Army vet struggling to find a place to live

LYNN – A disabled veteran who lost her apartment to an arson fire said she could lose her temporary home downtown any day now if she can?t find longer-term housing.?I don?t have many choices right now,” said Kim Valenti.The Army veteran said her 30-day tenancy in a Liberty Street apartment ran out April 29 and she has scrambled to find a new home she can share with cats Lefty and Righty and her bird, Luca.Luca and Valenti fled from 145 Lewis St. on March 25 when a fire, subsequently determined to be arson by investigators, started in the building. The cats spent several days in the burnt-out building before being rescued, and Valenti received help in finding her current apartment from the American Red Cross and Salvation Army, local shelter workers, city officials and her former landlord.View photos of damage from the fireShe is filling out applications for veterans housing but said the wait for a rent subsidy certificate could take months.?I was grateful to have a place to live, but now I?m very upset,” she said.State Department of Fire Services spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said the Lewis Street fire and the March 27 Lyman Street fire, also ruled arson, “remain under investigation.”Fifty out of 70 former Lewis Street residents have found housing, Perkins Realty Management LLC managing member Andrew Perkins said.?Brian Davis, my rental agent, took it upon himself to relocate people. They?re moving on with their lives,” Perkins said.Perkins said he will renovate 145 Lewis or build a new apartment house at that address once his insurance company completes its review of the fire. He is aware tenants want to retrieve possessions, paperwork, even medicines left behind in their apartments during the fire.?We?re sensitive to people having personal possessions in the building,” he said.Another Lewis Street tenant, Dylan Kidd-Levy, now lives on Chestnut Street but hopes he can rummage through his old apartment for possessions. He fled the building with his cat, but the pair were separated for a week before Zeke was reunited with Kidd-Levy.An anonymous donor provided $11,000 that Perkins distributed in $500 checks to 145 Lewis tenants. Valenti received one of the checks. The Red Cross also gave her money and she received rental assistance from the city Veterans Services department.She is filling out a tenant relocation claim to collect additional money but said uncertainty surrounding her housing is making it difficult to focus on her college studies. She hopes to graduate North Shore Community College later this month with an accounting degree and she is earning another degree in environmental horticulture.Valenti is trying to arrange emergency housing assistance to provide her with an apartment for up to six months while she moves up on a veterans housing list. She is grateful her pets are safe and for the furniture Lynnfield home cleanout company owner Maureen Gambale donated to her.?She?s a very nice woman,” Valenti said.Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].