Florence Washington knows how to deal with the bitter cold when she goes outdoors. On a walk to the store, she was bundled up with a hat, earmuffs, heavy coat and several layers of clothing.

The 55-year-old Richmonder only wishes that she didn’t have to bundle up the same way inside her apartment in the Creighton Court public housing community off Nine Mile Road.

“I’m not complaining,” she said. “It’s just that there is very little heat in my bedroom. I’ve lived here since 2012 and it has been the same every winter.”

She’s far from alone in coping with the cold inside Creighton Court apartments.

Two years after the Free Press first reported on problems with heat in the housing complex that Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority operates, little has changed.

Congressman A. Donald McEachin, who represents portions of Richmond, issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday accusing RRHA of leaving Creighton residents in freezing cold apartments during Christmas despite being aware months ago that the heating system would need repairs.

As it turns out, the same problems exist at other public housing complexes. Creighton Court has received the most attention because of residents’ willingness to speak out.

“I have received numerous accounts of the hardships that families are suffering in Gilpin, Mosby, Hillside, Whitcomb, and Creighton regarding heat issues,” Omar Al-Qadaffi, a community organizer, stated in an email to the Free Press on Wednesday.

He alleged that RRHA is denying “basic shelter needs, such as heat when it is 15 degrees outside.” He said that only adds a “greater physical and emotional impact on people already suffering.”

T.K. Somanath, chief executive officer of RRHA, was away from his office this week and could not be reached for comment.

At a special City Council meeting Wednesday, two members publicly called for Richmond Building Commissioner Douglas Murrow to take action to enforce state housing codes that require landlords to maintain heat.

Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, expressed disappointment that Mr. Murrow is failing to act to ensure RRHA is providing adequate heating for tenants.

Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, also told council members that RRHA is raising the fire risk by putting high wattage space heaters in apartments with old wiring. She said Mr. Murrow had no problem condemning private apartments on Chamberlayne Avenue two days before Thanksgiving following a news report about about the lack of hot water, but appears to have closed his eyes to the situation in public housing. “He not only has authority to act, he has an obligation to do so,” she said.

Mr. Murrow could not be reached for comment.

In recent testimony before City Council, Mr. Somanath previously acknowledged that his agency is struggling to maintain heat in its public housing communities. He focused on Creighton Court residents during his testimony in support of an additional $4.9 million for the first phase of a development project aimed at transforming Creighton Court into mixed-income housing.

He noted that the apartment community’s old pipes, radiators and boilers are falling apart, making it difficult for RRHA to keep the heat on. He blamed the problem on reductions in federal support for maintenance.

In his statement, Rep. McEachin said he was dismayed to learn last Friday, just before the New Year’s holiday, that Creighton residents were going “without heat because long overdue repairs had not been initiated.”

He said that RRHA since has informed him of plans “to secure multiple contractors to complete much-needed repairs. I am told bids for repair are due Friday, Jan. 12, and I sincerely hope the situation will be remedied very soon thereafter.

“While the process to correct this intolerable living situation finally has begun, I remain extremely disappointed that RRHA did not act to ensure all residents would have heat before winter began,” the congressman stated.

“Representatives at RRHA have known about this impending problem for months, and now residents are being forced to suffer through these dangerously frigid conditions without a reliable heat source.

“The question must be asked why did RRHA wait until the wintertime to address this condition?

“My constituents and I are deeply disappointed by RRHA’s response and demand better,” he concluded with a promise to monitor progress to ensure the repairs are done as quickly as possible.

The heating problem doesn’t affect everyone. Some residents in Creighton Court said they would like to dial back the heat a bit.

“It’s blasting in here,” said one woman.

But others are not so fortunate, as a reporter found in talking with more than a dozen residents. Indeed, many residents like Shenique Turner said they are happy to go to work because it is warmer at their jobs than in their apartments.

It is commonplace for residents in Creighton Court — and apparently at other RRHA complexes — to have to turn on stoves to generate heat.

RRHA has distributed space heaters to residents who complained, but turning on more than one at a time in an apartment can create another problem.

“If you put on two or more to stay warm, you blow the fuses,” said one Creighton resident who declined to give her name. “It’s a mess.”

Inside one apartment, a young mother was frantically dialing RRHA’s maintenance number around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday after the heat conked out in her apartment. All she got was a recording telling her to leave a message and someone would get back to her.

“I have a newborn and it’s freezing in here,” she said, declining to give her name. “I’m really worried. It’s not right what’s happening.”