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HIGH POINT — When Nina Cashman learned Wesleyan Homes was closing, she felt like her world was crumbling.

At 92, she’s lived at the government-subsidized apartment building for 24 years. It had become her home, and she had no plans to leave.

“It was a terrible shock and quite sad,” Cashman said. “All my friends are here. I thought this was where I’d be until they carried me out feet first.”

When the shock wore off, there was a new question: What now?

Providence Place, the owner of Wesleyan and other senior facilities in the city, has sold the building to High Point University for use as student housing. The 80 senior-citizen residents have been given four to six months to find new homes — and many have no idea how they’ll afford it.

Like many apartments for the elderly, Wesleyan received money directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This allowed the company to cut base rents of $640 to between $200-$300 a month — something seniors on a fixed income could afford.

But the money went directly to Providence Place, not to residents as housing vouchers that could be used anywhere. With Wesleyan closing, the residents find themselves outside the system and cut off from government assistance.

“We thought we could just go from my mother getting a subsidized apartment to her getting on the voucher system,” said Nina’s son, Steve Cashman. “But when we talked to HUD, they told us she would have to get on the waiting list. They said it’s going to take 18-24 months to get her vouchers, and she doesn’t have that long.”

Steve Cashman said his mother will be fine, one way or another; he and his sister live in the area. But not all the residents are that lucky.

If the company had done its due diligence, it would have seen what the sale would do to its residents, he said.

“This wouldn’t be a big deal if they’d done it the right way,” Steve Cashman said. “But doing it this way — telling everyone after the sale when they have so little time, that’s just irresponsible.”

Tom Higgins president and CEO of Providence Place, said he knows the decision will play havoc with the residents’ lives, but it isn’t a decision the company came to lightly.

“Look, I certainly don’t think anyone is looking to give us a standing ovation for what’s occurring,” Higgins said. “But this is not something that we decided overnight, it wasn’t a knee-jerk decision to close it.”

Higgins said his company did a yearlong study, looking at all the options. Between the recession, cutbacks in government funding and the expense of maintaining the 30-year-old building, his company decided it just couldn’t keep Wesleyan open.

The company decided to sell the property and build a new $8 million center on Westchester Drive, which will include a 32-bed Alzheimer’s and dementia special care unit.

But there’s no place for the Wesleyan residents at the new facility, which is for seniors with assisted-living needs. The company owns other buildings where seniors live on their own, but Higgins said there’s no space there either.

“Right now, we’re doing what we can to help them in every way we can,” Higgins said. “From offering them transportation to helping them look for housing and meeting with HUD to see what we can work out. But it’s a process. It’s not going to happen overnight. And no one is saying that they have to be gone tomorrow. We’re going to help them make this transition within the time we have.”

Don Scarborough, High Point University’s vice president for community relations, said Providence Place approached the school after Wesleyan Christian Academy already had passed on the property.

“Providence Place decided to close the apartments and sell the property before we had anything to do with it,” Scarborough said. “What’s happening now, how the residents were informed about all of this, and the situation they’re in — we’re really just finding out about that now.”

Scarborough said the university is now doing its part to make sure all the residents find housing. School officials have contacted everyone from the High Point Housing Authority to Congressman Howard Coble.

“We certainly don’t want to see anyone end up without housing,” Scarborough said. “I don’t think anyone wants to see that.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com