SEARCY-- The Townhouse Apartments are nearly empty; workers gutting the buildings walk through corridors where kids used to play while their parents sat chatting.
Now reminders of the neighbors who considered themselves a big family are scant -- an Uno card lying on the concrete, a child's toy sitting in a pile of dust.
Just one resident remained in the complex on Dec. 18, her handbag perched in the window. She's scheduled to move out soon, a worker told Samantha Durby, who used to live in the complex.
"Weird, weird, weird," Durby said, walking past the apartments, sometimes pausing to point at one and wonder aloud how the former residents were faring, whether they found a place that accepts pets.
Durby and her neighbors were suddenly evicted from the complex in October. Notices were posted on the doors alerting them that most residents had between three and 10 days to get out because the owner had sold the property.
The eviction notices read: "Mr. Gerald Joyner has SOLD The Townhouse Apartments to a company out of Little Rock. They plan to totally gut the apartments and start renovation IMMEDIATELY. They are wanting ALL units vacated immediately, for the water and electricity will be unhooked from the building during construction/remodeling."
Nearly all of the former neighbors are disabled and lived on fixed incomes from Social Security or disability checks. More than 100 lived in the complex. Some had up to 15 people in a two-bedroom unit.
But as the new owner took over, residents were allowed to move out as they found a place. A company called Pleasure Avenue Realty bought the complex. It's an arm of a Little Rock company, Midtown Suites LLC.
Midtown Suites are fully furnished apartments in Little Rock with utilities paid and free Wi-Fi, according to the company's Facebook page.
Durby said she's heard rumors about what the new apartments will be like -- open floor plans, working washers and dryers, and flat-screen TVs in every unit. But she also heard that the rent would be $1,100 a month, much more than she can afford.
Durby said everyone found a place to stay. Most moved into the same trailer park, but it was too far from the center of town for her. She doesn't have a car, and moved into her new house by piling her belongings into a blue baby stroller and pushing it nearly a half-mile to her new home.
Much of the walking was in the rain, and she got bronchitis, which put her in the hospital off and on for two weeks, she said. At the Townhouse Apartments, Durby took on the role of caretaker. She fixed broken pipes and cleaned apartments.
"I miss a lot of people," she said. "It just makes me sick."
She still talks occasionally with almost everyone who lived there. She keeps toys on her front porch in case any of them who have children come by. One woman is staying with her for the time being.
"I let them move in, and then I'm stuck with them," Durby said, laughing. "We take them in as family."
She scrolled through texts from her former neighbors. A couple messaged about needing their water turned on. Another woman texted about relationship problems.
"I just wish I had a big enough place where I could keep them all together," she said.
They're planning a Christmas together, like old times. For the four years she and her family lived at the Townhouse Apartments, they would all cook together and give gifts. Last year, she got a crock pot.
She said the experience of being suddenly evicted has made her want to open a homeless shelter.
"I'm going to open a homeless shelter one day before I die," she said. "I just don't know if they're hungry or if they're OK," she said of her former neighbors.
Durby found her new house when she was visiting her ex-boyfriend. She wanted to borrow enough money to buy cigarettes and a soda, and he told her that the house across the street was available for $550 a month.
He comes over often to do repairs around the house, where she lives with her daughter, her son who was recently released from prison, her aunt and eight dogs. She got four of the dogs for Christmas gifts for her kids, she explained as she moved one aside and walked past her daughter, cooking Ramen noodles on the stove.
Durby's daughter, Topanga Durby, said she's happier in the new house. She used to help her mom clean apartments and viewed it as a burden.
"Some of them learn, some of them don't," Topanga, 22, said of her former neighbors. She thinks they should have taken better care of the place.
Durby said her daughter thinks the move was for the best.
"She's happy that I'm away from there," Durby said. "She says I'm better off."
Topanga, named after a character on Boy Meets World, plans to get her GED in 2019. Like her mother, she dropped out of high school with one semester left. For now, she works at a chicken processing plant in Batesville and hitches rides with co-workers.
She isn't sure what she wants to do, but she knows she doesn't want to work at a chicken plant for the rest of her life. She likes to paint nails and dye hair, she said, demonstrating how she last colored her mother's hair.
Her mother pitched her homeless shelter idea to her, and said that Topanga could take that over when Samantha can't keep it up anymore.
"No, I won't be doing that," Topanga replied, putting her pink earbuds back in and going inside to clean up the house.
Metro on 12/25/2018