To the editor:
I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Eris Miller, and I am a social work trainee (SWT) from Athens, Ohio, and a second-year MSW student from Ohio University. Earlier this year, I lost my house in a fire; an event that your organization covered.
To start, I wanted to extend my deepest thanks to you and your journalists for covering the event and sharing my GoFundMe (and my roommates’ GoFundMes) with your readers! It was greatly appreciated and extremely helpful in raising funds to cover expenses for repairing and replacing lost/damaged items and future housing. I also noticed how you recently covered and shared the “Renting in Athens” survey concerning the experiences of student renters in Athens. Thus, I would like to request that you further cover housing insecurity in Athens, specifically the sheer lack of safe, affordable housing options for single renters.
Throughout my academic and professional career, I have dedicated over two years to volunteering and interning at The Gathering Place, where I assisted numerous clients navigating homelessness and housing instability. I remember feeling shocked at the sheer increase in homelessness Athens County – and all of Ohio – faced during the 2024-25 school year, with many available units being only available to students or requiring more than one tenant. Even over a year later since interning there, the housing crisis remains severe in Athens, with potential interventions, such as The Gathering Place’s Conestoga Hut Project, facing pushback from the Athens community due to stigma against our unhoused population.
Even for those who can access housing, from my personal experience as a tenant in Athens for the past three years, rentals at an even remotely reasonable price often pose structural issues and safety concerns. For example, my apartment that burnt down had several issues with its electrical wiring (e.g., fridge losing power, lights flickering, microwave malfunctioning) and plumbing (e.g., frozen pipes). However, when the pipes in my last apartment repeatedly froze over, instead of addressing the root cause of the issue, my landlord required us to place a space heater under the sink. Unfortunately, my landlord only had one of my roommates as a primary contact, so I was unable to directly voice my concerns for fire safety. Instead, I had to resort to monitoring and unplugging the space heater whenever I could.
Whether my house fire was caused by the space heater or the many electrical issues we were experiencing is unclear, but both issues emphasize the need for increased access to affordable, safe housing and higher expectations for Athens landlords. Therefore, I request that Athens Independent follow up on previous stories covered regarding homelessness in Athens, such as the Conestoga Hut Project. I also request that Athens Independent highlight the voices of those impacted by housing insecurity in Athens and those attempting to address it, such as existing and/or in-progress housing/shelter projects, and coalitions such as the Athens County Housing Security Co-Create Group.
Thank you for your time.
Eris Miller, SWT
Athens, Ohio