apartment meeting
SHREVEPORT, La. - With utility cutoffs less than two weeks away at several Shreveport apartments, tenants of those complexes attended two more meetings Monday aimed to offer them relocation help. 
 
Water at The Pines, Villa Norte and The Jolie apartments will be disconnected May 31 due to unpaid water bills, leaving hundreds of residents in search of a new home.
Jolie apartments
 
Many residents are still desperate for help.
 
"I recommend nobody will have to ever, ever live like this. You know, do the things that we're going through. We are trying to do better. We just in a situation to what we cannot do better right now. We all have a cry right now for help," said Tracey Collins, Jolie Apartments resident.
 
Around 60 people showed up to Friday's relocation meetings, 30 of them have found new homes. Monday's additional meetings were set up to help residents who couldn't make the previous meeting or didn't have the correct documents last time.
 


"So, they'll be able to place them at different apartment complexes based on, you know, what they can afford to live at. That's a better living condition than where they are now," said Billy Anderson, Power Coalition Northern Louisiana organizer.
 
Residents filled out an application that will help identify the their needs, whether that's finding a new home, getting moving services, or supportive services like SNAP or Medicaid.
 
"We're trying to make sure that every family gets moved with dignity and respect,  and we are hoping families will come out and, you know, get those units so, when that water is shut off, that we don't have a crisis,  we don't have families, you know, struggling," said Verni Howard, Providence House executive director.
 
Once a family finds a place to live, they will get more help. The city, state, and private donors have given money to cover application fees, deposits, rent through the month of June, and utility connections.
 
This relocation effort is being run by nonprofits across the area and led by Providence House.
 
Residents of any of the three apartments who still need help should contact Providence House at (318) 221-7887.
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