Brunetta Nelson and her family have worked to make D’BABS
Construction a staple in Atlanta’s construction industry for the past 26 years.
When their point of contact at SunTrust left abruptly Brunetta and her family
struggled to find a new place to make payments. When her realtor called to tell
her about the foreclosure Brunetta was completely caught off guard.
SunTrust stole their tenants and now they’re trying to steal
the land right out from under the sisters of D’BABS. This small, black women-owned Construction Company is facing immediate eviction at the hands SunTrust Bank.
“It is so painful for my sisters and I to walk into our
office and see that everyone has been run away and how much we have suffered
over this mishandling of a small family business that was built brick-by-brick
for 25 long years. I can’t count the toll of the sleepless nights of crying,
the loss of my hair, and the choices made as a result of this disaster”, stated
Brunetta.
On Wednesday Brunetta and other D’BABS workers joined OccupyOur Homes Atlanta and American Friends Service Committee to deliver a petitionsigned by over 2k community members to SunTrust Bank's national headquarters in
Atlanta. After SunTrust PR executives accepted the petition Brunetta and
supporters held a press conference outside SunTrust Bank. Senator Vincent Fort,
who represents the East Point community where D’BABS presides stated, “The
community will not allow SunTrust Bank to destroy this vital family owned business;
they will have to go through us first.”
SunTrust representatives claimed they would look into the
matter but today in court it was made clear that they intend to evict in the
next seven days. A community coalition plans to return to SunTrust with greater
number next week if the bank doesn’t make right on their commitment to work
with D’BABS.
