STEUBENVILLE — Brenda Smith is a woman of deep faith.

She talks to God in the morning when she wakes up. In the evening, she reads her Scriptures and prays some more, and then again when she goes to bed.

Lately, she even talks to him in her car when she’s going to work at 4 a.m. for fear of disturbing the good friend who has been letting her bunk on her sofa while the heat’s been out in her own apartment at Heritage Place.

Since she noticed the chill in the building, Smith figures she’s slept at home, in her own bed, maybe nine times.

“I had to leave my apartment because it’s too cold in here,” Smith said Wednesday. “I actually had to stay somewhere else most of the month, even though I paid rent here. It’s not right: I pay my rent because this is where I live at — I pay my rent and I’m in good standing on all my bills. I should be able to stay in my apartment comfortably and not have to leave.”

The boiler serving Smith’s building in the complex that sits along Market Street has been out since at least the beginning of December. She said initially, an employee told her the part they needed to fix it was hard to find. The next time she saw the employee, “He said it should be coming, and I said, ‘From where? China?” She said the third time they spoke about it he told her the part had to be built.

Smith, 57, is one of four named plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court a week ago alleging W.G. Heritage Place Ohio, owned by Green National, and ABC Management, part of the Abel-Bishop & Clark Realty Co., violated statutory requirements meant to ensure rental properties are habitable and safe for tenants. The suit, filed by Pam Bolton, an attorney with Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, claims the defendants have been without piped-in heat since at least the beginning of December.

Judge Joseph Bruzzese subsequently issued a temporary restraining order giving the building’s owners five days to restore heat and ordered them to rehouse affected tenants — either by finding them temporary housing in another, fully-furnished apartment in Steubenville or putting them up in local hotels at the company’s expense.

As of Wednesday afternoon, affected residents had not been relocated.

Smith says from her perspective, that’s not surprising. She insists she never got a call back after she reported her furnace as being out, never received a notice that it wasn’t going to be a quick fix or even that space heaters were available in the office for those in need. If someone came around during the day to talk, she said she most likely would have been at work and no one left a note.

Officials affiliated with Green National, WG Heritage Place and ABC Management thus far have not responded to calls or emails requesting comment.

“I want to sleep in my own bed,” Smith said. “I’m sleeping on someone’s couch right now. I feel like I’m living out of a suitcase. I want to sleep in my own bed. I come here to open my mail, check things out, then go to the place where I’ve been staying.”

Smith said she knows of eight units in two Heritage Place buildings that have been affected. She’s willing to talk about it, but Bolton said others are reluctant to speak, because “they’re afraid of being kicked out.”

“I shouldn’t have had to come home, walk in and realize we didn’t have heat,” Smith said. “I just think people don’t care anymore, but if it was them … I hope they never have to experience something like this — it’s not right. Nobody should be treated this way, I’d never treat anyone like that — I always try to help people. My neighbor’s in a wheelchair-before I knew they had space heaters here I bought her a heater. My boss gave me a heated blanket and I gave it to her. I could have used it myself but I serve the Lord and part of serving him is to help others. She needed it more than me because I can get up and walk around; she doesn’t have anywhere else to go, her and her husband.”

If she had to quantify her level of frustration, Smith pegged it at “Probably a 10. But I try not to be mad or upset because that’s not going to help the situation.”

Some of that is because the story hasn’t sparked the sense of outrage in the community she feels is warranted — especially when “elderly people, people with health issues and young children” are among those impacted.

“I try to be calm,” she said, “but I don’t like it. It’s not right, you don’t treat people like that. If they were in this situation, what would they want to see done? Some people here don’t have anywhere else to go.

“I live here, I work. I have a full-time job. I go to church. I serve the Lord, I try to be kind to people. The Lord is going to provide for me — he sees what I do. He doesn’t think less of a person because of where they live or what they drive. A person with a big home or a big bank account is no better than me: We all come into this world with nothing and we’re all going to leave with nothing. People need to show love, show kindness and understanding and have compassion.”

A hearing on Bolton’s motion for a preliminary injunction is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. today in common pleas court.