Laykisha Miller

Laykisha has lived in Sarasota’s public housing for a while. She some concerns, hopes and some good memories of living here.

As she contemplates the redevelopment of public housing here in Sarasota she is concerned that if better care is not taken of the facility that it will just begin to deteriorate again.

She indicates that now there is no privacy - no fenced yard that she can call her own. Others come and go near her apartment as they please and she fears about her safety and the safety of her children.

She would describe the homes as concrete blocks and thinks that a better design and more varied designs would provide significant improvement to her neighborhood.

While she hopes that she will be able to return to her hometown area in Miami, she fears that many of the current residents will become homeless during the transition to a redeveloped public housing complex. She has little confidence that she would be able to return to Sarasota’s public housing even if she wanted that. Questions of who would be "qualified", what would the income requirements be, will likely go well beyond the current simple background checks, she fears.

Laykisha says that the housing authority needs to do a better job of taking care of the residents - they should be more of an advocate for them when issues arise, helping the residents find the help they need.

But she also has good things to say about her life here. It is affordable, even for those with very low incomes. She likes the family setting and the fact that you can have your own place. She feels safe within her own home. She has made good friends within the public housing community and while she thinks that overall her life is good here, she knows that it could be better. Being in an established place gives her fewer things to worry about.