Tina Shaw has gotten most of what she wanted for Christmas — working heat in her two-bedroom apartment in the Creighton Court public housing community.

“They came back today, and now I have heat in the kitchen and living room,” Ms. Shaw told the Free Press on Tuesday. “But I still don’t have heat in the bathroom. I guess I’ll have to use an electric heater. Still, it’s better. The apartment is pretty warm. I haven’t had heat in most of the apartment since I moved in.”

That was five years ago.

She said she has had consistent heat in only one bedroom before now. Until this week, to get heat in the kitchen, she had to turn on the stove or clothes dryer.

Tired of bundling up just to stay indoors, Ms. Shaw called the Free Press for help last week after two days of calls to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority and receiving no response.

Following the newspaper’s Dec. 12 email inquiry to Orlando Artze, RRHA’s interim chief executive officer, RRHA sent a contractor to her apartment the same day. The contractor worked on the radiators, Ms. Shaw said, and promised to return on Dec. 14. But Ms. Shaw said the contractor never returned.

However, she said the Dec. 12 visit resulted in her having heat in both bedrooms for the first time.

Ms. Shaw is not the only RRHA resident having heating problems.

In a Dec. 16 statement to the Free Press, RRHA, which manages nearly 4,000 apartments, reported that 83 apartments had no heat because boilers broke down and needed significant repairs or replacement. Another 49 units had only partial heat because of radiator problems, RRHA stated.

According to the statement, RRHA has distributed electric space heaters to residents in those apartments as a temporary measure while the authority’s maintenance staff and two outside contractors work to restore heat as quickly as possible.

“RRHA’s first priority is to restore an apartment’s temperature to 68 degrees as mandated by Virginia law during the heating season,” the statement continued.

The push to address heating problems is the result of public uproar last winter over RRHA’s slow pace in addressing heating issues. The problems led to the resignation of RRHA’s CEO at the time, T.K. Somanath. In the following months, RRHA repaired heat in 411 apartments and reported inspections of the heating system in every unit it manages during the fall, though Ms. Shaw alleges her unit was never inspected.

According to the RRHA statement, the authority has committed $5.4 million to pay for heat and hot water-related issues during 2018-19 budget year, including repairing or replacing aging boilers, pipes and hot water heaters.

Ms. Shaw’s recent call continues an appeal she began in 2016 when she first notified the Free Press about the heating problem at her apartment. Then, she was seeking another radiator to replace one the RRHA had removed but never replaced.

At the time, RRHA initially installed a broken radiator and then came a second time to put in a working radiator. RRHA then reported its tests showed adequate heat in Ms. Shaw’s unit and those of other four other neighboring tenants who also had complained.

In Sunday’s statement, RRHA officials urged residents without heat to call and file a complaint with the RRHA service center, (804) 780-8700. Calling the number allows RRHA to prioritize the complaint, according to RRHA’s statement.

“Loss of heat receives the highest priority, and it allows RRHA to track progress in making repairs until the job is done,” RRHA stated.

“As we move into 2019, RRHA is keeping its promise and commitment to its residents to be more proactive and responsive.”