KINGFISHER, OK -- Eighty-year-old Wanita Wright feels perfectly at home on her front porch with her cats. But her love for the house may seem surprising when you look inside. Time has taken its toll on the home that her deceased husband helped build in 1961. Mementos of love are covered in cobwebs and flies. The foundation is falling apart. However, she raised her family here and her emotional connection remains strong.
"It does," Wright says, "and just to think that my husband put everything inside."
But earlier this year, someone asked the Department of Human Services to look inside.
Kingfisher City officials say Adult Protective Services made a quick judgment.
"It is unsafe. It is unsanitary," says Police Chief Dennis Baker.
He says Wright was given 90 days to fix the property's many problems.
But on a fixed income, she can't afford the repairs and doesn't see the same problems others see.
"I feel just as safe in this home as I would in a brand new one," Wright says, "because I don't see nothing the matter with it."
Her 90 days is up next week.
Chief Baker says a contractor's bulldozer could knock her house down, and all its memories, within a month.
"Whenever you're dealing with a place that somebody has been living in, that becomes more complicated," Baker says. "Just because of the emotional ties and the displacement."
Wright would have to pay the contractor's cost of the demolition.
Since she can't afford that either, the cost will most likely become a lien on her property.
"They want to do what they want to do, and forget you," she says with disgust.
If Kingfisher City commissioners condemn her home at a meeting Monday night, Chief Baker says Wright will have about a month to move out before bulldozers move in.
Wright says she could stay with family, but she doesn't want to leave her cats.
Regarding what services would be available to Wright, a DHS spokesperson says they can't comment on specific cases.
"It does," Wright says, "and just to think that my husband put everything inside."
But earlier this year, someone asked the Department of Human Services to look inside.
Kingfisher City officials say Adult Protective Services made a quick judgment.
"It is unsafe. It is unsanitary," says Police Chief Dennis Baker.
He says Wright was given 90 days to fix the property's many problems.
But on a fixed income, she can't afford the repairs and doesn't see the same problems others see.
"I feel just as safe in this home as I would in a brand new one," Wright says, "because I don't see nothing the matter with it."
Her 90 days is up next week.
Chief Baker says a contractor's bulldozer could knock her house down, and all its memories, within a month.
"Whenever you're dealing with a place that somebody has been living in, that becomes more complicated," Baker says. "Just because of the emotional ties and the displacement."
Wright would have to pay the contractor's cost of the demolition.
Since she can't afford that either, the cost will most likely become a lien on her property.
"They want to do what they want to do, and forget you," she says with disgust.
If Kingfisher City commissioners condemn her home at a meeting Monday night, Chief Baker says Wright will have about a month to move out before bulldozers move in.
Wright says she could stay with family, but she doesn't want to leave her cats.
Regarding what services would be available to Wright, a DHS spokesperson says they can't comment on specific cases.
