‘Stressful’ hotel voucher odyssey continues for Logan Heights flood victims

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – One family of flood victims says their hotel voucher odyssey has been a stressful one.

“It’s very frustrating and makes me very angry,” said Xochitl Delgado.

For Delgado, the frustrations have been mounting since flood waters filled her rented Logan Heights home, claiming nearly of the belongings of her family of 6, including her 3 children. She didn’t have renters insurance.

One of her kids’ schools, Perkins K-8, provided more than two weeks of hotel vouchers at the Motel 6 in Mission Valley.

When the County took over the voucher program, Delgado was sent the name and address of a San Ysidro hotel, Hotel Primera.

Turned out that hotel was shuttered. County officials expressed regret for the mix-up, blaming it on a bad address search. The actual site was an apartment next door.

Sources tell us, squatters are the shut-down hotel have led to reports of criminal activity in the area, including a fatal, triple shooting in late January.

Delgado says she didn’t feel safe at the apartment, and requested another hotel.

Two days later, on Feb. 15, she says the county, placed her and her children at a hotel in Mission Valley, not the Motel 6.

“I went to the rooms. I could smell mold, and actually found black mold under the kitchen sink in one room … It was not livable. I might as well go back home to mold,” said Delgado.

Delgado, who suffers from asthma, never checked in. She says she sent a photo of the mold to the county. Because the county hasn’t confirmed her complaint, ABC 10News is not naming the hotel.

Delgado and her family then paid for two rooms for several days, out of pocket, at the Motel 6 in Mission Valley.

“It’s very painful. That $1,000, I could put to the side to rent a house,” said Delgado. “We keep searching. It will take $5,000 to $6,000 to get into an apartment for our family. We can’t afford it.”

Recently, she says her child’s school and San Diego Unified agreed to extend to her family, hotel vouchers that will last until early March at the Motel 6.

She says the County told her they’re still working on another hotel site for her, but she’s no longer counting on them.

“I honestly feel like the County is failing me,” said Delgado.

ABC 10News reached out to County officials for a response and are waiting to hear back.

A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help Delgado’s family obtain permanent housing.