The San Antonio Tenants Union (SATU) held a press conference on Wednesday outside the O P Schnabel Apartments to air its grievances with Opportunity Home, formerly known as the San Antonio Housing Authority.
Opportunity Home said on its website that its mission is to “improve the lives of our residents by providing quality affordable housing and building sustainable, thriving communities.”
SATU leader Maureen Galindo organized the press conference. Several elderly residents stood beside her as she spoke about Opportunity Home's new leadership.
“We got a new CEO — I guess about two years ago — who was supposed to work for the tenants, and include the tenants in their work, and instead they have completely silenced us,” she said.
Galindo claimed that Opportunity Home focused its energy on the expansion of “mostly market-grade development” at the expense of housing tenants. She cited safety and security as the tenants' primary concern.
“This is something that tenants live with every single day, in fear of their own neighbors as well as outside intruders,” she said.
In a statement to TPR, Opportunity Home said it doesn't have the proper funds to provide security, and it relies on San Antonio police for help. "We assist in addressing resident concerns by requesting patrol officers for our communities," the statement added, "providing local SAFFE officer information and encouraging emergency calls to 911 when there is a threat."
“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) does not provide funding for security to any public housing authority in the country, including Opportunity Home San Antonio,” the statement added.
They said that “resources are scarce and any available funding is dedicated to increasing the affordable housing stock in the city to get individuals off of the waitlist.”
Opportunity Home officials also highlighted recent crime rates. "In 2021, the City of San Antonio experienced a 54% increase in homicides and a 55% increase in car thefts, according to San Antonio Police Department statistics," they explained. "Crime continues to affect our city, particularly low-income communities."
Ramon Velasquez, 75, said that he came to support disabled and senior citizen tenants. He’s been a tenant of Opportunity Home for three years. He pointed to more specific problems.
“We have senior citizens in this apartment right here that are disabled. They can’t be out here because some of them have problems getting on the elevator,” he said.
Elderly tenants also said they were concerned about people smoking. Velasquez said he knows a woman on the second floor of his apartment who has asthma and inhales secondhand smoke.
“She has asthma, and at night they’re smoking. Why does she have to go through that when we have a smoking place outside? You go in the back, and there's a patio over there where you can smoke,” Velasquez said.
SATU added in a statement that representatives tried to discuss the issues with Opportunity Home leadership. They said that Opportunity Home's lack of communication ranked alongside safety and security as their leading concerns.
But in an email to TPR, Opportunity Home said it has met with tenants more than 40 times over the past few years.
EDITOR'S NOTE — This updated version of this article includes expanded response from Opportunity Home.
