MONROE - Some longtime residents at Churchill Woods Apartments think the past nine months of redecorating and landscaping were just what their community needed.
"The gazebo and bricks ... it's really nice. She's doing a wonderful job of fixing things up," said Helen Hefty, a 14-year resident at the apartments.
Hefty was speaking of Cindy Johnson, who last September became executive director of the City of Monroe Housing Authority.
"In the last nine months, we completely re-did almost everything inside and out," Johnson said. "People come in here and can't believe the change. We're asking people to come in and take a second look."
Every community room has been repainted and redecorated in brighter, modern colors. New carpeting and home furnishings have replaced the 1960s motif. Landscaping included removing older trees that blocked the sun and the view from the street, and new walkways and flowering plants encircle the building.
A sprinkler system has been completed after more than two years, and 32 security cameras monitor the hallways and common areas.
Little touches, like a globe, are being added as residents request them.
"I love it - we've got it too nice," said Gertrude Goecks, celebrating 18 years in the apartments. "It needed a woman's touch."
Not everyone has taken a heightened interest in the changes, but even they have noticed a difference.
"I ain't paid that much attention to it," Lawrence Conaway, a 16-year tenant, said about the remodeling inside. "They took the trees out and put new ones in, and they have half-way decent benches out here."
Conaway, Hefty, Goecks, and Hilda Henderman, a resident for almost 20 years, sat in front of the apartments last week taking in the new look of their home.
After 40 years of being in the community, Churchill Woods, just off 8th Street on 13th Avenue, still is misunderstood, Johnson said.
"We are not an assisted living facility," she explained. But the staff takes time for elderly and disabled residents who ask for even minor help.
"They may come into the office for help with an earring," Johnson said.
The new look is more than just a pleasant change for residents.
"We want to be seen," Cari Feldt, the new assistant director, said about the landscape. "We want to be put back on the map."
In July 2008, representatives from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development looked at the apartment building and told the city's Housing Authority Board it needed more "curb appeal," meaning an upgrade or a new building.
With a $115,000 grant through the ARRA (American Restoration and Recovery Act) and funds in the bank, renovations began, and a whole new staff was assembled. Besides Johnson and Feldt, Paul Mudgett was hired as maintenance director last fall.
And some previous residents, who had moved out because of the run-down condition of the building, returned. Of the 85 apartments for rent, only five are open.
"The gazebo and bricks ... it's really nice. She's doing a wonderful job of fixing things up," said Helen Hefty, a 14-year resident at the apartments.
Hefty was speaking of Cindy Johnson, who last September became executive director of the City of Monroe Housing Authority.
"In the last nine months, we completely re-did almost everything inside and out," Johnson said. "People come in here and can't believe the change. We're asking people to come in and take a second look."
Every community room has been repainted and redecorated in brighter, modern colors. New carpeting and home furnishings have replaced the 1960s motif. Landscaping included removing older trees that blocked the sun and the view from the street, and new walkways and flowering plants encircle the building.
A sprinkler system has been completed after more than two years, and 32 security cameras monitor the hallways and common areas.
Little touches, like a globe, are being added as residents request them.
"I love it - we've got it too nice," said Gertrude Goecks, celebrating 18 years in the apartments. "It needed a woman's touch."
Not everyone has taken a heightened interest in the changes, but even they have noticed a difference.
"I ain't paid that much attention to it," Lawrence Conaway, a 16-year tenant, said about the remodeling inside. "They took the trees out and put new ones in, and they have half-way decent benches out here."
Conaway, Hefty, Goecks, and Hilda Henderman, a resident for almost 20 years, sat in front of the apartments last week taking in the new look of their home.
After 40 years of being in the community, Churchill Woods, just off 8th Street on 13th Avenue, still is misunderstood, Johnson said.
"We are not an assisted living facility," she explained. But the staff takes time for elderly and disabled residents who ask for even minor help.
"They may come into the office for help with an earring," Johnson said.
The new look is more than just a pleasant change for residents.
"We want to be seen," Cari Feldt, the new assistant director, said about the landscape. "We want to be put back on the map."
In July 2008, representatives from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development looked at the apartment building and told the city's Housing Authority Board it needed more "curb appeal," meaning an upgrade or a new building.
With a $115,000 grant through the ARRA (American Restoration and Recovery Act) and funds in the bank, renovations began, and a whole new staff was assembled. Besides Johnson and Feldt, Paul Mudgett was hired as maintenance director last fall.
And some previous residents, who had moved out because of the run-down condition of the building, returned. Of the 85 apartments for rent, only five are open.