect on its residents.
With dozens of residents at Peppertree Village set to be displaced, stakeholders and elected officials are looking for answers for the 60-unit property.
At the crowded Nassau Council on Aging headquarters on Tuesday, residents said they are grappling with the end of the U.S. Department of Agriculture loan for Peppertree Village. Now the residents, most of whom are disabled or elderly, are facing a potential rent hike and having trouble finding affordable housing in Fernandina Beach.
The USDA loan used to develop the property, located at 1200 S. 15 St., reaches maturity in January 2027. Residents were notified of the change a few months ago.
The property is owned by Hallmark Companies, Inc. Multiple officials and residents said they have received no response from the developer or the USDA.
Residents heard from NCCOA President Janice Ancrum and other agencies providing services for seniors. Ancrum’s plan is to raise about $250,000 to hire a rehousing manager and provide about $2,500 to seniors to help with housing costs. She has raised $55,000 from community members so far, she said Tuesday. The rehousing manager would locate housing options, provide seniors with assistance, walking them through multiple steps of the process like arranging for movers.
Rep. Dean Black attended, as did representatives of U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean and State Rep. Clay Yarborough, and members from the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners and the City of Fernandina Beach.
Resident Michelle Bedecarre said every day counts when looking for and criticized the difficulty and lack of communication.
“I call, I don’t get answers from (USDA) rural development. I’m frustrated because I don’t know who to go to,” she said.
Florida Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Michelle Branham said she’s mentioned to U.S. Aging officials figures that the loans are not “conducive” to long-term rural development if it involves displacing seniors. She spoke to the seniors' “fear and anxiety” of fixed-income seniors potentially moving.
“Some of those (loans) way back in the day were written up this way so that they could develop in rural communities, and they had these caveats,” she said. “At the end of the day, 20 or 30 years later … all of a sudden we have wonderful and vulnerable seniors in our community that are going to have to find another place to live.”
Branham and others thanked Ancrum for grabbing “the bull by the horns.” Ancrum called it a monumental task. Ancrum and her staff have spoken to each resident, she said.
Ancrum said the property owners shouldn’t lose money by allowing people to stay on the property, but she expected better communication with the USDA and area nonprofits.
“Calls and emails to USDA were very unsuccessful,” Ancrum stated.
Ancrum said that of 51 residents interviewed by the NCCOA, 92% have nowhere to go, Ancrum said. Costs include relocation, moving, security deposits, rental assistance and packing. Of those interviewed, she said the average income at Peppertree is $1,400 and the average rent is $336, and $173 in some cases.
“There’s no way around here anywhere that we know of where you can pay $173 a month, but that’s all some seniors can afford,” Ancrum added.
The clock is ticking, Ancrum said. Residents with months to stay at Peppertree were told they would receive a packet to complete, but they haven’t received it yet.
“Being in the public service arena for 43 years, these types of challenges should be addressed first at the local level,” she said.
Nonprofit Changing Homelessness had its Chief of Programs, Will Evans, address short-term housing options. He said it will take a village to provide the resources for residents. He said due to limited vacancies and high costs on the island, residents may have to look in Yulee, Jacksonville and nearby counties.
“This is our call to action, we must keep our seniors housed,” he said.
Aging True is Jacksonville’s equivalent of NCCOA. President & CEO Sam Hall and COO Nicole Egan presented a list of the nonprofit’s Jacksonville affordable housing. He said the agency’s goal is to put residents’ minds at ease.
“You’re not alone. We’re very committed to being a part of the solution during the term of this,” Hall said. “This is just a beginning.”
Marian Moore has been a resident at Peppertree for nearly 17 years. She said her calls hadn’t been returned. She said when the stakeholders left the meeting, the residents of Peppertree would still be struggling.
“Don’t forget about us. We paid our taxes our whole lives. We worked our whole lives,” she said.
UPDATE
Peppertree Village responded to the News-Leader on Wednesday afternoon with the following statement:
"We remain committed to ensuring residents can continue to call Peppertree Village home without seeing an increase in their out-of-pocket rent. That commitment is at the center of every decision we make and every step we are taking as the USDA Rural Development loan used to build the property reaches maturity in January 2027.
On July 15, we sent residents a letter laying out in detail the plans we have in place to preserve affordability and what they can expect as this process moves forward.
Those plans include proactively pursuing the USDA's Stand-Alone Rental Assistance (SARA) program, which is designed to keep rental assistance in place for residents after a property's loan is paid off. A recent act of Congress strengthens this path by making it permanently possible for properties like Peppertree Village to maintain rental assistance even after the original loan matures, a welcome and favorable development.
Although USDA regulations prevent us from applying until the SARA application window opens in October, we have already begun preparing and intend to submit our application as quickly as possible. We are also in the process of scheduling a meeting with USDA Rural Development ahead of filing to confirm timelines directly with the agency, and we expect more clarity in the weeks ahead. Our focus remains on protecting affordability at Peppertree Village, and we will continue pursuing every available option to keep out-of-pocket rent unchanged."
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Nicole Egan of Aging True addresses the audience at NCCOA