07-05-2025
Community steps up to help after Gardner apartment condemned
GARDNER, Kan. — While residents at Aspen Place are scrambling after their complex was condemned on Tuesday, their community was also scrambling to get them some help.
The complex was shut down due to safety concerns on Tuesday morning, leaving residents a mere 48 hours to vacate their homes.
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'I can't imagine that,' said Melissa Prins. 'It's completely heartbreaking to think of all those families and they have all walks of life there. They have single parents; they have elderly families. It's just flabbergasting.'
Prins is the director of the Hope Market, a food pantry in Gardner. She's leading the charge on helping residents, and getting resources together from other nonprofits and churches.
'We're going to try and get all of our eggs in one basket to see how we can best help everyone,' she said. Folks are eager to help. 'We've had people walking in off the street going, 'Hey, I heard that this is a need. How can we help?'' said Joey Lang, lead pastor of Grace Baptist Church. 'It makes you proud to be part of Gardner.'
Community leaders along with city officials and law enforcement gathered at Grace Baptist Church, collaborating on what everyone could bring to the table.
'Whether that's moving boxes, whether that's help moving, where there's help getting here, we want to make sure that there is a just a steady flood of resources available to help these people land where they need to land,' Lang said.
The parking lot was packed at the church before the 6:30 meeting on Tuesday. More than 100 people came to see how they could help their neighbors and come up with a game plan to present to residents on Wednesday evening.
During the meeting, two organizations pledged $30,000 each to help put residents up at hotels for the next several days.
Prins and Lang both say the generosity is just part of living in Gardner.
'That's the best thing about Gardner; is everybody just comes together here to help everyone,' Prins said. 'So, I know we can do something great for them.'
Lang said that the community won't let them go through this by themselves.
'If you can find a highlight here in the tragedy, it is the love these people are going to feel from their community that's going to come together and just acknowledge them, see them, and not let them walk this road alone,' Lang said.
While some in the meeting offered hotel rooms, vans, moving boxes and more, Nick Blessing with the Kansas Legal Service was offering legal help.
'This shouldn't have gotten to this point, and I think accountability is necessary here. All of them are being are being removed from this property,' Blessing said. 'And that's and I think there are claims that arise out of just that.'
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The Kansas Legal Service provides legal services free of charge to low-income clients.
'From what I understand, the water system there has not been compliant with code for a long time,' Blessing told FOX4. 'Anybody who started renting their wall, it was in this condition. Aspen Place failed to deliver possession of that rental units in compliance with the law, which means that arguably all or a portion of the rent that those tenants have paid while living there, while it's in that condition, they have a claim for that to be paid back.'
Those looking to help residents at Aspen Place should reach out to Melissa at the Hope Market, or can donate through Hope Market here.
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