A season of struggle for BEAT: Non-profit facing legal battles [Video]

ENSLEY, Ala. (WBRC) – It’s not hard to imagine Ernestine Perry getting a warm feeling being surrounded by her family.

“I got 25 grandchildren and, I think, it’s 16 great-grands out of three children now,” Perry said.

But emotional warmth is not the only thing lacking when she’s alone in the home she has rented for the last 15 years.

“When it first started getting real cold, I would go in there and turn the stove on and get my rolling chair right there and sit by the stove to keep warm.”

Her landlord, Bethel Ensley Action Task, or BEAT as it has been known for decades, is facing so much in legal fees according to Executive Director Tara Dorsey, that maintaining rental homes while fighting legal battles is daunting.

“Part of our issue has been we have not been raising rents,” Dorsey said. “We literally have people who pay four, $500 …