A Harvard University graduate student is helping Nahant residents facing eviction from their town-owned homes.
Isis Patterson recruited help from a Harvard law student and an attorney to assist with more than a dozen Nahant residents, living in the so-called Coast Guard housing, who were told to appear in district court on Dec. 1.
The group already helped some residents avoid going to district court, and instead go to housing court, with residents hoping to get a more sympathetic judge.
“It think it’s frustrating more than anything that they have to go through this and they have to really try to advocate on their own to a town that doesn’t seem too sensitive to the fact that they’ve lived there for more than a decade,” Patterson said.
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The town plans to demolish the homes and sell the land they bought from the federal government nearly 20 years ago.
The town owes nearly $2 million on the loan due by 2024.
“It’s terrifying, yeah, it’s terrifying.” Lauren Barton, a Nahant resident facing eviction, said. “People think homelessness doesn’t happen to people like us, but I know it does.”
NBC10 Boston reached out Nahant town officials on Thursday, but did not hear back by the time this article was posted.
