The Grove Terrace residents and about 100 others living in the dilapidated downtown Venice public housing complex are waiting for word on when they must move.

No one has said anything since December, when the volunteer Venice Housing Authority board decided to demolish the 38-year-old complex and issue housing vouchers to tenants.

The agency is without a director, the consultant who was helping with day-to-day operations left in December and a new office worker has been on the job for just a few weeks.

Meanwhile, the authority has been spending money budgeted for building projects on operating costs since the federal government slashed its budget and an $11.2 million redevelopment plan collapsed.

"People ask me all the time what's happening," said Walker, a resident representative on the housing authority's board. "And I have no answers for them."

From Bradenton to Punta Gorda, housing for low-income residents is in transition, with most being rebuilt through a mixture of public and private money.

Punta Gorda is nearing completion of a $25 million development with 171 Key-West-style duplexes on Myrtle Street. In Sarasota, the county and the city are contributing $17 million toward a $115 million redevelopment of four public housing complexes with 850 low-income units. And after the completion of the $80 million Bradenton Village project, a cluster of town houses in Bradenton, plans are under way for 50 more houses and a new public school.

But in Venice, there are no plans for the residents or the valuable Grove Terrace property -- only the certainty that the city's only low-income housing complex will be torn down.

Venice Housing Authority board members have received little leadership from Venice or county officials. Of the dozens of city government meetings scheduled since January, not one has addressed Grove Terrace, although City Councilwoman Sue Lang has urged such a meeting.

The only action was to appoint a new housing authority board member, the city's only responsibility to the agency.

"We don't manage it or run it or have anything to do with its operations," said Mayor Ed Martin, who took office in November.

Caught in the mix of bureaucracy and community indifference are people such as Agnes Carrasco, a single mother who works at Wal-Mart while raising three children between ages 5 and 14.

"This is the place we want," said Carrasco, who moved to Grove Terrace after her Punta Gorda apartment was destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004.

A melting pot

Grove Terrace was built on six acres in what was Venice's historically black neighborhood on North Grove Street, near the Intracoastal Waterway.

Now it is Venice's melting pot. Young, old, black, white, Asian and Latino residents live in five town house buildings.

It has not always been a peaceful co-existence. The complex was riddled with crime and drugs during the crack epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s, before the "one-strike-and-you're-out" rules led to evictions. More recently, nonresidents have been a source of problems.

It is easy to live in Venice and travel over the bridge to Venice island unaware that Grove Terrace exists.

Hidden from view, Grove Terrace has no through streets. Its neighbors are the city fire department and water treatment plant and the Missionary Baptist Church. Half a block away on Venice Avenue are automotive shops and retailers and, near the Intracoastal Waterway, three luxury condo towers.

The community is tighter than most, perhaps because of shared circumstance and physical proximity. Some residents have lived there for decades and have relatives there as well.

With the scarcity of local low-income housing, few residents leave; 57 families were on a waiting list when the board decided to demolish the complex last fall. No public housing has been built since the 1970s.

From the front porch where she spends much of her time, Reid, 73 -- "Miss Elizabeth" to neighbors -- keeps a watchful eye on the children, and her grandchildren who live across the street. She has lived here since 1992.

Carrasco frequently picks up groceries for "Miss Elizabeth."

"We draw strength from each other," Carrasco said. "Everybody helps out each other."

When her car breaks down, Carrasco walks to the grocery store or catches a Sarasota County bus to work. The conveniences make her want to stay in Venice rather than return to Punta Gorda.

Children ride their bikes and play in the street. They are sometimes joined by adults during a neighborhood fish fry, or when the All Faiths Food Bank arrives with weekly food deliveries.

"People come out of their houses and swarm the van," said Carter Canada, 66, former president of the residents' association. "There are a lot of really poor people here."

In upheaval

With the exception of Canada and a few others who believe the complex can be salvaged, most residents said the buildings need to be demolished and rebuilt. Mildew is so bad in Nicole Hankins' house that she sprays it with disinfectant every day so her 9-year-old son's asthma does not flare up.

Building repair plans have gone nowhere because of the authority's budget and management problems. The federal government designated the authority as "troubled," and it failed financial reviews the last few years. Grove Terrace has gone through four executive directors and 26 volunteer board members since 1996.

A private developer was going to replace Grove Terrace with mixed-income housing, with most reserved for existing residents. But executive director Peter Lopez quit abruptly after suggesting in an e-mail to the developer that evictions could make the project profitable. The developer pulled out and the authority lost tax credits.

"The plans were great," said Carrasco. "We would have moved out and come back to a really nice place."

Former Mayor Fred Hammett tried to revive plans last January as part of a larger redevelopment north of Venice Avenue and west of the U.S. 41 Bypass, including city land surrounding Grove Terrace. But the redevelopment plan foundered and the federal Housing and Urban Development agency cited the authority for poor record-keeping. A consultant was hired to restore order.

Last fall, the consultant presented a highly critical report and advised the board to demolish Grove Terrace. The authority approved the demolition plan in January.

The Sarasota Office of Housing was given the task of helping Grove Terrace residents with Section 8 housing vouchers that will subsidize up to 70 percent of the cost of a house or apartment. The vouchers are tied up in Washington, said new authority board chairman George Barr.

It is not clear when the vouchers will be issued, but the complex will not be demolished until residents are relocated.

For younger residents, such as Walker, vouchers are a good option. But for the elderly and disabled, there are no services or community to help them, Walker said.

"We are at a standstill," said Barr.

Aside from churches and nonprofits donating old cars, clothes and food, the Venice community has been mostly indifferent. Councilwoman Lang, the city's liaison to the housing authority board, was a project manager for the Hartford, Conn., housing division for 22 years. She has no vote on the authority board, but along with Barr has called HUD, talked to Habitat for Humanity Venice about a possible collaboration on senior housing, and recently asked U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, about federal money.

"It's always a longshot and always political," Lang said.

Turning around public housing takes city, county and community involvement and money, said Bill Russell, executive director of the Sarasota Housing Authority. Sarasota's public housing became so dysfunctional and rundown that HUD took over operations a few years ago.

"At the outset of receivership, I sat down with all the stakeholders," Russell said. "I said here is what we think we need to do. We need to know if everyone is on board."

Also, a local movie maker released "Condemned," a documentary about the living conditions at the Janie Poe public housing complex in Sarasota. More than 1,000 residents signed a petition.

Habitat for Humanity got involved. The city of Sarasota and the county agreed to give $17 million toward a $115 million redevelopment plan. There are now employment services and education and child care programs at the public housing complexes.

Grove Terrace used to have a child care center and other services, but they are gone.

"Grove Terrace is connected to nobody," said Sandra Terry, president of the Laurel Civic Association. "There were a lot of things going wrong. It wasn't the tenants, it wasn't the board; it was all these things together."