Local family of 5 without heat since March

PITTSBURGH — A local mom and her four kids, living without heat since March, turned to Channel 11 to get action.

Mya Wade lives in subsidized housing on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District and says right now their home is so cold, it’s deemed uninhabitable under state law.

Since March, she says property management has been aware that the furnace isn’t working, but there has been no replacement.

“We’re cold every day,” Mya Wade tells Channel 11.

When we interviewed Wade on Monday, her thermostat read 48 degrees. She talked to us bundled in a coat. We could even see our breath as we talked.

“It makes me sick to my stomach,” Wade added.

Wade is a single mom of four kids. Two of her children attend PA Cyber Academy from home and have to go to school in multiple layers, hats and coats.

Wade said back in March, maintenance came out to look at the furnace.

“The maintenance person who came out to assess the furnace said the management company wasn’t even going to come out to fix it because it was March and they were also dealing with limited resources themselves,” Wade said. “It’s a basic human need to be warm in a home.”

Wade said there are times she drives the kids around in her car just to stay warm. They dread going inside, knowing it’s going to be miserably cold.

Channel 11 knocked on the door of the property management group, Lynd Properties. We were told they were working hard to fix this issue. We asked if they knew this had been going on since March, which they acknowledged, but said a different property management group was in charge then.

30 minutes after our conversation, we got an email that a new furnace had been approved and would be installed. We weren’t provided a date.

In the meantime, with frigid temps, Wade is concerned her pipes will freeze and burst, creating more of a mess. She was also hit with a surprise $700 electric bill from running space heaters to keep her kids warm at night. A fire hazard, she says, the property management group isn’t taking seriously.

“I’m a low-income family,” Wade said. “It’s just me and my children. I work two low-income jobs to provide for us and it’s not enough. I’m doing the best I can. There is no way I should be expected to absorb those costs. This is a direct result of their inaction and inability to help me.”

Wade says the property manager never offered to put her in a hotel, move her into an empty unit temporarily and only gave her one heater for a family of five. She said after months of inaction, she was grateful somebody took her story seriously.

“Thank you for responding so quickly - you’ve been the quickest response out of this whole situation,” Wade said.

We’ll stay on top of this story and let you know when the new furnace has been installed, and this family’s home is heated.

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