HENRICO COUNTY, Va. – As the temperature dipped down to about ten degrees Wednesday night, Shareka Flack said a small space heater was all that she and her seven-year-old son had to keep warm in their Henrico County apartment.
“I think we might have to go into a shelter,” Flack said. “We can't live like this.”
Shareka Flack fiddles with her apartment's thermostat , but the temperature never rises.
Flack said this in the second winter she has experienced major heating issues in her Glenwood Farms apartment, so she contacted the CBS 6 Problem Solvers over the response from the complex’s management.
“My apartment is cold for a year and a half,” Flack said. “I keep reaching out telling them, it's cold. They come out and try to light it, then it keeps going out.”
Flack said the small space heater provided by the complex is not enough, so she sleeps with her son, bundles up with lots of covers and sometimes uses her kitchen stove for heat.
“I just turn it on,” she explained. “I put on 500 [and] it's still cold in here.”
Heating unit at Glenwood Farms
Flack said she is running out of hope after seeing a “closed until 2:30” sign on the rental office’s door.
Reporter Shelby Brown tried to speak to a manager at the complex who stepped outside to help a relative, but she scurried away when asked questions about Flack’s heating situation.
Flack said she is so desperate for help to fix her heat, she even turned to social media early Thursday morning.
“Look, if you or anyone you know can help me, I'll pay you $150 to come and help,” pleased to folks watching on Facebook. “We need some heat.”
CBS 6 News is working for you. Click here to email a tip to the CBS 6 Problem Solvers. Be sure to leave us your name, phone number and detailed description of the problem. You can also leave a message by calling 804-254-3672.
