California Apartment Association

This holiday season, families at Summerset Village Apartments in Fresno have found themselves without heat and hot water.

The crisis, which began last month, stems from problems with a gas line and is in no way the fault of the tenants. Gas-line repairs may take more than three weeks to complete.

We at the California Apartment Association strongly encourage you to step forward and help these residents. At CAA Greater Fresno, we are contributing at least $2,000 toward this effort. Please join us.

To provide financial assistance specifically for residents at Summerset, please visit the Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries donation page. To donate physical items, such as new electric blankets — or to volunteer for this specific disaster, you may call FIRM at (559) 487-1500 or drop off your donations at 1940 N. Fresno St.

You may also donate to the American Red Cross’ Disaster Preparedness, Response and Resiliency programs, which will continue to help Summerset residents. Call 1-800-RED-CROSS, visit redcross.org, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

To date, Red Cross volunteers have distributed over 800 blankets to help keep residents warm during gas-line repairs. The local Red Cross disaster team is also coordinating with the Southern Baptist Convention to provide mobile showers and hot meals.

Finally, in case some tenants need to move, we hope that you can identify available units for families at Summerset Village.

As information emerges regarding the problems at this apartment complex, we would like to emphasize CAA’s expectation that our members – and the rental housing industry as a whole — provide safe, clean and fair housing. Moreover, CAA is committed to working with the city of Fresno to ensure its code enforcement program is effective and targets those rental properties that pose risks to residents’ health and safety.

CAA strongly encourages our members to adhere to the association’s Code of Ethics and our Resident Bill of Rights.

We appreciate your generosity and continued commitment to providing safe, quality rental housing in California.