BOCA RATON, Fla. — A 99-year-old Boca Raton woman who lives on the fourth floor of her building has been left largely trapped in her home during elevator outages — and her family says building management has offered little help.
Norma Schweitzer lives in Guildford-D, a building in Century Village Boca Raton. Her children reached out to WPTV toward the end of a three-week elevator outage caused by a part that needed to be replaced. The repair was made, but now the building is preparing for a separate six-week outage for a full elevator replacement.
WATCH BELOW: 99-year-old trapped in 4th-floor home during elevator outages
Asked what the three-week outage felt like, Schweitzer replied, "Murder!"
"It's boring because nobody's there, but yourself," she added.
Her son, Neal Schweitzer, said the impact on his mother's daily life was immediate and severe.
"Your life stops. You know, a simple thing of my mom going down to the pool and visiting her friends, or going to the doctor, or getting her nails done —she couldn't do it," Neal Schweitzer said. "So it was not good, and there was no place to call, nobody to help. The management was not there for us."
Neal Schweitzer said he and his siblings asked building management for help during the outage, but were told navigating the situation was their responsibility.
"The management said that this is a 55-and-over community. You could walk downstairs," Neal Schweitzer said.
Norma Schweitzer relies on a wheelchair and a home health aide to get around.
"I can't walk! Can't put my foot down," Norma Schweitzer said.
He said management's proposed solution for getting Norma out of her home was to call the fire department.
"We had to call the fire department for her to go to the doctor to get Palm Tran to take her," Neal Schweitzer said.
Norma Schweitzer described the physical toll of that process on her fragile body.
"That's why I'm all black and blue, because they had to hold me under my arms," Norma Schweitzer said, showing dark bruises under her arms.
With the six-week elevator replacement now approaching, the family says they still don't have a plan because they don't know when the project will start.
Leigh Markowitz, an attorney with Disability Rights Florida, said the issue of elevator outages leaving seniors stranded in 55-and-older communities is widespread in South Florida.
"It's a really big issue, and we have been seeing a lot of people calling in about it," Markowitz said.
Markowitz said residents in situations like Norma Schweitzer's have legal rights, and can formally request accommodations from building management.
"You can always request a reasonable accommodation, and that can take a lot of different forms," Markowitz said.
She said accommodations could include a hotel stay or grocery delivery service, but in a 55-and-older community — where more residents may have mobility issues — even basic communication from management can make a significant difference.
"It's about giving notice and what can the residents do to prepare and how can management be as accommodating as possible," Markowitz said.
The Schweitzer family said communication is exactly what they're asking for.
"I'd like them to at least let us know really what's going on," Neal Schweitzer said.
The Century Village Boca Raton website currently shows no upcoming projects. WPTV tried calling FirstService Residential, the company that manages the community. A customer service agent said there was no way to reach corporate by phone, so I visited their Dania Beach headquarters and reached a spokesperson.
A spokesperson for the Century Village board provided the written statement below:
We understand the hardship this elevator outage has caused, particularly for residents who rely on elevator access, and share their frustration with the length of time it has taken to restore reliable service.
The elevator at Century Village Boca Raton first went out of service in early July. The association immediately notified its contracted elevator service provider, which assessed the issue and determined that a replacement valve was needed. The repair required ordering the part, obtaining the necessary permit, completing the installation and passing final inspection.
Afterwards, the elevator experienced a separate mechanical issue. Because this is an aging elevator system, some replacement components can be difficult to source. The association and management team continue to work closely with our elevator service provider to restore service as quickly as possible and are keeping residents informed as new information becomes available.
We recognize how important reliable elevator access is to residents and will continue working diligently until the current issue is resolved.
In response to follow-up questions, the board said it does not provide temporary housing or delivery accommodations during an elevator outage. However, it said it will provide residents with advance notice of the elevator replacement once more information is available and will continue to update residents on progress.
If you are stuck at home because of an elevator outage, Disability Rights Florida has resources that can help.
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