Tina Anderson, center left, shares with some of the former tenants at 215 East Street in Hobart some the resources for help she gathered for them over the past few days. The tenants of the 11-unit apartment were left homeless after the City of Hobart declared the building uninhabitable Tuesday. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

The mood was decidedly better in the hotel lobby where 24 people have been staying since the Hobart apartment building they’d called “home” was declared uninhabitable.

The group, who had their stay extended by a day through the kindness of others on Tuesday, got word that the hotel is allowing then to stay until checkout Sunday. Another local restaurant would provide them another warm meal for them Thursday night, and a desk clerk offered to come back after her shift ended to bring the board games for a family night.

“I got Uno and Cards Against Humanity,” she said to cheers from the group, who thanked her for accommodating them during the worst week of their lives.

Tina Anderson, a Hobart resident who set out to do what she could when she heard about the situation Monday, had more good news to share with the tenants. The Hobart Food Pantry was making up boxes for them to keep in their rooms and beyond, and Meals on Wheels of NWI offered to deliver them hot meals during the day so they didn’t have to wait until evening, she said.

Northwest Indiana Community Action Corporation said they have some funds available for security deposits as well as toiletries for the tenants, Anderson said, and a local storage company has committed to providing storage units for those who have bigger items they don’t want to leave behind. Since the building isn’t locked and there have been reports of nonresidents entering the unlocked building since Tuesday, Hobart Township Board member Joe Clemmons said he would monitor access to the building, when he’s on duty, going forward.

A "Do Not Occupy" sign adorns a beaten-up door without a lock at the back of the apartment building at 215 East St. in Hobart. The city issued the order after a wellness check Monday afternoon revealed deplorable conditions. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

There are other organizations who’ve reached out to help too, Anderson said, but what she’s found more touching is how many people have asked about the tenants themselves.

“So many people have asked, ‘How’re they doing?’ and I tell them these are some of the strongest people I’ve met,” Anderson said. “For them to trust us to get them help when they need it the most is just incredible.”

Although some help has arrived, some of the residents are still shellshocked from having their homes ripped out from under them, even if the conditions in which they were living were gross. Sierra Oswald, 21, and her fiance, Clay Posey, 23, had been in their apartment at 215 East St. for a month and a week after bouncing around from relative to relative.

Allergies prevented Oswald from smelling the place when she looked at it, she said, but she was told that everything would be fixed before they moved in.

“You could see where the former tenant would walk in the carpet, so we would take a shower, and walking from the bathroom to our room, our feet would be black,” Oswald said. “The stove would spark anytime we cooked something, and (the drip pans) were so rusted, they crumble if you touch them.”

The 10-unit building had an illegal 11th unit in the basement of the building. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

A local real estate agent gave the two a recommendation on another apartment in Hobart that’s $50 cheaper than what they were paying at 215 East St., but if they don’t get it by Sunday, they may be out on the street, she said.

“We still don’t know what we’re going to do,” Oswald said. “We live paycheck to paycheck as it is.”

“Hopefully, we get this place,” Posey said. “Fifty bucks is a tank of gas.”

Angela Ruiz, who’s had health issues since January when they moved in, said she had her first panic attack in five years Wednesday. She and her husband have been sniping at each other, too, from the stress.

Ruiz never wanted to even come to Northwest Indiana in the first place when her husband’s job brought them here — she wanted to go back to Texas — but after all this, she thinks she wants to stay in Hobart.

“We’ve reached out to several places and haven’t heard back, but we really want to stay here,” Ruiz said. “I’m not a people person at all, but with all these people coming out to help and just checking on us, we’re comfortable here.”

Anyone wishing to contribute to help the 24 tenants left homeless July 11 can contribute to their gofundme at

https://www.gofundme.com/f/24-homeless-tenants-after-building-got-condemned?utm_source=messenger & utm_medium=social & utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.