Marty Cabry of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell's office asked me to pass
along the following information:
The demolition of the Windermere Court apartment building will begin on
Monday (tomorrow). The Councilwoman's office is looking into
legislation to prevent a repeat of this situation, where a fire-damaged
building was inaccessible to tenants to retrieve pets & possessions.
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While I'm writing, I want to send thanks to Councilwoman Blackwell and
Marty Cabry for their work on behalf of the Windermere tenants and
pets. Jannie Blackwell attended the rallies and stood in the front
row, lending support by her presence as well as by the actions of her
office. Marty Cabry was there too, understanding the anguish folks
felt for the trapped cats, reminiscing about the many years he'd had
with his cat Charlie. Then behind the scenes, the Councilwoman's
office took steps to postpone demolition, and at the same time urged
the building's owners to help the tenants retrieve some of their
things.
Postponing the demo gave City Kitties, PSPCA & Project MEOW more time
to save the lives of the cats they knew were still trapped in the
Windermere. Thanks to those organizations for being on the front
lines! Eli and Lou of City Kitties were at the site day after day,
hour after hour, for forty days! They'd saved some cats already, but
Sadie, Humbert Humbert & Rocco were rescued only because the
mid-February protests and the efforts that followed resulted in access
for further trapping.
'Lessons From the Windermere Tragedy' is on City Kitties' website:
http://citykitties.org/2011/02/lessons-from-the-windermere-traged/
It lays out steps that need to be taken for the future.
City Kitties & the West Philly Local have just forwarded information
about a benefit for the Windermere Court residents to be held by the
Walnut Hill Community Association, next Saturday, March 5th:
http://www.westphillylocal.com/2011/02/27/walnut-hill-community-association-to-host-windermere-fundraiser/
Walnut Hill worked with the tenant organizers to lead the protests.
Other neighbors are still trying to find ways to help the fire victims
and the work of City Kitties and Project MEOW.
I feel very grateful to everyone who has worked, and continues to work,
to get the best outcome possible from this awful situation.
Melani Lamond
Melani Lamond, Associate Broker
Urban & Bye, Realtor
3529 Lancaster Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
cell phone 215-356-7266
office phone 215-222-4800, ext. 113
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