Shocking images were discovered in one Delray Beach community; families in the Rainberry Woods area were living in mold-infested homes.
The city of Delray Beach said they were made aware of the issues through a new community involvement initiative. The Community Improvement District said they noticed they have a lack of communication between certain families, so they hired employees that spoke different languages.
“Before we had a communication issue and we had a lot of individuals who were afraid and didn’t know what we offered,” said Patrick Adolphe who is the housing rehabilitation specialist.
Adolphe speaks Creole and has been able to help create trust and educate the Haitian population in Delray Beach.
“They thought that a lot of the times when you had the city coming in the city was going to take their house,” he said.
Community Improvement District Assistant Director Jamael Stewart said hiring people who speak different languages has allowed the city to help the community.
“What we said is, let’s connect on their level culturally and let's educate, educate, educate,” he said. “Being able to translate all of our materials that we are sending out to the community.”
The city said creating better communication allowed them to find homes in a community where people were living in deplorable situations with mold-infested homes.
They said they do offer rental assistance programs and even rehabilitation programs. People should contact Delray Beach code enforcement for help.