CLEVELAND — Earlier this month, over 100 people living in Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park learned they will have to move out by September 2024 so the area can be turned into more green space.
Many residents are fighting back against the decision, saying it’s not fair to force them out of the place they call home.
The Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC) bought the land the mobile homes sit on last year, and have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintenance since then.
WRLC communications director Jared Saylor said the team created a plan to turn the space into a park to benefit the greater community, but many residents, including mother and daughter Mary Johnson and Brochelle Baker, said it’s unfair.
“It feels like you’re being robbed of everything you’ve worked for,” Baker said.
“And everything you hoped you’d ever have,” Johnson said.
Money’s always been tight for their family, but the announcement that they’ll be forced to move out of their homes has them even more concerned about budgeting than normal.
Living in an affordable trailer allows them to splurge on things every so often, but with the threat of displacement hanging overhead, they’re worried they won’t be able to afford occasional outings in the near future.
“Being homeless is one of the biggest fears I think we all have,” Johnson said. “No place to go. No affordable place to go.”
Johnson has lived at Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park for over a decade and said she bought the home with the intention of retiring there.
Their family has been through many struggles, at some points living in homes with no shower and relying entirely on foods like ramen and peanut butter and jelly to get through the week.
Baker said buying their trailers and leasing the land they sit on has gotten them to a better place.
“I felt like a success, like we finally did it,” Baker said. “Everything we didn’t think we could accomplish back then, we’ve done. We did it. And now somebody wants to look at us and go ‘Start over again.’ ”
Saylor said WRLC is partnering with several other organizations to ensure the tenants are relocated within the community.
“We want to make sure that in every way possible, that we can provide them with resources,” he said. “That we can ensure that they’re not going to be out on the street. That we can help them make that transition from the mobile home community to new housing within the neighborhood.”
But for Johnson and Baker, the investments and memories they’ve created in their homes are irreplaceable, and they are devastated that the life and community they’ve built in the mobile home park is being ripped away.
Although it seems unlikely they’ll be able to stay, Johnson said she’s hoping for a miracle and won’t go down without fighting for her community.
WRLC said they’ll pay the tenants fair market value of their mobile homes and assist with moving expenses.
