Homeless Families Have Been Moved Out of Moldy Motel Rooms

For months, homeless families were living in moldy rooms at Days Inn, prompting town officials to take the motel to court.

But those families have now been moved out and no more families will be moved into the motel as the state works to phase out the program that uses hotels and motels as temporary shelter. Four of the hotels that are part of the program are in Danvers.

The move was made by officials at the state Department of Housing and Community Development after town officials contacted State Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers.

Speliotis took pictures of the moldy rooms to the associate director of the DHCD, who said they would concentrate on "rehousing" the 18 families in the moldy rooms. That was in early January. Almost all of the families now have been given new places to stay.

"We were excited because the response was excellent," said Speliotis' aide, Bill Bates, said. "All but three of those rooms - (the residents) are out of there."

The number of homeless families at the Days Inn has dropped from 79 families in January to 57 families now, Bates said.

"They committed to the rep that they would not place any more families there," Bates said.

Danvers Public Health Director Peter Mirandi said the mold likely became an issue since the rooms that house homeless families were being occupied day after day.

"Everything these people own is in there," he said, noting the rooms in question were "chronically damp."

In many cases, families are using hotplates and other appliances to prepare food in the room.

"When the use of the room is appropriate the ventilation is adequate," Mirandi said. "The other rooms aren't that bad."

Some of the moldy rooms had residents in them for more then a year straight. Other rooms in the motel have recently received new carpets and other improvements, Mirandi said.

Martha Swindell, a Board of Health member, said she wants to make sure the motel will address the mold problem and not rent the rooms until it is fixed.

There's still a court hearing in the case planned for next week. Mirandi and town attorneys will bring information about the latest developments to the hearing.