By Emily Ngo, Presented by Lewis Loflin
Published: June 12, 2012, Bristol Herald Courier
By Emily Ngo
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Jun 12, 12:00 AM EDT
(Above) Lewis Loflin is starting a fund to assist residents of Clear Creek Mobile Home Park.
Photo by David Crigger (Bristol Herald Courier)
BRISTOL, Va. — Lewis Loflin’s voice rises in disbelief as he recounts the plight of Clear Creek Mobile Home Park’s remaining residents near Interstate 81’s Exit 7. “One man can’t move to a new park because it doesn’t take older-model trailers,” he says. “But his trailer’s from 2000!”
The guy’s stuck—abandoning his home might be his only option, just like others in the park have done, Loflin adds.
About 20 households cling on at Clear Creek, facing a July 20 deadline before Trammell Properties bulldozes it for a shopping center. Some can’t find parks that’ll take their trailers; others can’t scrape up the cash to move. “It costs between $2,000 and $4,000 to haul a trailer,” Loflin says, his face turning red with anger.
Loflin, an adjunct professor at Virginia Highlands Community College, is fed up. He’s launching a fundraiser—“Moving Bristol”—to cover truck rentals, towing, and utility hookups. “I’m putting my money where my mouth is,” the Washington County resident declares.
He’s opening a bank account for “Moving Bristol” and vows to post statements on his site, www.sullivan-county.com, to prove it’s legit. “I’ll use any damn option I can to get these people what they need,” he says.
“This city’s got one of the worst cases of class warfare,” Loflin snaps, a veteran of exposing Bristol’s social rot. “We need to wake up to what poor people here endure.”
engo@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
Postscript by Lewis Loflin: The shopping center flopped. I scraped together $1,200 from an outside donor to save one home—pathetic when 50 families got screwed.
Acknowledgment: Thanks to Grok, an AI by xAI, for formatting. The fight and words are ours. —Lewis Loflin
