RICHMOND, Va. -- It can literally take years for a family to get help from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
A 66-year-old homeless man said he was turned away after he waited three years just to get an appointment.
Larry Billings said it takes all he has to just put one foot in front of the other.
He can only move so fast because of a disability and this month he believes that cost him a place to stay.
"I’m disabled, my vision is bad, my legs are bad, my feet are bad -- I can't walk,” Billings said. “I couldn't get there any earlier right."
Billings said he's been on the waiting list for housing at RRHA for three years.
This month he was nearly 15 minutes late to a three to four hour meeting to turn in his housing paperwork.
With no car, no ride and no money for bus fare, Billings had to walk from Church Hill to the office on Chamberlayne Avenue.
"I did the best I could, at least I was there, what’s two or three minutes?"
Billings, a veteran, said that an RRHA worker explained he would have to be rescheduled and they would send a letter. When he got it he was stunned to find that his new appointment was set for January 2018.
"I don't think it's right -- I waited three years."
Billings contacted the CBS 6 Problem Solvers, questioning whether RRHA has provisions for extenuating circumstances.
But RRHA officials told CBS 6 that they have no record of Mr. Billings' visit on January 12, 2017. All visitor sign-in sheets for that day have been reviewed.
He disputed their claim, and said that because there was no worker at the desk to sign him in, he had to knock on the window and was told that his visit would need to be rescheduled.
He's still hoping they'll reconsider and not make him wait another year.
The next day, RRHA officials reached out and said they could reschedule his appointment for a sooner date.
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