I-Team

Revere Families Living In Deplorable Conditions

REVERE (WBZ) ― Their homes have been ignored for years. The wood is so rotted in spots, it's falling off the house. Doors are broken and old furniture and trash covers the backyard. Welcome home to Hichborn Street in Revere.

The two dilapidated houses are owned by the Revere Housing Authority. "I would describe it as deteriorating," said Linda Shaw of the Revere Housing Authority.

"Would you want your family living here?" asked WBZ's Kathy Curran.

"No I would not," Shaw replied.

But 12 families do call these places home. Tammy Bellyea is a mother of four. "It's not safe at all. The railings are falling apart... (the) yards are disgusting."

Outside is downright dangerous. And inside, some of the units aren't much better. The conditions are appropriate for slugs, but not for people. "I can't let me son play outside. (He) will fall," said tenant Shirley Caraballo.

Within about an hour of calling the housing authority, the trucks rolled in and the cleanup in the backyard got underway, but these homes are still in disrepair.

"There are some children here," said Shaw. "And if we know that there's children in a place, then I can send somebody out here to do some patchwork to the railings and so forth."

Crews hauled out old furniture and piles of debris. While WBZ was there, Shaw said she'd find these families safer homes. "What we've been trying to do for the last two years is get this resolved, but we've not had very much help from the state."

The state tells WBZ, Gov. Deval Patrick recently signed a housing bond bill which provides $500 million to repair public housing across the state.

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