WEYMOUTH, Mass. — Several Weymouth seniors had been stuck in their apartments for nearly a week after the elevator in their building broke down last week.
The only elevator at Cadman Place, a three-story Weymouth Housing Authority property for the elderly and disabled, went out last Wednesday, leaving Joyce Yerkey, a 79-year-old resident who relies on a walker to get around, isolated in her second-floor unit.
“I’m not going to cry, but yes, it’s been very scary,” Yerkey told Boston 25 News Tuesday. “If there were to be a fire or any kind of disaster, I couldn’t get out of the building. I can’t get down the steps.”
Weymouth Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Flaherty told Boston 25 News, after the elevator broke down Wednesday night, the agency put in a request for parts Thursday morning. The agency did not name the elevator company, but Flaherty said Tuesday they were awaiting one final part – a pump – and he was “hopeful” it would arrive Wednesday for the replacement to begin immediately.
Yerkey, who has lived in the building for about 10 years and has otherwise had a positive experience, said she and her fellow residents want a timeline for repairs or at least some communication from management.
“We’ve asked. We’ve called everything, and everybody that we can think of right down to the governor’s office, and we can’t get any response as to when we’re going to get an elevator,” Yerkey said.
Meanwhile, Yerkey and a few others with similar mobility issues on the top two floors have not been able to get down the stairs for appointments, to visit their families’ homes or simply to socialize with one another.
“We all meet out on the patio and talk almost daily, and it’s good for us to get out there and just chit-chat and get to see people,” Yerkey said. “It’s so much nicer when we do that. And now we can’t get down.”
Yerkey said some residents are attempting the stairs even though medically they should not.
Her daughter, Lisa Dillon, is emotional about the situation her mom and her friends are in.
“It’s so heartbreaking because I felt confident to have her in a handicap-accessible building,” Dillon said. “I felt like she would be safe. And now she’s calling me every day upset saying, ‘I can’t get out. I can’t go see my friends.’ And it’s really hurtful for me, and I feel helpless, like, I don’t know what to do.”
Residents share an update with Boston 25 News that the elevator has been fixed as of Wednesday night.
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