'It's my job to earn your trust': Meet LMHA's new director, Elizabeth Strojan

Elizabeth Strojan, the new director of the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, stood behind a podium inside Dosker Manor in late March looking out into a sea of residents. Just 10 weeks into her new job, she pledged to improve the troubled apartment complex.

"And if you don't believe me because you've heard this many times from many different people standing in different colored blazers — standing up here telling you the same thing — that's OK," Strojan, wearing a coral blazer, said March 25. "I understand that. It's my job to earn your trust."

Strojan knows she has a colossal task in front of her.

For years, conditions at various LMHA properties have elicited criticism. A recent fever-pitch occurred in August when Louisville Metro Council members stood outside Dosker Manor calling the conditions of the Phoenix Hill housing units "unacceptable" after residents reported mold, vermin and trash in the building. Some called for the resignation of then-director Lisa Osanaka, who ended up leaving weeks later .

Another resident, Melisa Hester, said beyond the cockroaches, bedbugs and mice, there is a constant fear of danger. A woman was shot in the hand while in her Dosker Manor apartment after a bullet came through her front door in March.

"I'm so worried about someone knocking on my door," Hester said. "I opened my door the other night at 4 o'clock because I heard someone beating (on another door) like a cop... I jerked the door open and at the end of the hallway it's a guy with a Glock 9 pointing it at a door. I said, 'Nope' and shut my door. I've had shootings go on here. I've had to duck."

Strojan introduced monthly "office hours" at Dosker Manor, Avenue Plaza and Parkway Place to promote one-on-one communication between residents and staff. During March office hours at Dosker Manor, Strojan sat with Hester to hear about ongoing problems.

"So listen, I'm gonna I'm gonna reach out to our team so they will follow up with you on all that paperwork and your rent situation, okay?" Strojan said to Hester, taking notes. "I will be here with the team once a month, second Friday of every month along with the Dare to Care, and then we're also going to kick off soon a more intense communication with you guys."

There is also an ongoing debate as to whether Dosker Manor can be saved or if it should be torn down — which Strojan said is a "serious consideration." If it is torn down, LMHA must find places to relocate the 591 people living in the apartments, like Hester.

"A lot of public housing that has not been redeveloped throughout the country is in really bad shape," she said during an exclusive interview with the Courier Journal. "Dosker is on the worst end of that spectrum. When I saw it I was like, 'This is chaos. This is not okay. We need to fix it.' But I don't think there is anything that I have seen that is not fixable."

Strojan, 40, is a Louisville native but has lived in New York City for the last several years. She attended Fordham University on a Peace Corps fellowship after serving in Madagascar. As part of the fellowship, Strojan worked at a nonprofit housing group in the Bronx. There, she fell in love with housing.

"They were amazing people they taught me so much," she said. "They stopped the Bronx from burning through organizing things and they saw that redlining was happening back in the 70s when redlining was still a secret."

In the nearly three months since Strojan has taken LMHA's helm, she launched several new initiatives and programs from installing a new fire alarm system to implementing pest management, creating a resident newsletter, hosting monthly "office hours," adding mold inspections and hiring an assistant director and public information officer.

Some positions had been vacant for "a very long time," Strojan said. Now, there will be more structure in the organization.

Strojan pledged to get Dosker Manor new washers and dryers in 2024 and implement case management services for residents starting in May. She submitted a request for funding in this year's budget to the Mayor's Office. The Louisville Metro Council is set to vote on Greenberg's budget in June.

Stojan has noticed newfound energy and optimism in some residents. One Dosker Manor resident, Treasha Cooper, met Strojan during one of her office hours.

"I didn't know there was a new (director) because I've never seen or heard from the old one," Cooper said. "At least maybe it's a start. (Strojan) just came over here and introduced herself, which I thought was cool."

However, others are cautious with their hope of improvement. During that March 25 meeting when Strojan asked residents if they thought conditions were improving, many yelled, "No!"

"You all have been promised better many times," Strojan said in response. "This is not the first time that we're coming to you saying, 'We're gonna make changes. We're gonna make it better.' So I want you to know that I hear that and I understand that and I appreciate that. I also want you to know that we have to make a change."

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 'It's my job to earn your trust': Meet LMHA's new director, Elizabeth Strojan