'This is a crisis that's not ending': Westcourt residents say they are desperate for answers

Residents of Westcourt Place say they are traumatized, frustrated and desperate for answers after being displaced from their homes for more than a month.

Concerned residents attended a meeting Sunday afternoon, led by James White, a longtime resident of the building, who went over topics, including transportation, shelter andfinancial aid.

Steven Shpak has been living in Westcourt Place with his wife for eight and a half years, but doesn't know whether they would want to return.

"We loved it there," he said.

He can still vividly picture the night where he saw the building filled with smoke.

"It was so unexpected. I'm having nightmares now waking up at night to a house full of smoke," he said. "My wife is taking it really bad.... She won't go back to apartment buildings anymore. She's just scared to death. She can't go any higher than one floor."

Shpak and his wife are currently living with their daughter, granddaughter and three dogs in a two-bedroom cottage. Like other residents of the building, they had to borrow money to pay for food andaccommodations.

Although Shpak has rental insurance, he said the insurance company won't compensate for the interest fees and pay him back immediately.

White says it's been especially difficult for families with young children, like Ashley Dawn Paul, a mother of four young kids.

"It's crazy. It's frustrating. It's agitating," Paul said, adding that her children are stressed and missed more than two weeks of school.

"It's a sad month for all of us. ... All I want for Christmas is to go home with my children," she said.

She said she hasn't heard back from anyoneabout when she and her family can return home.

White said the situation is heartbreaking for everyone.

"It's difficult financially for everyone. It's difficult emotionally for everyone," he said.

"This is a crisis that's not ending. ... All of these families are standing in quicksand. And we're just trying to reach out and get some help from the community and get some answers from Westcourt and the city."