FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — Elderly and disabled tenants at ‘The Link at Blackstone’ apartment complex in Fresno say they are once again being forced to climb stairs, or stay trapped inside, after both elevators broke down.

Notices provided to residents show the elevators were working again May 5, then not working May 11, then working again three days later. But by May 20, one elevator was found stuck on the first floor and out of operation.

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For Marine veteran Jonathan Waltiere, the ongoing elevator problems have meant living away from home.

Waltiere said he has had to stay in a hotel for two weeks because he cannot reach his apartment.

“I’m an amputee and recently on the 10th, I lost this leg,” Waltiere said. “When I came home from the hospital, the elevator worked for me to go upstairs, but the next morning the elevator was broken.”

Waltiere said the elevator has been broken on and off throughout the year, sometimes leaving him stranded upstairs for weeks at a time.

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“I don’t know how people do it that are up (in their apartments) still, I don’t know how they’re doing it and maintaining relationships that that I need to have,” he said. “If I don’t see people or and talk to people every day, I’m gonna lose it.”

Other residents said the outages have kept them from basic needs, including medical care.

“A lot of days I stay in the house I can’t even come out. I can’t even get somebody to take me to the doctor because I’m hurting so bad. I don’t sleep at night because I’m being so much pain,” Felicia Mack, a neighbor, said.

Donnie Shouse, another neighbor, said tenants are simply asking for a permanent fix.

“I just want the elevators fixed,” Shouse said. “Plain and simple.”

In a walk through the hallways, Shouse pointed out a chair sitting on the fourth floor, saying it belonged to a resident who cannot leave her apartment because she is stranded.

Another resident, Graciela Hernandez, said the stairs have become an exhausting daily obstacle for her and her family.

“It’s so hard for me. It’s hard for my leg and I’m on the fourth floor,” Hernandez said. “I have a hard time. I get home so tired. Sometimes I have to do the steps four times and it’s hard for me and my daughters.”

Management at ‘The Link at Blackstone’ said in a statement that one elevator is out of service while specialized parts are on order. The statement also said the second elevator was vandalized Aug. 14, taking it out of service, and that repairs are being pursued as soon as possible.

“The community is serviced by two elevators. One has been out of service while we await the specialized parts needed to make repairs. The second elevator was vandalized August 14, taking it out of service. The damage was significant and we are working to get it repaired as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for the complex said.

Waltiere said moving should not be the solution.

“My worker for the housing authority said, ‘Why don’t you move?,’ And I was like,hat’s not the answer. Why don’t I move?…Why don’t they fix it?,” he said.

Mack said residents are paying too much to live without working elevators.

“We pay way too much money for you guys to even not even fix these elevators,” she said.

Residents also reported that many tenants rely on walkers or wheelchairs, making stairs not an option.

In one case, a neighbor said emergency responders had to carry a resident down the stairs to get him to the hospital because he could not leave on his own.