TULSA, Okla. — Christian Givens has lived in Tulsa Housing Authority's East Central Village apartments for nearly 12 years.
She never had any real issues until the end of April, when her kitchen ceiling caved in.
"It had me very stressed out, oh my goodness, what am I supposed to do?," said Givens.
WATCH: Tulsa Housing resident waited almost a month for repairs
After cleaning up the mess, her first concern was her two young boys — both of whom are severely asthmatic.
“April 9, my son who has asthma had gotten out of the hospital and then my roof falls in on the 30th so my concerns were my son having asthma and as you can see there was a lot of black stuff," said Givens. "It was a lot of green looking mold so my concern was is this what’s been making my son sick?”
She called the emergency maintenance line.
About an hour later, someone came out and brought her a fan. That was the extent of the help and maintenance she said she received for nearly a week.
“I mean it hurts as a single mom and trying to change my life," said Givens. "One of the maintenance guys had told me they were trying to get them to change the roof all the way back in July 2024, so how come it’s not being done?”
By Givens' timeline, a week went by before someone came out to do anything on her ceiling. THA confirmed to 2 News that new sheet rock was installed in her unit on May 8.
The entire replacement wasn't completed until May 22.
Givens reached out to 2 News in the middle of all of this to get help moving things along. She said she
“Goodness gracious, why does it take so long?" she said. "I should feel like I’m a resident. Like I’ve paid rent, why should I have to live like this?”
2 News reached out to THA to get Givens some answers.
Local News
THA leaders 'unaware of any failure, instance of being unresponsive to tenants'
The main discrepancy between the two is the date of reporting. THA said this kind of issue, with a roof issue or ceiling leaking, is addressed ASAP on their end.
Still, Givens said she feels like there should have been more urgency and empathy from THA.
“Do you want a hole in your roof at your house?" she said. "I don’t think you would. You would do everything to call someone.”
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