The tenants of some troubled rental properties are looking for ways to help the landlord. Kyle Geissler reports. You can read more in Friday's Janesville Gazette.
JANESVILLE — They told familiar stories at the Salvation Army on Thursday afternoon.
The family was barely making it when Dad lost his job.
Mom is trying to raise the kids on her own, but she can't get work at the temp agency.
The young woman was laid off and has no one to turn to.
The people gathered Thursday came in all ages, sizes and colors, but all had an unmistakable look of sadness and exhaustion.
They had something else in common, too: They owe rent to Billy Kesselring.
Local organizations such as ECHO, United Way and Red Cross and the city of Janesville invited Kesselring's tenants who are behind on their rent to a pre-screening session Thursday.
Kesselring owns 19 rental properties in Janesville, Edgerton and Milton. Fourteen of those properties were in danger of losing power this week before Kesselring reached a payment plan with Alliant Energy, and most of the buildings still are in danger of foreclosure.
Kesselring says he has fallen behind on the mortgages and utilities because most of his tenants are behind on the rent. Of his 83 occupied units, 22 are up-to-date on rent, he said.
An hour before the session ended Thursday, 26 households had come through the Salvation Army gym, wandering from table to table to apply for rent, transportation and food assistance.
Many said they came because Kesselring told them to.
"Billy's a really good guy, and I don't want to let him down," said Jennifer Jackson, 18.
Jackson lives in one of Kesselring's Edgerton buildings with a roommate and the roommate's daughter. She can't keep up with rent since losing her job at Walmart, she said.
Shirley and Noah Olivas, 646 S. Garfield Ave., Janesville, said they fell behind on the rent and now are paying as much as they can from their unemployment checks each week to catch up.
Noah, 28, was laid off from LSI when it closed its Janesville facility, and Shirley, 25, lost her job at Dairy Queen a few months ago.
"We can't find anything," Shirley said. "We're trying really hard."
The tenants said they appreciate Kesselring's patience and believe he's trying to help them, even if his kindness has now put his business in jeopardy.
"He's been very flexible and good with us," said Laura St. John, 44, who lives in a cottage on Happy Hollow Road, Janesville, with her teenage son and daughter. "I wish I could pay him more."
The goal of Thursday's session was to connect tenants with resources, said Marc Perry, director of planning and development for Community Action of Rock and Walworth Counties.
"The fact that they're in the system now and on the radar makes it easier for them to access help," he said.
But the agencies mostly offer short-term help, he said.
"Even the resources we have can only sustain people for a short time," he said. "If the economy doesn't turn around, and people don't get back to work, things are going to be pretty bad."