Public Housing Residents Demand Action On Living Conditions

A group of over 100 residents of Crystal Towers, a public housing complex in Winston-Salem, are speaking up about living conditions at the property. Crystal Towers provides housing to the elderly and people with disabilities.

Residents say there is a major bedbug problem there, among other issues, and are going to the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem with a list of demands.

They are asking HAWS for more robust pest control. Currently, residents are given a bug-powder called diatomaceous earth that they apply themselves, and they say it's not doing enough. 

Samuel Grier with the group Crystal Towers United says exterminators aren't killing the eggs of these biting pests. He says they keep coming back, and they're all over his floor. 

“There was nothing but red spots where I had stepped on them,” says Grier. “And those red spots were a piece of me. It was my blood. It's a torment.”

Crystal Towers United also wants to see improvements on security, maintenance, and access to a shared community room.

Officials at HAWS say they look forward to working with residents and call the demands “areas of need and opportunities for growth.”