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TWO PERSONAL STORIES
Two of the most powerful voices in efforts to save the Ninth
Street community in Wenatchee have been those of Molly Littrell
and Teresa Zepeda.
Molly Littrell
When Molly was 60, she decided to use her savings to buy her
home. She is 71, and has lived at Ninth Street for seven years.
“I figured that I would live here for the rest of my life,”
Molly says.
“I never realized that this trailer court would be sold. No one
is really against the fact that the city wants to take advantage
of as much of the riverfront property as possible—there’s going
to be a lot of very high-priced condos built all along this
street. Unfortunately my trailer is one of the questionable
ones. It’s in good shape, but it had a pitched roof put on, and
it’s not clear that it can be moved with that roof on it.
This park (photo at right), which runs along
the Columbia River in Wenatchee, lies directly to the
east of the soon-to-be-relocated Ninth Street Mobile
Home Park. Affordable manufactured housing communities
in attractive locations like this are under
increasing pressure in our state.
“I went back
to school and graduated with computer skills. I have gone back
to work, and I’m not in the same position as many women here who
are living alone on Social Security. If my trailer can’t be
moved, I would have to have it destroyed.
“I’m really okay with that. I did a lot of work on it, I
really would hate to lose it, but I know I’ll be okay. But I’m
just one person.
“The big problem is, there just is no available low-income
housing. I do have to say the Kamkon people have been extremely
nice. Whether or not my trailer can be moved, I hope for the
rest of the people here.”
Teresa Zepeda
Teresa, her husband, and their three children have lived in
Ninth Street for four years. They are still paying a mortgage on
their manufactured home. One of Teresa’s biggest concerns is
that in any move, her kids might be uprooted from their school.
“We feel alone, because we would like to be part of this
community,” Teresa says. “My family, we are low income, we don’t
have enough money to buy a good, affordable house, safe and
secure. It is almost impossible for us. The city is growing
up—and that’s great. But we are living here, we are families, we
have kids, and this is the only thing we have: our mobile homes.
I think and I feel, although we are poor, Wenatchee should have
space for us. We are human, too.
Many children live with their families in the Ninth
Street Mobile Home Park in Wenatchee. They’re heading to
school (photo on right) on a morning in early May. “I have noticed that some neighbors are leaving now. If some
people have enough money, they can move their homes or buy
houses. For the majority of us—we can’t.
“The sad thing is we can find a place to put our mobile home
closer to the orchards. But I feel we are part of this
community, we need the schools, and the services—we would like
to be involved in all the things this community has.”
PRESERVATION EFFORTS
| KEYS TO SUCCESS
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TWO PERSONAL STORIES |
