Dozens of senior residents in Brooklyn Center are scrambling to find new housing after being told this month that the facility where they live is being sold and will close.
Residents of Earle Brown Terrace learned in a May 1 letter that their leases and home-care services are being terminated due to the June 15 closure, a decision that management officials say partly stems from years of low occupancy.
That gives them six weeks to leave — a timetable that their families are decrying as too tight to find new housing, especially for residents who are low-income, have disabilities or may lack relatives to help them.
Recent days have brought emotional goodbyes and gatherings as neighbors anticipate the quiet exodus from Earle Brown Terrace, which offers independent and assisted living to seniors.
Some families are quick to praise staff efforts to help residents navigate their options, but many describe the quick time frame as a hardship and say they wonder whether building managers could have let them know sooner.
The news has left 73-year-old resident Johnetta Dysart grieving the loss of friendships, as her neighbors disperse to different facilities.
"I'm angry," Dysart said. "This is my home and they are taking it away from me."
The retired social worker said she isn't upset the building is being sold, as "people have a right to do other things with their properties."