Emergency Relief for "Florida's Flint"

EMERGENCY Relief Needed at Stonybrook Apartments!

It's been called "Florida's Flint."

Stonybrook Apartments is a low-income HUD project in Riviera Beach, Florida. Over the years residents of Stonybrook have watched the conditions of their housing complex sink to unlivable levels. Tenants and their children have developed asthma due to black mold. Children share breathing machines and are all on prescribed nebulizer medications. Babies have tested positive for lead. Sewage backs up into sinks and bathtubs. People go months without hot water or AC.  Rats literally fall from rooftops. The roach infestation is unbearable in every unit. One of the buildings is burnt and condemned yet still has inhabitants. Every resident is sick and children are in and out of the ICU every week.


The landlord Millennia Companies has refused to make repairs on the property, except for covering up black mold with spray paint (which just makes the residents sicker). The place is literally killing hundreds of the poorest people.


Led by Crystal Lewis, a group of other courageous tenants have decided they've had enough, and with seemingly nothing to lose they formed the Stonybrook Tenants Union. They've created petitions and held protests. They've documented their conditions in photos and videos. They've shared their stories with various media outlets. They've organized a nationwide "call-in day" to the owners, HUD, and politicians. They are withholding rent until necessary repairs are done.  And they've teamed up with a grassroots attorney on a class action suit against the slumlords and the city. 


All of these incredible efforts have attracted widespread local, state and national attention to the conditions of Stonybrook. The city council of Riviera has held dozens of emergency meetings. The Riviera Beach Building Official has condemned 50 units. Politicians from Marco Rubio to Andrew Gillum have reached out to meet with the tenants. Multiple local and regional news outlets have covered the story. Dozens of tenants were relocated from the condemned units to hotels on the landlord's dime.


But, the city of Riviera has demonstrated they have no interest in helping the tenants. They fired the building official for taking action to address the residents' concerns and not only removed the code tags from Stonybrook but waved the fines, a major gift to the billion-dollar slumlord Millennia Housing. Even worse, residents were returned from hotels to mold-infested units - without ANY remediation or proof that anything was done. Since then children in these same units have been hospitalized in the ICU with severe respiratory infections.

In Photo: Millennia Housing Maintenance Staff Tearing Code Tag Off Door

The tenants union at Stonybrook is not taking this abuse lying down. They are organizing and fighting back to win immediate relocation now and section 8 tenant vouchers. They demand that Stonybrook be shut down, demolished, and new public housing built in its place - under the control and supervision of the tenants themselves.

We at PBTU ask that you please join us in our effort to support the brave tenants of Stonybrook. 


Who We Are

The Palm Beach County Tenants Union is a tenant-led organization fighting for housing justice. We believe safe housing for all is a human right. Our membership includes tenant leaders at Stonybrook and many other complexes through Palm Beach.


Where Does the Money Go?

The tenants of Stonybrook desperately need your help in this ongoing crisis. Any amount – even $5 – could make a difference in the lives of 200 of Florida’s most vulnerable families. Every dime you send will go directly to the leaders of the Stonybrook Tenants Union, an organization on the property run by and for tenants. The tenant leaders will be in charge of distribution of goods and funds, as they have been for past donations collected on behalf of the tenants. The only reason we collect the money is because of our tax advantaged status.


System Relief

We, PBCTU, have worked for years directly with the Stonybrook TU and its leaders to win justice in this neighborhood that’s been so neglected, marginalized, and oppressed for so long. From first-hand experience we know this is a man-made disaster that could be totally avoided, were this community to be handed actual resources and power to control their own lives and housing. We realize donations can’t solve everything, much less the fundamental systems of oppression in the lives of the residents. But it can help with mold tests, organizing expenses, relocation costs, and much-needed emergency relief. We also know that the state has failed to provide more than a modicum of relief for these tenants during good or bad times. The billionaire Cleveland slumlord Frank Sinito could care less, as long as his government subsidies & rent checks are collected, while politicians and HUD cozy up with him for kickbacks and campaign contributions. Nobody is going to save them or us. We as a community must save each other! We are the ones we are waiting for.



Note: The Palm Beach County Tenants Union is a 501c3 tenant organization and your gifts or donations are absolutely classified as a deductible charitable donation on your federal income taxes. All contributions go directly to the tenant union of Stonybrook Apartments.

Media Coverage of Stonybrook and the Fight for Tenant Justice

Danger Inside: Children Falling Sick At This South Florida Property 

Babies Living at Stonybrook Apartments Sent to Hospital 

Parents Fear Mold, Asbestos At Stonybrook Apartments Are Making Their Children Sick 

South Florida Class Action Alleges 'Inhumane' Conditions at Low-Income Apartment Complex 

Tenant Union Fights Slumlords in Palm Beach County, FL 

Stonybrook: A Fight for Justice and Affordable Housing 

Chris Talks to Stonybrook Apartment Activists 

Tenants of Riviera Beach Apartments Say Marco Rubio Is No Help